NUDGE

Brilliantly animated beaked pouring vessel by Minnesota potter, Jeff Oestreich. The pot is composed of rather simple pieces-parts to create a wonderfully conversant functional pot that is so much more than that. The elements of the pot work well with the wax resisted decoration and glaze all finalized as a result of a soda firing all the way back in the early 1990s. Having had the opportunity to study with and act as a studio assistant back at Haystack, watching Jeff work, his concentration, meticulous technique and ability to nudge the clay into unique and compelling forms was quite a treat with this pot being quite the little treasure. Having had and cared for this pot for almost three decades, on numerous occasions it was pressed into service and works like a champ where in its use, once washed again and set away to dry, the piece glistens in its momentary wetness adding yet another pleasurable feature to its arsenal of appeal. By sheer fortune, years after acquiring this pot, a mate came along, almost the same exact shape and size but with a differing decoration but that will have to wait for another day. In this case one is enough but where one is good, two is surely better.