Screw Top Flask 04

Product description

My work is primarily wheel thrown, together with press moulded plates, and extruded or hand built narrow forms. A new body of work explores the use of 3D printed tap and dies to form ceramic screw threads. I designed these tools using CAD software based on descriptions given by Michael Cardew in “Pioneer Pottery”.

I mainly use iron-bearing stoneware clay to develop richer tones in Shino and Wood Ash glazes, including a glacial clay collected from our property. Variations in tone and texture are achieved using thickened porcelain or terracotta clay slips applied with a Hakame brush or palette knife. My ash glazes incorporate ash from our wood burner as well as rice hull ash. The latter Nuka glazes are opaque due to their high silica content, but yield beautiful interactions with iron oxides and Tenmoku and Kaki glazes.

Granite and other mainly igneous rocks are used as source of feldspar flux and natural colouring oxides. Rock specimens are disaggregated and ball-milled to fine powders using further purpose-built equipment. Simple triaxial blends of Granite/Ash/Clay result in subtle and spontaneous stoneware glaze effects. Work with porcelain includes combinations of Celadon and Copper red glazes. The latter which originate from the Ming Dynasty are difficult to achieve, even in my modern gas kiln. However careful blending of borate-containing recipes has resulted in satisfying Sang de Boeuf colours and glass phase separation effects in recent firings.