Soda fired ceramics
After twelve years of ceramic study, my creative interests remain with functional ware, vessels that are both pleasing to the eye and whimsical, that are useful but not self-conscious. And as in life itself, I am drawn to pieces that are cut and altered, then reshaped, that are purposeful while appearing imperfect. Since moving four years ago to Galisteo, a small traditional village south Santa Fe, New Mexico, I have limited my firings to wood and soda, choosing glazes and slips that reflect the pale etherial colors of this landscape that I love. The beautiful yet random, at times directional, caress of the soda and wood ash, again reflect my own life experience: that beauty comes in unpredictable and seemingly random ways. As my interest in soda has grown, I have explored not only shapes and glazes that compliment the firing, but also surface treatments: under-glazes, surface relief, textures.
I have discovered a special pleasure in patterned paper. By placing the pattern on the clay, then using varnish, I create a relief, a raised surface, perfect for the caress of soda. This application of pattern reminds me of my grandmother’s house in a historical Texas home, filled with wallpaper, where at an early age my artistic endeavors began.
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