"No matter how many times you do this, it still seems
miraculous" is a quote from Jack Troy from an interview on the radio for
PA People and a splendid insight in to his nature and in fact, that of many
potters and other craftsman. One thing that sets Troy apart from the pack is
his eloquent abilities in speaking and writing about pottery, not to mention
his skill at presenting unabashed simplicity in his work. His forms, developed
intuitively over decades of creating, have become like mannequins for designer
garb, the forms are created and the anagama wood kiln dresses them in varying garments
of natural ash at intense temperatures. The pots, many of them made of
porcelain are introduced into the kiln, sans glaze and through the also
miraculous process of stoking the wood kiln ever 15 minutes or so over many
days, the pots are made whole and are allowed to become what the fire and ash
had in store for them. The illustrated teabowl by Jack Troy is a beast of a pot
in scale, though it has a simple and humble nature with the marks of the potter
cloaked in glassy ash, creating gesture
and animation that draws one in to investigate the line of the pot ultimately
tipping into the ash covered interior. The simple curves and wandering lip are
exactly the seduction that every pottery collector knows all too well and
completes the conversation with the pot on a multitude of levels; simple in its
beauty, but certainly no simple pot.
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