tall vase with various glazes
by stephanie hart
approximately 36 high x 13cm
“my father was a mad hungarian potter (amongst other things), and years after his passing, i felt drawn to the clay.
i love the clay. i feel a total creative immersion when i work with clay – it’s something kind of cellular.
i instinctively build big and fast – then shape and fashion slowly. i feel a slightly embarrassing primal connection with the clay, and find my works often seem to retain a feeling of nature about them .
i prefer to hand build and rarely begin a piece with a firm vision. i am led by the pot as it forms and often take a different tangent depending on the texture or dryness of the clay and the way it sits or fits with what was formed just before. i like to blend clays and experiment with oxides and glazes – sometimes pouring and tipping quickly, following a line or a curve. sometimes the result is quickly satisfying, sometimes i will take to the brush or scraper to add some line-work or etch away a section, or fossick for some foliage to imprint in the clay.
i feel particularly satisfied when something emerges from the kiln having been further battered by the elements and gives a feeling of burnt wood, or is reminiscent of a large birds egg, or the glaze looks like reeds or tentacles.
i hope this current collection evokes a feeling of nature while being functional and satisfying to hold or own. i hope you enjoy it.
with thanks steph “
