I always knew there was more to a piece of pottery than what is seen on the outside, whether actual or imaginary. In my own way, I like to give a peek at what surprise may be underneath. I've developed a technique that I call "Peeling Layers" where I throw a piece and then peel back part of it to reveal a surprise within. In reality, I roll out thin strips of clay and attach them to the exterior of the thrown piece with slip. Sometimes some carving is necessary to create the true illusion of a peeled and tearing layer. I enjoy the unexpected element this adds since the viewer's eye expects to see an intact vessel.  Peeking under the layer and being surprised with a totally different look can be exciting. Also, there is a little bit of "naughty" in some of my pots with a raised skirt or split seam, and it makes people laugh..

The pot on the left was thrown with the intent of adding a slight bit of "peeling". But, as the piece talked to me, I was seeing (and hearing) a loud, determined, opera singer getting the last long note out. I knew right away that a curtain had to be pulled back to show the colorful singing and acting at an opera. I rolled out a much larger strip of clay for the "curtain" and, instead of tearing the edges, I did a clean cut.  There is only a small portion of the curtain attached to the piece (approximately1/2 an inch) and, because the right side is so wide, I had to tack the corner to the vase with a decorative pressed stamp.  The entire piece was dipped in a satin black. I then carefully wiped off the black in the "colorful" area to leave the black outlines.  I was also pleasantly surprised to find that the texture of the curtain obtained from the slab cloth, caused the glaze to be much lighter and set off just the right difference between the vase and the curtain

Sassy Apron was my first try at adding clothing to a piece rather than doing a peel back. Just like my peeling technique, I rolled out a long thin slab of clay.  But with this piece I gathered ruffles rather than rolled the edges.  It was tricky attaching the ruffles to the pot in a way that makes the ruffles look like they continue. To make this work, the slab strip had to be much wider (approximately 3 inches.) I connected the strip between each ruffle first then carefully smoothed the ruffles into the pot. When the apron in front didn't seem like enough, I added the same apron to the opposite side. Then it was clear; she was that sassy gal that could make things happen!  To show a distinct difference between the aprons and "underside", I dipped the entire pot in Pebble Stone #1155-10. Then I brushed on 2 layers of Textured Autumn #1145-10 to the apron and interior. Both of these are cone 6 glazes from Big Ceramic Store. Sometimes glaze mixtures can be a disappointment but this time it was just the opposite.  As you can see, the Autumn glaze has blues and browns that were encouraged to run by the extra undercoat of Pebble Stone. To my thrill, this piece was sold the moment it was pulled from the packing box at a North Carolina gallery!

Contrasting, bright colors are very soothing to me. The different colors also clearly emphasize the peeling technique. The three pieces above have brushed on glazes. With all the involved, tight areas on the bisque ware, brushed glazes take about 5 times as long as dipping.  I work hard at testing combined glazes that will provide a distinct difference between colors but allow dipping.  I also keep intense glaze records and samples to glance back to and remember what worked and what didn't.

Creating a pot within a pot was exactly what I love…. a challenge. When I saw one of these types online, I wasn't sure if the smaller pot was thrown and placed inside a larger pot or if the two were thrown from the same clay at the same time.  So I tried it both ways.  The piece on the left had the leather hard smaller pot added to the larger piece while it was being thrown.  I found it was difficult to clean and smooth the connection of the two bases until carving began. It was also hard to truly center the small piece inside the larger.  Throwing both pieces at the same time was surprisingly much easier than the first technique. I would pull up the center a short way then pull up the outside to the same height, making sure the base area between the two stayed smooth and as dry as possible.  On the last pull the outside was about an inch higher than the inside so it could be folded down into the small piece then the both could be pulled up together for a finished look. A small hole was poked into the piece to keep pressure from building up while drying .  But I was lucky that I started carving the outside when I did because, evidently the hole wasn't large enough and when I cut into the leather soft clay, a large burp came out.  If I had waited much longer it would have exploded! I truly enjoy the carving but I don't enjoy the extra time it takes. I'm afraid I won't be doing anymore of these pieces until I'm a full time potter.

We all have our favorites and this is one of mine. I wanted to make a piece that would remind us, no matter how broken, ugly or crippled the outside looks, there is always beauty inside.  Once again, I used the same peeling technique mentioned above. But then I added uneven texture to the lower part by pressing crumpled foil into the wet clay.  While doing this, I found it's good to hold something large and flexible on the inside of the bowl to keep the smooth surface. Just using fingers on the inside while pressing on the outside leaves allot of finger prints that adds allot of work to smooth out.  The glazes are Textured Gray Blue HR-23 from Amaco, and as you can tell, my favorite brown Textured Autumn 1145-10.

site last updated Dec. 2, 2006