Hello Folks!

Ever since learning pottery in college I have made stamps to mark my insignia onto my wares. This has continued as a form of tradition and a love for putting my name on things I guess. Famous artists almost always sign their work. Perhaps it signals an end to the piece for them, a badge of content and mark of mastery. Or perhaps it is an internal yearning to be known, and to have people long to own a “Phill Schmidt” original piece. (Yeah, yeah, I am not calling myself a famous artist, just pontificating about  what others have done.)

It is this latter reason for which I am struggling out loud today. Like I said earlier, I have always signed my work. But this signing is continually on my mind when I do so–as a functional potter I make a lot of pots compared to a sculptor or other clay artist. This means that I am stamping everything, stamp stamp stamp, so many stamps. Perhaps naturally, or with the help of God himself, I have started to ponder this habit. 

Why do I stamp? Although some of many reasons were quickly mentioned above, I do believe that I stamp my work to both please mankind and to bolster myself, or honor myself. This would give me the glory and my actions, I know, are prideful. I am convinced that this is contrary to the ancient and true scriptures of the Bible of how man should be.  Isaiah 2:12 states, “The Lord almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled)”. And for those looking for New Testament scriptures, James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 

I can’t help but ruminate over verses like these floating through my mind while I am busy marking my pots with my signature, stamp stamp stamp. 

Well, I came to a krux and found the name of Jesus written in Hebrew (which is Joshua, Yeshua, etc.) and made that as a stamp. Okay, now I can still stamp something into my pots, and this has to glorify God now, right? I mean, it doesn’t even have my name smooshed in now. 

Well, after stamping pots with the name of Jesus for maybe about a year, I am still uneasy about it. There is not a peace with it that I hoped, and peace comes from God. So, onward to round three of figuring out this signature, identity, stamp business that is all spaghettied together in my mind with pride, fame, and yearning to please man. “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galations 1:10)

Here is my fix: I will now stop stamping my work. No stamp, no name, no identity of a maker, nada. Right now, this feels like the best solution to my inner problem. I do keep in mind Bach, a Christian composer who wrote music and very publicly claimed it was for the glory of God, and he signed his name on his music. So, while I don’t think it is necessarily sinful to be assigning a who-dunnit to pots, as I have in the past, yet for me the struggle is real right now and I want to try to please God and not myself nor man before Him. 

I hope this solves my inner dilemmas of stamping. Sheesh. Has anyone else struggled with signing their artwork?