Creative Process

I currently work with stoneware and porcelain clays that I throw on the wheel and alter. I love to incorporate elements of texture into my work that I carve, impress or stamp into the clay at specific stages of the making. After each form is complete, when the clay is leatherhard, the pieces are each dipped into flashing slips. These thin clay slips will flash warm earth tones from the soda firing.  Once the pots are bone dry, they are bisque fired, glazed, wadded, and loaded into the soda kiln. For the last three years I have been fortunate to rent the use of other potters kilns to fire my work.  One of them is a gas fueled cross draft soda kiln, and the other is a similarly sized kiln and is fired with wood and soda. During the end of the firing, a soda ash solution and a baking soda mixture is sprayed and dumped into a port in the kiln.  These magical ingredients then vaporize and travel throughout the kiln, landing on the pots stacked within the shelves. The soda acts as a glaze on the pots, creating variation and directional tones within the clay surfaces.  After the firing, the kiln will need to cool for two days, and then its time for unloading and soaking in all the results! After the firing, the pots are lightly sanded to smooth out rough spots from the wadding marks and soda.  Then I weave basket reed into a handle to fit on the jars, teapots and decorative baskets.