A surprise in the kiln

I wanted to explain a bit more why my work looks like it does. Hand thrown porcelain id famously hard to make but I went straight for the most difficult challenge.

I chose the medium of porcelain because of its whiteness and its safety for eating and drinking. I then had to adapt it to my personality. Porcelain is the clay most similar to glass in its fired state, it can be shaped in very thin vessels and it allows very delicate work of translucent papery surfaces.

Another specialty of porcelain is that when taken to the top temperature in the kiln becomes soft again, risking loosing the definition of shapes created by the maker.

I like flowing lines, soft curves and I am vey rebellious with rules. I fight constantly with the saying: “less is more” that many teachers keep reminding me. When I sit at my wheel I like to pull the material to its limit of thinnes and then push it into waves and indentations. I must confess that sometimes I am punished by the material and a whole kiln is rubbish, but then sometimes between the disaster there is a real gift, and this was the surprise I found yesterday when I opened it.