I added two new pieces to my pottery collection.
The first, is from Iceland by Aldis and I bought it because it captures the essence of Iceland very well. The bottom half is a dark black glaze which is very dense reminiscent of the black volcanic beaches. The top is a dirty white with crystalline shapes beginning to form. This struck me as a representation of the glaciers. where the two meet is a ring of volcanic stone where the two glazes begin to blend. The vessel is small, since I needed to be able to carry it, but well finished and feels good in the hand.
The second piece I picked up this weekend at the Newmarket Art crawl.
It’s by Teresa Dunlop, and it’s bottle vases made of slip cast porcelain and then wood fired. If you look closely you can see the seam on the right where the two halves of the mold meet. What makes this piece so striking is the use use of glaze and wood firing. The bottom if very much marked by the ash and heat of the fire while the top, copper in the glaze, has reddish highlights due to the reduction in the atmosphere of the kiln. While I normally prefer hand-thrown to slip cast pieces I find the abundant roundness of the vessel pleasing.
