Most forms begin on the potter’s wheel and are then altered and built; some are hand built from slabs. Except for sprigs (shallow relief appliqué) and drape molds of my design for servers, I use no other molds to create forms or make parts.
Forming
Each form has its own unique building process. (There are more detailed making explanations of the boxes and cups below.)
When the clay is still very soft—what I call the “suede” stage—I alter, stamp and dart (cutting shapes out of the clay wall and re-attaching the seams to create a new form). Additions like spouts, handles and feet are hand-built, pulled, and shaped. Once attached, they’re refined and carved at the leatherhard stage. Timing is crucial to the making.
Surfacing
I work with dozens of stamps I both design and make. Most are pattern shapes from my own sketches; some are from influences. The animal stamps (birds, bunnies, etc.) are also my own drawings based on images from an encyclopedia of animals I own. In addition to stamping, I also embellish with dots, swirls and shapes of slip trailing (liquid clay squeezed through a trailer, like small scale cake decorating) and sprigging. Both of these methods of patterning allow for the glaze to break and accent the patterns further enhancing the piece as a whole.
I sometimes work with Kanthal wire as a decorative element. It is another way for me to use line and draw within my vessels in a different medium. Kanthal is a high-temperature wire that can be placed into the work at leatherhard and remain through the glazing and firing processes.
Clay & Glazes
My work is made with Standard Clay’s cone six porcelain #213.
I have developed a palette of nine satin glazes with color from Mason Stains and oxides that highlight the vessels’ forms while pooling and breaking over the surface patterns. The cordial cup image left represents the glaze colors I use for all my work. Clockwise from top right: Ivory, Frost, Honeycomb, Lime, Rosa, Blackberry, Grape, Caramel, and Cornflower Blue.
Firing
All of my work for bisque and glaze is fired in L & L electric kilns. I glaze fire to approximately 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.
This piece, titled SOFT/TREASURE, is a large box that began on the potter’s wheel. Both the body and the lid began as round, wheel-thrown walls that were later altered (squared, in this case). The lid was also darted (a sewing term that refers to the creation of a new form by cutting out shapes and re-attaching the seams) in addition to being altered. A slab bottom was added, and “blank” feet were added and shaped. The detail in the feet comes from carving done at a later stage. (Again, no molds or –as I’m frequently asked– tricks were used to make the feet. They are simply carved.) Once the piece is upright, the surfaces and edges are smoothed and defined, and the surface decoration is added. This piece includes sprigging (the application of a shallow relief pattern; the vertical “ribbons” and the “clasps” here), carving, slip-sponging, incising, piercing and slip-trailing. After the piece was bisqued (fired once to a lower temperature so that it can be handled more readily to apply glaze), I dipped it into the deeper blue satin glaze, and then brushed a shiny, pale blue glaze in other areas. Then the piece was glaze fired. The Corset vessels I make go through a similar building process.
These stamped cups were also thrown on the potter’s wheel. At an early stage I call “suede”, an individual stamp I’ve made of clay is rocked over my finger through the clay repeatedly to create the soft undulations in the surface. It is important to me that the stamping not be flat, but actually create the softness, becoming part of the form. Then the lips are altered to correspond to the stamped pattern. Once the cups are leatherhard, the foot is trimmed. There is a certain amount of clean up, and then the handles –both parts– are pulled (individually formed, not molded) and attached. The last step is the slip-trailing. I swirl liquid clay (like cake decorating) over the handle, around the lip and frequently within the stamping to create raised places for the glaze to break and for the user to finger while using the cup. After the bisque firing, a glossy glaze is poured inside and its satin counterpart is dipped on the outside. With most, I also brush additional interior glaze into areas within the stamping to create mini areas of exterior shine.
