“There are too many places where things can go wrong.” I said this many times for the first 2-3 years of working with clay. In the beginning, it could be not wedging properly, or trimming thin. There were MANY glaze errors. And the most frustrating by far, mold making/slip casting; all undercuts and air bubbles.

Ceramics and mold making are a bit more exacting for the artist. More frustration, but also more reward and excitement. After only a few months of working intensively with clay it became apparent that failures would be assured without clear procedures and attention to all facets of the making process. This included developing clay bodies at both cone 6 and cone 10 that I could adjust to my artistic intentions. The testable and repeatable procedures for clay bodies were then applied to all parts of the making, glazing and firing processes.

Concept

Part of the new work was begun on the wheel and then altered to various degrees. By altering the form, the centrifugal forces of the wheel become less influential and predictable. Because the alterations are done at a much slower wheel speed or at a complete stop, irregularity naturally increases. Imbalances and textures are added pushing the form further away from the mechanical influence of the wheel. At a certain point mold making freezes the development of the form, but not completely. By hand painting more variation and gestural marks are introduced. The cups on my home page illustrate this process.