--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I thought I was going to be able to use…" description: "\"I thought I was going to be able to use my painting ideas as decoration on pottery, but my painting did not translate into decoration on pottery. I tho..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5d/warren-mackenzie-4654_able_i-thought-i-was-going-to-be-able-to-use_3158041.jpg" --- # I thought I was going to be able to use my painting ideas… ![“I thought I was going to be able to use my painting ideas as decoration on pottery, but my painting did not translate into decoration on pottery. I thought it was going to, and in fact I made, while still in school, a plate with one of my paintings on it, and that's exactly what it was, it was a…” quote by Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5d/warren-mackenzie-4654_able_i-thought-i-was-going-to-be-able-to-use_3158041.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5d/warren-mackenzie-4654_able_i-thought-i-was-going-to-be-able-to-use_3158041.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b5d/warren-mackenzie-4654_able_i-thought-i-was-going-to-be-able-to-use_3158041.jpg) > “I thought I was going to be able to use my painting ideas as decoration on pottery, but my painting did not translate into decoration on pottery. I thought it was going to, and in fact I made, while still in school, a plate with one of my paintings on it, and that's exactly what it was, it was a plate with a painting on it. It was not a decorated plate; it was just a painting superimposed over a three-dimensional ceramic form.” [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He attempted to transfer a painting onto pottery but realized the result was a painted plate, not a truly integrated decorative piece. **In simple terms:** Painting didn’t become pottery decoration; remained a painted surface. Key Takeaway Integrate art with medium. Themes art craft translation medium expectation Mood curious reflective Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - studio practice - art education - product development Key Concepts artist ceramics design Questions to Reflect On - How can artists better merge two mediums? - What techniques aid true integration? A Different Perspective Medium constraints can hinder seamless artistic translation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Ceramics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceramics/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Pottery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pottery/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [You usually want to get something out of a painting other than the ideas that you had in your head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-katz/you-usually-want-to-get-something-out-of-a-painting-other-than-the/) [Alex Katz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-katz/) > [Early on, my way of teasing the art world was by playing at being accessible. Like making pottery: I thought people would buy that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grayson-perry/early-on-my-way-of-teasing-the-art-world-was-by-playing-at-being/) [Grayson Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grayson-perry/) > [Oil painting did to appearances what capital did to social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects. Everything became exchangeable because everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/oil-painting-did-to-appearances-what-capital-did-to-social-relations/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [With abstract work, I never was quite sure what it was that felt right about the painting, but I did know that I responded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-wagner/with-abstract-work-i-never-was-quite-sure-what-it-was-that-felt-right/) [Kurt Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-wagner/) > [I did painting before I did photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bailey/i-did-painting-before-i-did-photography/) [David Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bailey/) > [With abstract work, I never was quite sure what it was that felt right about the painting, but I did know that I responded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-wagner/with-abstract-work-i-never-was-quite-sure-what-it-was-that-felt-right-2/) [Kurt Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-wagner/) > [I have always loved painting and I did it from a very young age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-mondo/i-have-always-loved-painting-and-i-did-it-from-a-very-young-age/) [Brad Mondo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-mondo/) ## More by Warren MacKenzie > [ \[Kathleen Blackshear\] just said, "Have you thought of looking at this?" and so on and so on and so on. And it was a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/kathleen-blackshear-just-said-have-you-thought-of-looking-at-this-and/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ Some years ago I was working on some forms which were vase forms with a fairly narrow base, and it was after \[Hans\] Coper… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/some-years-ago-i-was-working-on-some-forms-which-were-vase-forms-with/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [I found out later on that was not true, that life drawing tells you a great deal about rhythm, about the structure of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-found-out-later-on-that-was-not-true-that-life-drawing-tells-you-a/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [Remember, this is back in the '40s, and the idea of a museum being a place where interested people could come in direct contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/remember-this-is-back-in-the-40s-and-the-idea-of-a-museum-being-a/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ At the end of that two weeks Bernard \[Leach\] asked us if we would like to sit with him tending the kiln, the big… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/at-the-end-of-that-two-weeks-bernard-leach-asked-us-if-we-would-like/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [I got drafted into the army and by pure chance was pushed into a silk-screen shop at this camp where I was, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-got-drafted-into-the-army-and-by-pure-chance-was-pushed-into-a-silk/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ \[In the Field Museum of Natural History\] we could see very simple, primitive, hand-built pottery from Babylonia and ancient Egypt and so forth, Greece.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/in-the-field-museum-of-natural-history-we-could-see-very-simple/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [Chicago is a wonderful area because it's blessed with a tremendous number of museums of various sorts, not only the Art Institute of Chicago…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/chicago-is-a-wonderful-area-because-it-s-blessed-with-a-tremendous/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ It was a wonderful opportunity. And so for two and a half years we lived with \[Bernard\] Leach. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/it-was-a-wonderful-opportunity-and-so-for-two-and-a-half-years-we/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ We thought \[with Alix MacKenzie\], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/we-thought-with-alix-mackenzie-if-those-are-the-kinds-of-pots-from/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [I went to the Chicago Art Institute, which was the best painting school in the area at that time. And I took painting classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-went-to-the-chicago-art-institute-which-was-the-best-painting/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [It was there that we really first came in contact with the work of Shoji Hamada, who was Bernard's best friend from Japan, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/it-was-there-that-we-really-first-came-in-contact-with-the-work-of/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ Bernard \[Leach\] was making pots which were duplicates of his drawing, and that was a difference of approach, which I think is quite critical… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/bernard-leach-was-making-pots-which-were-duplicates-of-his-drawing/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [I don't know, it's very difficult if you're in a strange country to just barge in and say, "Hello, I'm Warren MacKenzie, and aren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/i-don-t-know-it-s-very-difficult-if-you-re-in-a-strange-country-to/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [ \[Shoji\] Hamada seldom drew an exact drawing of a pot that he was going to make. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/shoji-hamada-seldom-drew-an-exact-drawing-of-a-pot-that-he-was-going/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) [Explore all 108 Warren MacKenzie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I thought I was going to be able to use my painting ideas as decoration on pottery, but my painting did not translate into decoration on pottery. I thought it was going to, and in fact I made, while still in school, a plate with one of my paintings on it, and that's exactly what it was, it was a plate with a painting on it. 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