I am still in the midst of throwing and making terra
cotta pots for several galleries and shows. The bulk of the work is divided
into black & white slipware, carved tebori black slip and the abstrakt
resist. Making a variety of forms and figuring out how to adapt designs, that
go together, is one of the constant challenges any potter will face, but some
of the forms my brain comes up with are a bit more difficult than others. The
safer pieces are the bowls, plates and trays, the more difficult pieces are
jugs, covered serving bowls, covered jars and storage pots, though adapting the
2-D to the three dimensional is good for the mind. On top of this challenge,
the tebori carved pieces can be very time consuming and labor intensive depending
on the idea and its intricacy, though the bulk of designs are bold and do not
have a lot of detail. The biggest problem is how easy it is to get burnt out in
a day of just carving pieces. It is always best, to break up the day with a
variety of tasks, from throwing and trimming to even general studio chores. As
much as I don't like it, there is much more to making pottery, than just
sitting at the wheel, throwing.
Illustrated is a medium size terra cotta v-bowl, out of
the first firing of my current extended cycle. The bowl is brushed with black slip which is later
carved away to produce an image, in this case a "celestial jig" of my
Landscapeman design. Each one of these pieces is quickly mocked up with brushed
ink prior to carving and I doubt I have ever done the same design twice. By its
very nature, each one ends up being mostly unique and spontaneous; they are fun
to design and less so to carve!
"I like work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look
at it for hours." Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927)
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