I really like making slipware pots. The process, though somewhat unforgiving of error, makes for a quick and sometimes spontaneous outcome. Some designs are well planned out; others just seem to happen as the slip trailer touches down. My approach is about fun and fantastical design, little of my work borrows from the slipware archetype, though I have been known to make “copies” of older slip trailed pots. I usually use a clear glaze over my slipware but on occasion, I have used amber, green, purple and Persian blue glazes as well. Each transparent glaze gives the slip ware a very different look. My favorite though, is the black and white. Illustrated is a pair of 17” wall bowls. They are very shallow bowls with extensive patterning on them. The bowl on the left has been sectored off into areas then trailed with contrasting slip designs, the one on the right has been sectioned off into a grid pattern with various, mostly spontaneous designs. The real joy of slip trailing is that once you put that slip bottle down, the pot is done until it is time to glaze. I really respond to the immediacy of this process, not to mention, it ends up being fun along the way.
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