Advise from JONATHAN ADLER

Jonathan Adler holds a very special torch for me.. He has succeeded with a style of quirky design I believe to have always had in myself.  His use of colours and playfulness carries me through-out his spaces.  Today I read in the new issue of Lonny his advise. Wow. Again.. Impressed (of course right)

Except, you know when you read an article and it sticks with you;  I have a feeling this ons is like that:

What's you biggest piece of professional advice?

JA:

Learn your craft, and hold to it.  People think I'm this wacky guy.  If only I were wacky! Of course, my designs have a certain irreverence, but that irreverence is a whisper.  Craft is where I live. Craft conquers all. and I'm hyper-self-critical about everything I do. I'm now in this extraordinary  position where I don;t have to ask anybody's permission to made anything. I have the liberty to conceive a design and then execute it. That's the wonderful thing about have a little success. It puts you in a position where you can do more work.  You can make more beautiful things. It's a really crowded world we live in, an everything in it is very disposable. That's something I find so depressing. My goal is to make singular, beautiful, non-disposable things for people to love.

What advise would you offer a young person starting a career?

JA:

Be super patient in you 20's.  Don't be too worried about the future or too terribly ambitious.  Have experience! Enjoy yourself.  Stay our all night; jiggle about on a go-go box. When I was in my early 20's, I got fired from job after job for being surly. I was constantly un-emplpyed. My parents were like, "What are you doing with you life?" Then, at 26, I quite accidentally started my pottery business. Pottery has always been my passion. Between jobs, I started teaching a class at Mud, Sweat, and tears. It was wonderful, and they gave me my own shelf where I could display my work. One day, I called Barneys, and they started selling my ceramics.  After a year, I realized I wasn't unemployed anymore; I was a potter.  So I think a misspent youth can be a marvellous thing.  When you're 30, consider getting a little more varsity about your future.

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