Wheel Thrown

PROCESS

I have been lucky to live in many places.

Few of them have the common denominator of being located in clay rich areas. I spent a lot of time both in Albisola Capo in Northern Italy and the Sierra Nevada in Northern California . I currently live in the Ottawa Valley of Ontario where clay soils are less predominant but can still be found along the banks of creek and rivers.

My pottery work with clay involves wheel thrown as well as hand built vessels.

I work with both commercial and local clays. I started with commercial clay, sculpting for the first four years and then learning the art of wheel throwing. Over the last two years I learnt to dig and wash wild clays, cook them in the primitive way of open pit fire.

The majority of my necklaces are made with wild clays.

I use a variety of old methods to finish my vessels. Some cups are hand burnished which is the equivalent of polishing clay with a smooth stone, others are coated with earthen pigment mostly from Italy. I also employ the old technique called “sgraffito” which reveals patterns by way of scratching away the pigment previously applied. My designs draw partly from the ancient Etruscan civilization of Northern Italy and partly from the Pueblo traditions. Recently I started studying old cross stitching patterns and translating them into the ceramic designs.