Leaves, Soil and Sun

Wheel-thrown; decorated with slips and glazes. Stoneware; fired to cone 6, in an electric kiln. Ht: 5″; dia: 5″

Life returns, yet again, each spring. I see grasses, reeds and blossoms, bursting forth from the still damp grainy surface of the earth; all bathed in the sun.

To enhance the variety of tones, I trail lines of thick slip onto the still raw clay. These create a surprising roughness, contrasting with the smoothness of the light glaze wash, green for foliage, ochre for soil. Grains of ilmenite sprinkled from my fingertips create an added sense of depth. Sometimes, as a reference to twigs and branches, I apply light dry-brush strokes of black.