Illustrated is a simple
bottle form made by salt and wood firing pioneer, Jack Troy. Thrown in
porcelain with an ever so slightly bulbous mouth, the pot was paddled flat
creating two larger planes flanked by pointed sides to define the form. This
bottle was fired in a wood kiln some where away from the heavier ash deposits
creating a soft flashing of ash overall with a few areas of build up which
melted and ran down the right shoulder and by plan or serendipity, the pot is
completed. All in all this is a rather eloquent bottle but it has a sense of
purpose (I know, I use that word to often) where the sheer simplicity of the
form has a tremendous amount to share with the viewer. I will never tire of saying
this about a really good pot but the
simpler a piece is in its throwing and form the more complex it is to make it
so and this is where the thousands of hours of throwing and creating make all
the difference.
"To gild refined gold,
to paint the lily............ is wasteful and ridiculous excess." (from
King John) William Shakespeare
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