Touching Earth

About 10 years ago I inherited my father’s wheel and kiln. He was a professor of ceramics and I wanted to honor him by learning how to use them. What a joy to start a new process with endless possibilities of form, color, design, and embrace the unpredictable nature of fire! I use different firing methods including electric, gas, wood and raku, to instill the forms w different qualities from celestial to earth and primal. My background in sculpture draws me to focus on form, exploring relationships between concave and convex lines, angles, and proportions. The clay vessel becomes a metaphor for the human form, with a foot, body, shoulder, and mouth. It is undefined before we shape it, empty until we fill it. From the mailable material of clay our hands create movement and rhythm that resonates with and reflects parts of ourselves. Clay smells like home to me.