The Delicious Dish

   

I find myself revisiting the tulip vase/tulipiere.  I thought I liked the last batch, but these are much stronger.  Isn’t that how it always works when you look back on past work? When I first started to work in clay outside of the university setting, I did too much with each piece, I wanted the pots to have energy, and between my first attempts at creating a patterned surface with glaze and my cutting, darting and hand building on every pot I instead just made an overworked mess. A few years ago I read an article in Studio Potter (can’t remember who wrote it or what issue, sorry) talking about the artist simplifying the form in order to create a stronger surface to decorate.  The article was a light bulb moment for me, knowing I needed not only to simplify the form, but to work on becoming a more capable potter before trying to match the fluidity of glaze and to a vessel in which to support it. So I stopped playing with the form for a time and focused on creating a glaze palate and a semblance of control on the surface while at the same time working on my throwing skills.  Now that I am more confident with both I am starting to manipulate and hand build the form again.  Now I just need to figure out how to glaze them, but luckily I have a few weeks to figure it out while they dry.