Series

All but one of these pieces were thrown at the same sitting. Doing several pieces in a sitting allows for a similarity to the works. I also try to glaze the pieces together in one sitting to create the same type of connection between the works. Can you guess the one thrown at another time?

Mottled Turquoise

Motivational Monday always includes a kiln opening. This opening included some of my latest chattered forms with Great Lakes Clays' Mottled Turquoise glaze fired to cone 5. I really like the way the grooves of the chattered clay surface allows for the glaze to settle, pool, and flow.

Burnished

Here are some other forms that are bisque-fired at cone 010 to harden them but still keep the burnished surface. The smooth exterior gives the fired clay an eggshell quality. Once the fire and smoke are done marking the pots I'll go back into the forms with watercolor to add imagery that I have delevoped over the years.

Porcelain

My current ceramics instructor encouraged me to work with porcelain so I stocked up on some for the home studio. I have been working to perfect a surface chatter on clay. This chatter is left from vibrations created by a throwing rib on the spinning form. The porcelain seems to pick up these vibrations well when I throw with very little water to create friction. In fact, care needs to be taken not to tear the form apart from the chattering vibrations because of the delicacy of the clay body.

In contrast to the chattered forms, I also threw some smoother forms in preparation for spring pit fires. In addition to squeegeeing the surfaces with a metal rib as I threw them, I later burnished their surfaces with a smooth river stone. I plan on working back into the fire-charred surfaces with watercolors to bring in imagery from my drawings. I like to use the pot like a canvas.

Glazing

For this batch of pots I went with NIU cone 6 celadon. I choose this glaze so that it would add some color but still allow for the colored slip to show though.

Derick

While working in the studio at NIU I got the opportunity to watch Derick Scarbrough get work ready for his upcoming show. I love the way he experiments with texture on his forms and continually works to find a look that is pleasing to him.

March25

Spring break is so nice! It allows time for me to focus more intensely on my work. So after driving to NIU I got some me time for art. While there I was able to knock out many pieces and get some energy from the artists working there.

My main focus was to create bud vases then I branched off from that to make other objects.

I used a 50 percent slip 50 percent underglaze to give the final color decoration on these pieces.

People

swimming with monsters

Monsters in my dreams

I swim with these in my dream scapes.
Creatures like these keep me in a state of awe and remind me of my place in the seas' food chain, even if I'm only in the sea in my dreams.

Carving Maquettes

When the porcelain is leather hard like cheese it is perfect for carving in the detail that I enjoy putting in my work.