Exploration

In a departure from my wheel-thrown pottery, I am actively developing a new creative pursuit that involves clay and glaze. My desire is to create new pieces that exemplify the fundamental nature of clay, color, form, and texture. Neither wheel-thrown nor slab-built, these pieces are hand formed in a unique fashion that I have seen nowhere else.

The idea is to retain the spirit of the materials in fresh forms that appear largely unworked. Tough to build, these freeform pieces pose a significant challenge. 1) Until they emerge from the final glaze firing, they tend to fall apart at nearly every stage of development. 2) I need to start large; like most ceramics, the pieces shrink about 12% by completion. 3) A beautiful result is tough to achieve as sculpting, decoration, and glaze application can be hard to control. The results are fascinating when successful (I’m good for about <30% of attempts!).