Process All my work is made by coiling; joining ropes of clay to form a wall, which allows me to produce asymmetrical forms. As I can only build four or five inches before the softness of the clay causes instability and slumping, I work on at least three pieces at a time (sometimes many more), moving from one to another, the process occupying a period of many weeks. I value this because there is time to loose self-conciousness, and time to allow the pieces to grow and evolve. I shape and scrape the form as the piece grows, but the marks that occur in the making - scratches, undulations, indentations and distortions - I enjoy and keep in the finished work as natural surfaces evolve in nature. The clay is heavily grogged and fires off-white. The grog adds to the texture. My earlier work featured large brushed gestures of blue or black slip, the whole piece covered with a matt white glaze. Now, in my latest work I want the form to speak for itself. I now use white or black slip sparingly, and allow the kiln to put a blush on the surface without glaze. The kiln, a Lattimer/Miller (Miller - life partner without whose support etc...!) mark 4, has now been rebuilt three times as each batch of work has grown in height! It is made of loose laid very light, high insulation brick. The kiln has a maximum height of 6ft 4ins at the highest point of the arch. The setting space is 4ft 6ins square. It is fired by four gas burners. The flame passes up through the setting and is forced down to an under floor flue. There is light reduction from 900 to top temperature, followed by half an hour of oxidisation. The work is once fired to 1315 degrees centigrade. |
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