Hand Building with Clay
Hand building is different to throwing work on a wheel. Clay work is slow art done over many days and weeks.
Most of my work starts out as a slab.
The vases are made in halves and carefully dried until stiff, enough to carve, and then dried more until free standing— yet moist enough to meld together with the other half.
I end up with my arm all the way in the vase, up to the shoulder, joining the two haves together.
My excitement about these vases is getting the carved texture that had previously only adorned the under side of my bowls but is now vertical for all to see. The vases take months to dry.
Bowls start flat and are then impressed and slump molded. When leather hard, I flip them over and carve the underside.
My art life entails a commitment to going into the studio to meet my muse whether she shows up to meet me or not.
If she’s a no show; I clean the studio, work on glaze testing or tool repair.
If the creative fire is hot; I work on multiple hand built projects at once—moving from rolling out slabs, slowly coaxing waves into form, or carving/pinching vessels and pods into shape.
Current Offerings.
ARTIFACT I: 21.5x7.25 ins. $1550
BLUE MOON VASE I: 24 3/4x 6.5 $1800
RIVER: 7x6.5x9ins. $700
BLUE MOON VASE II: 23 1/4x 6.5 $1750
ANCIENT BLOOM: 7.5x7.5x7 1/4ins. $700
ARTIFACT II: 18 3/4 x 6 3/4 ins. $1500
American Kestrel Egg Vase Top 5"h x 4.5"d, $130
American Kestrel Egg Vase Signature 5"h x 4.5"d, $130
American Kestrel Egg Vase Side 5"h x 4.5"d, $130
Emergence 6.5″hx14.5″wx4.5″d $280
ANCIENT COPPER FOSSIL VESSEL: 20x10 3/4x4.5ins. $925
ANCIENT FOSSIL WAVE: 21 3/4x12x5ins. $950
CARVED FOSSIL VESSEL: 19.5"x10 1/8x3.5 $925
BELONGING: 18 1/4x10x4ins. $900
ORIGINS: 18.5x10.5x4ins. $900
RIVER WAVE: 15x15.5x5ins. $625
RIVER WAVE CLOSE UP: 15x15.5x5ins. $625
ELLIPTICAL FOSSIL VESSEL: 16x8.5x3ins. $820
SEA STAR & CORAL VESSEL: 16x8.5x3ins. $820
SEA STAR VESSEL: 19.5x10.5x4ins. $925
Past Works.
Each piece is unique; some of these works are available by commission. Contact the artist for more information.
HEART IN HAND RATTLES I: Porcelain rattles gilded with gold leaf. Sold in a set as shown.
CERAMIC RHUBARB LEAF: Hand built ceramic server impressed with a rhubarb leaf from my garden. Food and dishwasher safe. Available for commission in most sizes.
HEART IN HAND RATTLES II: Porcelain rattles gilded with gold leaf. Sold in a set as shown.
SNAKE RIVER STONE BASKET: Long Leaf pine needle woven around a stone from the Snake River in Jackson WY.
PINE NEEDLE BASKET with STONE: Long Leaf pine needle woven around a stone from the Snake River in Jackson WY.
TURTLE SPIRIT: Long Leaf pine needle woven around a turtle shell.
SNAKE RIVER STONE BASKET II: Long Leaf pine needle woven around a stone from the Snake River in Jackson WY.
PIT FIRED FOSSIL BOWL: Stoneware bowl impressed with fossils, coral and other mysteries form the ocean. Buried in the ground and atmospherically fired.