Due to the variety of glazes and firing each piece is a unique piece of art. The shape, color and size will have the look and quality of the piece shown.
The fish are fired in the Americanized Raku tradition, the unpredictable glazes making each one unique. Raku is an ancient Japanese process that was brought to America over 100 years ago. Unlike commercial pottery it uses a different clay, glazes and kiln to get the beautiful irridecent effects. The pieces are brought up to heat in under and hour and pulled incandescent from the kiln and put into sawdust to burn the oxygen from the glaze minerals, resulting in copper looking like a new penny rather than an oxidized green. The timing of the reduction has the greatest effect on color, giving only a few seconds before the whole kiln load has cooled too far to get the pretty colors. This means only firing a few pieces at a time and makes each piece very unpredictable, and the firing very exciting.
Blue Tang, 12 inches
A little bit about Raku. If you have ever looked at the beautiful copper pots in galleries, or crackle white pots with black crackles and accents, you were probably looking at raku pottery.
The smoke fired Kitty is the most ancient form of firing, unglazed, it relies on the black smoke of a deep fire to burn the carbon into the surface. Hand burnishing gives the rough clay a velvety softness to the touch.
I have tried to make my artwork reflect the essence of my experiences, whether it is the graceful line of a sleeping cat, or the changing iridescence of the fish underwater. I have been a diver for over 10 years, and I hope the joy of the water shows in my art. I have worked with clay for over 20 years, the combination of earth, water and fire to create form, function and art has always inspired me to new challenges.
Due to the variety of glazes and firing each piece is a unique piece of art. The shape, color and size will have the look and quality of the piece shown.
Due to the variety of glazes and firing each piece is a unique piece of art. The shape, color and size will have the look and quality of the piece shown.
