Process

Most forms begin on the potter’s wheel and are then altered and built; some are hand built from slabs.

Forming
When the clay is still very soft—what I call the “suede” stage—I alter, stamp and/or 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. Except for sprigs (shallow relief appliqué) and drape molds of my design for servers that are also altered, I use no other molds to create forms or make parts. 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 and come from my interest in Art Nouveau. In addition to stamping, I also embellish with dots, swirls and shapes of slip-trailing (liquid clay squeezed through a narrow-tipped tool, like small scale cake decorating). Finally, and most new to my deco repertoire, is the use of underglaze color in stripes and polka dots brushed underneath the slip-trailing. This accentuates the fondant like slip-trail, and adds a visual and aesthetic layer of fun. Click here to purchase my Surface Decoration: Suede to Leatherhard DVD.

Since 2002, I have used Kanthal wire as a decorative element in certain forms (i.e. clasps in older corset vessels, grid-work in flower bricks and most recently, as handles in this basket form). 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 mix by hand my palette of gloss and satin glazes with color from Mason Stains. I pour and hand dip each piece with these glazes, which highlight the vessels’ forms while pooling and breaking over the surface patterns. I currently have a palette of about nine colors, several new for 2012.