Pottery Making Illustrated Articles (Simple)

Like many others, I draw inspiration from a wide variety of sources. While these influences may not directly shape what I create, they more simply inspire me to get to the studio and make something of my own.

The vast empty surface of a plate reads to me as a blank, three-dimensional canvas. My inspiration comes from botanical and sea forms, re-imagined as abstract imagery.

The smooth surface of a clay vessel calls me to adorn it. I alter designs using digital software while observing patterns from history.

After years of selling industrial parts such as sprockets and gears, I now make functional forms that look like they came out of an old factory, covered in rust, grime, and graffiti.

When making my pouring pots, I tend to draw from a diverse range of inspirations and sources, including 20th-century metal oil cans, geologic features, and the textures left by the natural forces that shape them.

What I connect with most, is being a maker. I find joy in experimenting with processes and materials in my studio practice. In my recent creative exploration, I’ve been making inlaid plates.

I began exploring making my own espresso cup and saucer forms three years ago. My initial curiosity sprung from my desire to make an object that rejected the premise that good pots have walls whose thickness is perfectly even.

Pottery Illustrated: Flower Bricks and Tulipieres

In January of 2023, I sat down with a blank piece of paper to write out my goals for the year. I’ve always admired the 100-day challenges artists do throughout the year. So, I decided to create my own challenge to fit my needs.

In this issue, we focus on regional Utah potters and celebrate the winners of the Pottery Making Illustrated annual contest, Extravagance!

Though ceramics can be a fragile material, my work is influenced by materials that, when structured in a specific manner, provide strength, such as yarn in a weaving.

I often choose handbuilding over wheel throwing to embrace the imperfections that highlight the beauty of handmade objects. I use a variety of surface treatments, guided by what each piece calls for.

By creating a contrast between the unglazed exterior and the colorful interior, I draw attention to the earthy, richly pigmented clay of my forms.

Surrounded by the beautiful gardens around my countryside home, I am often inspired to mirror the twisting tendrils of vines or the endless variety of leaves and flowers in the surface of my clay vessels.

I love the dynamic effects that glazes make when flowing over texture. I use craft foam, which I draw on it with a ballpoint pen to create my own texture marks for glaze effects.

Excerpted From Mud to Music by Barry Hall, published by The American Ceramic Society.

I grew up with a potter dad, and my family loves cooking, feeding friends, and eating. That remains important.