Wheel thrown, Hand-carved and Burnished

I use earthenware clay to throw/make the pots. After trimming the piece, when the clay is ‘bone-dry’ I carve the surface with a combination of metal and wood tools. I then apply the ‘terra sigilata’ (sealed earth) to the area of the pot that I will then burnish with a piece of black jade or chamois cloth. This terra sig is made from clays or stains or oxides and is applied in layers to the surface. The burnishing process aligns the clay particles in the slip, which yields the ‘shine’ to the finished surface.

The pots are then ‘bisque fired’ to a temperature between 1550˚ - 1875˚ to remove the chemical water from the clay. After that, they pots are placed in an outdoor kiln, filled with hardwood sawdust and/or shavings. The smoke from the fire imparts different patterns on the pots as the clay body absorbs different amounts of the carbon. I use only hardwoods (maple, cherry Mahogany, etc.) as soft woods (like pine) impart an oily or blotchy stain to the pots as they contain creosote.

These pots are decorative in function as they are not ‘vitrified’ to a high enough temperature to ‘hold water’.