Porcelain vase made over a few days (it’s been humid). Rolled slab and made body, added bottom. Since this is a larger piece than the tumblers, I used a different tool for carving, and the proportion of figure and ground is different. As I was carving the vase yesterday, I was thinking about a drawing assignment I once had - to fill some number of pages with beautiful marks.

More whiskey cups. The rocket ships have made a comeback (they’ve appeared on bigger cups) as have the dancing people. Also added the slash indentation; even on the small guys, it catches the thumb nicely. The gloss is a little bit of wax on the rim (it burns off) to help the clay dry evenly. I like how these are going.

Have a few pieces in the soda kiln right now; they’ll be unloaded Friday afternoon.

It happens, once an artist is around, that people will ask him to make something specific. This entry is meant to be a reference document, to describe what one should expect when requesting work. Everyone has a process: this is a bit about mine.

Obviously, requests are welcome. I enjoy solving design problems. First, please check out Philosophy, Part One to see some thoughts on where I’m coming from as an artist, as well as the about me and about work pages.

There is a limitation to my willingness to take requests - I only make the kinds of things that I make, in the way that I make them. (Since you like my work anyhow, this shouldn’t be an insurmountable hurdle.)

The timeframe in going from a suggestion to an object could range from a couple of months to several years. Usually at the shorter end, but one never knows.

Clay is not my primary profession - that’s architecture. Ceramics is a purer form of design and architecture - instead of writing a manual for someone else to build from, I do the design and the construction. I’m the client, and only have to answer to myself if I have some idea that takes forever to bring to life.

I approach clay as an architect. We’re responsible for concieving designs while considering construction methods: likewise, I think of appearance, function, and the ceramic process when designing a piece. Every piece draws from past work, making for an organic process; one could diagram my work over the last few years (inclusive of academic architectural projects, photography, drawing, painting, &c.), web the interrelationships, and show the lineage of outside influences, individual ideas.

Lots of things I’ve been thinking about doing but haven’t tried:

Big houses. Not absurdly big, but larger than a napkin holder. 1/4″ thick slabs. Edit 3Jan08: Wood fired a couple over Labor Day 2007 with outstanding results.
Porcelain vase type things, with the leafy design. Various sizes, thicknesses, scribing tools.Edit 3Jan08: Had a couple at the Bucktown show. Did a couple in wood+salt without leaves. Made a couple more for soda, trying new details on these large vessels.

Scented oil holder. Place for a tealight in the bottom, airflow to the top, and a dish to hold oil. Conceptual sketches.Edit3Jan08: Abandoned this idea for now

Trays, I’ve still held off in size on trying anything big enough for dinner or serving.Edit3Jan08: Getting them through the soda kiln is tricky, since they’re flat and all, but I’ve got a good number of completed ones now.

Cups with the little sketches. Do in pairs?Edit3Jan08:I don’t know what I was thinking of here.

Little sauce dishes, big enough to be useful. Try some in porcelain with the leafy design?Edit3Jan08: And quite useful as test tiles too!

Chopstick holders.Edit3Jan08: Still do be done.

Tiles; leafy patterned and sketched upon.Edit3Jan08: Abandoned this idea for now

Mosaic with small T6s tiles.Edit3Jan08: Abandoned this idea for now

While I’m trying the different forms, I’ll probably stick to my favorite combinations for materials and surfaces - the four glazes with BB’s SFAO or porcelain, and FCSI with Tile 6 slip, line drawings or carving, and the Woo Blu glaze that I make for myself.Edit3Jan08: I will probably abandon the SFAO in favor of T6’s softer surfaces, and work with temoku and woo blu, leaving the flashier copper glazes behind.

This is a general description of my work. When an art show application only has three lines, and I make all kinds of amusing/beautiful/useful things, it’s a challenge to find the common threads, describe what I care about in design, and make every word count. I think this skims the surface:

Soda fired handbuilt stoneware and porcelain characterized by a looseness of form. Surfaces use materials and techniques - flashing slips, oxides, carving, glazes - that are enhanced by atmospheric firing. Visually engaging pieces from everyday tableware to optionally functional sculpture.

Thought goes into design, and design evolves throughout the process of fabrication, further evolving during repetition. A design studio professor once commented that my process resembled that of Sol LeWitt, while the results bore more resemblance to Andy Goldsworthy’s. There’s an idea in everything.