Teacups

As a child I could sit for hours drawing the outlines of abstract shapes and then filling them in with color. Getting lost in my imagination with the twists and turns of possible combinations, it was a world of shape and color all my own. This way of working has stayed with me throughout my life as a potter: it feels natural. Bringing dimensional form into this world has not always come as naturally. I have always had to work harder on making the pots than decorating them.

Something that has stayed with me after attending the Pottery Invitational at Worcester center for crafts was watching Rob Sieminski make pots at the demonstrations.

Rob Sieminski

He spoke about what he saw as the importance of having a harmonious connection between the process, the clay, and the earth (to use my own words). I loved watching him work, combining intuition, spontaneity, and skill. He creates beautiful sculpture and vessels that remind me of totems from ancient lands, when objects rang with spiritual energy.

My newest pots are these teacups. A play date between form and ornamentation that brings me back a little bit to those childhood shape and color combinations. 

Looking for artists who work in terracotta (as I do) and bring color, form, and fantasy to their work, I am reminded of Jenny Mendes.  I love her approach to surface design, which is so evocative through the use of narrative imagery.

New Layers

My newest work combines drawing, painting, and resist layering.

With a few different kettles on the stove, I've neglected my blog for awhile. Here is the update of what's been happening. I'm excited about my new website, which you can visit at aderowillard.com.  I hope you will check out. I don't have my Etsy site up and running yet, but hope to update that with my new work.
Not so new, but pots with some alterations:

The clay as part of the design

Combining new colors

Influenced by the forms of Betty Woodman, Molly Hatch, Stephanie DeArmondand, I made a few of these hand built forms. I really enjoyed making and decorating the three forms shown below. If I make more, would like to spend more time considering  form and surface in other ways. 

In order to continue to stay excited about clay and the pots I make, I need to make time to consider new ways of working. This can be hard at times as, to be honest, making a living with pots quickly can become like an assembly line. While production can be enjoyable, satisfying, and even create ingenuity, I find joy and feel energized when I make opportunities for creativity and play. 
The cup below came from the desire to create a resting space from decoration on on my pieces. Here is what I came up with. And yes, I know, there actually is no resting space. 

Finger painting, drawing and resist.

Wanted the grid area to look like a patch.

I've added a finger painting process for making the dots that is really satisfying. I would like to experiment with the materials a bit to see if I can make them blur and bleed a bit. I am currently using underglaze for the dots, but any suggestions are welcome.