One of greatest impressions I brought home from my travels to Mexico last fall was watching potters fire their work in open air pits. When I returned to my studio I suddenly saw my wood burning stove - my heat source- as an untapped opportunity.
Oh, what you can do when you play with fire…
Using an open flame creates the possibility of playing with my pieces in new and exciting ways.
Sugar, coffee, sawdust, dried walnut shells from the property - these simple parts of the everyday can transform the ceramic surface when added to the heat of the fire.
I can use these ingredients with the fire to “draw” and “paint” on the pieces.
The spontaneity, the unexpected, and the surprising results of the open fire process feels so perfectly at home with the clay building process of my work. It encompasses everything I love about being a ceramist.
I am deeply inspired by this new yet familiar path, and look forward to seeing what it has in store for me.
