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.

Firing
All of my work for bisque and glaze is fired in L & L electric kilns. I glaze fire to approximately 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.