Interested in more studio and process photos? See my About page on Etsy .
Tea tastes better in a handmade mug! So does coffee!
Not only do I love to use handmade pottery, I love to create it. I make functional pottery that is well-balanced and pleasing to the eye and touch. Usefulness is an inseparable element of the aesthetic of my pottery. I get a great deal of satisfaction from creating pieces enjoyed by people for daily use. When you pour tea from one of my teapots, it needs to feel right. The balance needs to be perfect. The tea needs to pour smoothly. My pottery integrates form and function so that the resulting work is as beautiful as it is useful.
I work in buff stoneware, firing the pieces to Cone 10 in a reduction atmosphere. I use a variety of techniques to achieve design. The simplest decoration is achieved overlapping glazes. In some instances, patterns are brushed onto the surface of the bisqued pot.
©Terry Parker Yellow Salt / Turquoise Berry Bowl, Stoneware
In other instances, pieces are carved with designs when leather hard and the carved areas of the bisqued pot are filled with glaze and waxed.
©Terry Parker Yellow Salt Bud Vase, Stoneware
These pots are finished by dipping or pouring glaze over the decorated surfaces. Other times, I wax a design onto the pot after dipping into a glaze and then spray an oxide over the waxed design.
A variation on this, is to dip a pot into a glaze after first glazing the inside if the pot is not flat, wax a design onto the glaze and then dip the pot into a contrasting glaze.
Another technique I use is to texture to the surface before throwing the pot which requires that a portion of the form be thrown from the inside without touching the outside surface. These pieces are completed by layering glaze over the textured surface where the first layer is wiped from the raised surface before pouring the second glaze layer.
©Terry Parker Yellow Salt Textured Teapot, Stoneware
Personally I get pleasure from living with, enjoying and the functional art in my home every day. As an artist, I get a great deal of satisfaction from creating pieces that people love to use.
Interested in more studio and process photos? See my About page on Etsy .