Bottle - ceramic - 3.2"x 7.5"

Throwing the forms on a wheel and burnishing them during the trimming process creates the final shape. The burnishing continues until the clay is bone dry. After the bisque firing, the piece is fired for the blue glaze interior. The next firing is for the gold at cone 18. The final phase, laying the horsehair on the ware, is a creative experience for me. It is a very fast and fluid process. The Top Hat kiln is raised to 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. Watching for heat radiant cues on the ware I pick the exact moment to stop the firing, raise the top hat and immediately reduce it with Horsehair inside the kiln. The carbon from the hair embeds into the burnished layers of clay resulting in translucent layers of line and smoke. The temperature of the piece is critical for reducing the carbon from the hair. White lines are made when the hair oxidizes at its hottest point. Dark bold lines are created with thick hair. Finer hairs are laid down last as the piece cools down. They leave a thinner patterning line. The piece is cleaned of horsehair ash revealing its carbon print in the clay. A light buff with wax helps seal the bare clay body. The shine is buffed out with a soft cloth.

Artist BIO

In the 70s, I was a stringer photo journalist for UPI and Associated Press and a darkroom Lab tech. The 80s, Worked as a scenic Artist for a variety of theaters while raising my children. 2007-2016 full time at The Neighborhood Academy, I was the art teacher for grades 8-12. 2016 - 2023, I taught ceramics part time at Lauri Anne West Community Center and Art in the Garden in The Borland Gardens. 2016-2023 I taught Scenic Art classes at Winchester Thurston Upper School. The highly burnished wheel thrown forms take a month or longer to create. After the forms are burnished they are bisque and gold fired. Interiors are glazed with a low fire blue glaze. The final phase is the creative experience for me. It is a very fast and fluid process. The kiln is raised to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. Watching for heat radiant cues on the ware I pick the exact moment to stop the firing and immediately reduced with Horsehair. Drawn to the intimate and painterly approach of horsehair reduction, the process is fast and exhilarating. The carbon from the hair embeds into the burnished layers of the clay resulting in translucent planes of line and smoke. Thicker hair give different results than the thinner hair. The temperature of the piece is critical to how the hair will reduce for certain affects. White lines are made when the carbon oxidizes at its hottest point. Dark bold lines are created with thick hair when the piece is near its hottest. Finer hairs leave patterning and thinner line. These are laid on the piece when it has cooled down yet still absorbs carbon.