Experiments and New Directions

I've been having a great time with this red clay, which is a real pleasure to handbuild with. 

Because it has such a rich,dark, vitrified surface when fired to cone 10, I have been thinking a lot about objects whose surfaces are built into them, coming from the inside out, rather than being applied.

I've also been thinking about how the methods of construction create not only form but also surface, and how form and surface can become one.

With these serving dishes and flower containers, I have also been thinking a lot about forms that are completed by what they hold. I am seeking forms that by themselves, empty, will have a feeling of absence and waiting, until they are completed by their contents- bright yellow lemons, red and orange flowers, perhaps a purple eggplant and a green zucchini, perfectly complemented by the quiet, dark forms that contain them.

I hope to show action shots of these guys very soon, once the are out of the kiln!

Coming up with new ideas seems to be part of the process.  When the studio is at its best it is like a conversation, playful and flowing.   Ideas come out of that flow, rather than being imposed from outside. This keeps them from being contrived.

-Simon Levin, from an interview with Jen Allen http://jenniferallenceramics.com/