CIRCA 1990

I was sent a group of photos a short while back of several of my pots that were in an auction in Cleveland which all date back to my first year at CSU, circa 1990. This illustrated slipware wallbowl was made way back when I had been making pots for about a year and was the origins of the wallbowl which I make to this day. This particular piece probably measures under 14" across and has a black slip base with brushed on sky blue and leaf green and then is completed with thick black trailed accents. If memory serves me, the stains all came from someone who was moving out of the area and was done in clay so I inherited a lot of misc. materials including about 40 pounds of various colorants so I was constantly looking for ways to make use of the materials. I think it important to note that when these were made I had been throwing for about a year and was beginning to hone in on slipware as a preferred way to work which would ultimately be distilled down to mostly black and white work. I distinctly remember making quite a bit of various slip oriented pieces on terra cotta over a two to three month period before really defining what I was after and this pot like quite few others was among the first steps to a journey that has miles yet to go.

"From the end springs new beginnings."  Pliny the Elder

As a mandated public service announcement, don't forget to put away your John Travolta, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER inspired suits until next year as Labor Day is here and white is out.