Islands in the Stream 2

Wheel-thrown jar, with three glazed panels decorated with further trails of slip and glaze.

The Islands in the Stream series of vases reflects the quiet streams, ponds and lakes that I have come to know so well in Ontario. In these three sun-dappled ponds, their cool waters break creating islands as they flow gently to the sea.

Height: 23 cm; width at widest point: 21 cm.

White stoneware clay, fired to cone 5 with 20 minute hold, in oxidation.

Islands in the Stream 1

Wheel-thrown jar, with three glazed panels decorated with further trails of slip and glaze. I am using the copper carbonate glaze as I have in the past, but fired a little lower than before. The lower firing gives a cooler blue-green tinge to the glaze.

The Islands in the Stream series of vases reflects the quiet streams, ponds and lakes that I have come to know so well in Ontario. In these three sun-dappled ponds, their cool waters break creating islands as they flow gently to the sea.

Height: 25 cm; width at widest point: 23 cm.

White stoneware clay, fired to cone 5 with 20 minute hold, in oxidation.

Earth Bowls

Bowls made by throwing a combination of porcelain, stoneware and terracotta clays. At Earthplaystudio, Hout Bay, Cape Town December 2024.

Dimensions, for both bowls: height: 5 cm; diameter at rim: 15 cm

Earth Vases

Pots made by throwing a combination of porcelain, stoneware and terracotta clays. At Liss Claassens, Earthplaystudio, Hout Bay, Cape Town. December 2024.

Both pieces: height: 9 cm; diameter: 9 cm. Fired to cone 6, in oxidation.

Patterns on the Sand 1

I start by wedging a porcelaneous clay, then insert torn slices and chunks of black clay here and there. At the wheel, I work the clay until it is carefully centered, before pulling up the walls and opening out the belly. The clay looks a little dark, and messy.

I leave it to dry till the next day, either in a damp box, or covered in plastic (it’s winter now in Canada, and with the heat on, the clay would otherwise dry far too quickly).

The magic comes the next day, when the time comes to trim the piece. As the surface clay peels away, little by little the swirling colour beneath is revealed.

Height: 15 cm; diameter: 15 cm. White stoneware, and black stoneware; fired to cone 6, in oxidation.

Fish Hoek Reverie

I threw this piece while in Cape Town, at the Kommetjie pottery, Zizamele. I was intrigued by the potters’ excellent use of underglazes, and thought I would give it a try too. Then brought it home, not yet glazed (below). I was still in the watercolour mood, following the two University of Cape Town summer school art classes.

Perhaps I should have left it at that. However, once home again, I coted it in a glossy transparent glaze, as I felt it to be rather bare. But that made the colours too stark. As a last resort, I coated it all over with a light yellow slip, and fired it again to cone 6.

Stoneware, underglazes, glaze, and slip. Fired in oxidation, to cone 6.

12 cm x 12 cm

Catalpa, small

This piece is inspired by trees, specifically one tree, a Northern Catalpa (number 9 in the official listing of Remarkable Trees of Canada’s Capital), growing along the Rideau River, in Ottawa, close to where I live.

I start by throwing cylinder on the wheel, then force the clay outwards until the rim starts to give way, recalling the idea of leaves waving in the breeze. After the first glaze firing, I add touches of porcelain, as a reminder of the Catalpa’s white, orchid-like blossoms.

Stoneware, porcelain, and glaze. Fired to cone 6, in oxidation.

Diameter: 21.5 cm, 11.5 cm

Catalpa (1)

Distorted, wide-winged vase.

Glaze applied with varying thicknesses, creating colours ranging from yellow/ochre at rim, to grey, and then to green, matte in some areas, glossy in others. Yellow slip applied over the glaze, when fired to cone 6 in oxidation, creating a contrasting, roughened, volcanic effect.

My hope was to evoke the sense of a tree moving with the wind, with delicate white spring buds piercing the foliage, reaching for the light.

Stoneware, with porcelain inserts, fired to cone 6, in oxidation

Diameter at widest point: 30 cm, height at highest point: 14 cm