Process

Carving

My designs are carved on leather hard pieces using small carving tools. Often times I will apply a coat of underglaze or slip and carve over it. The pieces are bisque fired to cone 07(1800℉) in an electric . Once out of the kiln , the designs that don’t have any slips or underglazes are  stained with an oxide and then wiped off, darkening  the carved lines. The carved area is resisted with liquid wax and then the piece is ready to be glazed and fired to 2200℉.

Leaf application

It all starts with a walk in the woods to collect fresh leaves.  Once my pieces achieve the “leather hard” drying phase, the leaves are pressed creating a design. Next a band of black oxide is applied to the pieces. Once the oxide dries,  the leaves are removed . The ware is then fired to cone 07(1789℉) in an electric. Before glazing , brown oxide is applied to the leaves and wiped off, staining the veins. Each leaf is resisted with liquid wax using a small brush and lots of patience. The pieces are then ready to be glazed and fired to cone 6 (2232℉) .

Developing the designs

I keep a notebook where I sketch many of my designs. My inspiration comes from nature and from botanical studies. Using tissue paper, I create a template to best fit the shape of the piece to be decorated. The pot is coated with black slip or with layers of underglazes . The designs are transferred using a ball point tool. The piece is carved using a small loop tool. The last details are added using a slip trailing bottle.

The pieces are bisque fired to cone 07 (1789℉) , glazed using a clear glaze and fired to cone 6 (2232℉).

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