Shape
I build my pottery from slabs, coils and pinch pots. These ancient techniques give me endless creative opportunities and engineering challenges. The clay has its own mind and memory and when it meets the heat of the kiln it transforms with a will of its own resulting in natural and organic shapes.
Surface
When thinking about texture I like to layer slips, use handmade and collected stamps, cardboard, fiber and vegetation. I often incorporate grog, sand and rock directly into the clay body.
Glaze
One of my biggest challenges is preserving the natural look and feel of clay while also making it food safe. Each glaze falls somewhere on a spectrum of glass all the way to sandstone. I make my own glazes so I can control the sheen and other characteristics.
Terrasigillata
Terrasigillata is a favorite way to color my work. It is the thin liquid clay siphoned off a slurry which can then be tinted with stains and oxides.
Inspiration
My ideas are inspired by what I see: nature, the matte sparkle of dry snow which led to my Powder Day glaze, ancient pottery, a Roman cup in a museum, or a photo of a vessel carved by a contemporary Japanese potter. I take photos or sketch wherever I go. All these images hold some space in my imagination which I hope to tap into when I walk into my studio.
Clay Bodies
I work with a variety of clay: English Grolleg from Cornwall, UK is the purest; Terracotta, full of iron and organic materials has rich color and matures at lower temperatures. The third category is stoneware, versatile, strong and great for dinnerware.