This collection grew and built upon it's self until it was almost over whelming to release- but I am here making sense of it! There are three main threads within the collection. These pieces were all made simultaneously - they each influence each other and so to me it makes sense to present them together, as part of a whole.
Every January, I have in recent years begun with pinched pieces. This year I pinched quite a bit, becoming fascinated by a very curvy profile, the through line in these
pieces. The result was a form which is a bit more difficult to achieve with traditional wheel throwing, but lends it's self to the nature of coil building, each coil responding to the direction of the preceding coil beneath it. These pots began to stack up and I really was not sure how I wanted to finish them. But in this slower time of the year, when sales are stagnant and art shows non existent, I reclaimed some time to paint. I wasnt sure what to paint or how it would look but I started with painting what was in front of me and painting what I would be working on next (which would be the hand painted bird works).
I havent painted on paper in so long, what made sense was color studies. The dappling of the vases anchored the paintings, the birds becoming part of the movement and excitement near the top of the painting. These are painted in gouche which has similar
qualities to water color, but is more forgiving and can be used with less water; I enjoy using it in washes and also in thicker, dryer applications when the brush strokes show through. So this is how the dappled vases came to be- color studies in 2d became glaze studies in 3d- a testament to my large glaze library.
All the while, bird pieces were thrown, starting back in January, and slowly were painted, culminating in a final kiln where the painted gold strokes were fixed to each piece (emerging last week!).
Birds and Botanicals
Plaques
I have introduced wall sculptures - this idea must have come to me during those moments of quiet before sleeping away to sleep. The plaques depict a sculpted bird, set upon an oval base. The birds are meant to be poised portrait style, or as though they had just landed for a moment. The base has been embellished with mirror mosaic- which illuminates the pieces from behind, and invites movement to the piece. I used tinted pine or mint colored grout and the effect is just as I had hoped, earthy and verdant.
Below, left: Red Breasted Nuthatch & Mini Pinecone - center: Mourning Dove & Oak/Acorn - right: Yellow Billed Cuckoo & Pawpaw
Below, left and right: Carolina Parakeet & Blueberry (2 available), center: Passenger pigeon & Chestnut
These have a hole hidden by the foliage sculpture at the top. They are mounted screw & stabilizer. As these are a first for me, several also have a hole at the top, which was made to potentially have hanging options. The price of these will reflect that they are my first round of pieces like this, and they will come with instruction for secure hanging.
Note that these do have some heft- but the birds are hollow- so perhaps not as weighty as they appear.
Stoneware, painted underglaze and glaze, gold luster. About 9" long.
Bird Mugs
Bird mugs are back! These are fully painted on each side, with at least two birds pictured, and each listing will show a full view of the piece. These are some of the most time consuming pieces I create- each takes about four hours. A ball of pure white porcelain is thrown, and when the piece has firmed a bit, the surface is painted and carved, often with sculpted touches, a branch handle, the thin reeds of cattails. After the first firing the glaze is painted on adding color and depth, and a coat of clear melts everything together for a blended water color like effect. Finally when they emerge glossy from the kiln, they are hand painted with gold accents and fired one more time to fix these defining, shimmering accent lines. I've taken my time making these pieces, seeking to fill each one with movement and life. They are meant to hold small surprises, maybe a poetic bit that hadn't been noticed in previous usage contemplated over a tea or coffee.
This year there is a focus on birds of the water- a segment I have largely avoided in the past.
English Porcelain, painted underglaze and glaze, gold luster. Holds about 18 oz, 3-4 finger grip handles.
Aquatic Birds
This grouping includes waterfowl, sea birds, and river birds. While searching for reference pictures, I could not help include the young baby birds in these compositions for many of the species represented; water birds undoubtedly have song birds beat for cute chicks!
Songbirds and others
Dessert Plates
A mug must be turned to lay out the visual image - it was fun to paint a little scene on a couple plates; two plates are in blue tones with a Barn Swallow with oranges, and two in bright yellow tones show the Carolina Parakeet with orange accents. The plates are gold rimmed. I would love to see these with a delicate dessert but I also think they would be beautiful mounted on the wall.
Porcelain, painted underglaze and glaze, gold luster. 7.25"w
See video of these being painted Here .
King Fisher Vase
This vase was a throw back to my much younger self. When I was very small, I made a school project about king fishers with hand drawn pages, (this love of birds goes way back!). When I was in my teens in my first years of pottery, I flipped through a ceramics magazine and landed on a vase that was wide, with a long narrow opening. This is a difficult shape to throw even for an experienced potter, I think, because the narrow bit is very sensitive to getting thrown off balance as the neck is being collared in. My teacher could easily have said that I should try a more simple forms. But he didn't, instead he was like, 'we can do that'. And he helped me make it. It was very special to me, so even though I was not ornately decorating pottery at the time, I painted it with kingfishers. I still have the original piece. I was thinking about this story and the power and generousity of a good teacher. And I wondered if I could pull it off- so here it is again, a second version 30 years later.
Mallard Duck Wall Tile
Bird and Vase Prints
The collage below is meant to show you visually how ideas flow. In painting or pinching clay my being enters a flow state. There is concentration, and also an openness to explore possibilities which present themselves throughout the process. This is the ideal creative space, and I hope to explore more through painting this year.
The paintings were made with gouche paint. They are color studies, the hue anchoring the piece in conversation between lively flighty birds, and stable pots inspired by my pinching. Each of these birds called North America their home. Each has passed on. Extinct. We can imagine their joy in life. On the edge of extinction are so many species with our current climate crises. The tsunami of information and sheer direness of life in the digital age makes it all seem truly insurmountable. But the cost is here, and it will be born of all of us, and future generations. I have recently found that my city of Saint Charles is negotiating to continue using coal as our main source of energy. I hope that the citizens of my community will stand to say no to this archaic and out dated energy source, and that we may each make our voices heard when we can, and effect change through our actions. Even bringing our own bags, not using straws, choosing to eat more plants- the effect is small, but the action is also saying, no, this is wrong. And I think putting ourselves in that head space is important even if it can feel fruitless.
First row - Carolina Parakeet. Chartreuse. Extinct 1918.
Second row- Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Violet. Extinct 1987.
Third Row - Passenger Pigeon. Vermillion. Extinct 1914.
Coiled and Pinched Vases Dappled
A vase that can shift or enhance the feeling of a space. These pieces feel strong, stable, feminine, generous. I hope that in their seeming simplicity they do invite further contemplation-
Each of these was built from the bottom up- coil by coil. The outside of the piece is rippled, the effect of my thumb joining each coil to the one beneath it. On the inside of each of these pots, you can see the demarcation lines between each coil as the piece was constructed. These can not be 'production produced' for me.
Coiled pieces offer a different way to build- the piece materializing from the bottom up, and keeping the finished form top of mind as the pot grows layer by layer. A large pot is made over the course of a a day or two, allowing the base to firm before adding more weight.
Honoring the time is takes to make each of these singular pieces, I wanted the glaze to reflect their undulating surface, and take advantage of the small valleys and hills that is the surface of these pots- by brushing on like shades of color (instead of a quick dip) these pots became truly unique. I have decided to sign the bottom of each of these with my name rather then the business name, perhaps a shift I will continue in pieces that feel particularly singular.
You will find color studies in violet, soft earth tone, rich reds and moody blues. Some remind me Italian glass, others are honeyed and the surface is so vibrant and alive that to me it is something else.
With out having a clear path as to glazes which may be best suited for these forms, I gave myself the gift of time, days to let ideas form - the contemplation has yielded pieces which feel new, invite contemplation in their energy, calm yet simmering with life.
The nature of potters tends to be to work in focused sprints. So while in the next months my work will shift to production for Summer markets, I hope to make time for a pinch pot here and there, as these are a fulfilling creative and spontaneous expression for me.
Thank you for browsing the preview! Please let me know if you have any additional questions, I will do my best to get back to you.
Over the coming days I will be cementing my prices, writing and listing full descriptions with more views of each piece.
Wishing you a lovely day,
Emilie
Randomly
OK - one more thing - it may seem silly but I made these eggless waffles last night and they were maybe even better then my egg-ed recipe. They were chewy and developed a thin crust on the outside of the waffle that is unlike my other iterations of this recipe. They remind me of a belgian waffle I had in my childhood and would be prefect with powdered sugar dusted over top. I have a bit of a reputation for waffles at my house, and I wanted to share these particularly good ones with you! I'd like to note that my original recipe is from Melissa Clark but I have made enough changes over the years that I feel comfortable publishing this version here. The recipe is highly flexible (i have even forgotten the butter and it was still good lol). If your into waffles and you make these, let me know how you enjoyed them!
