Covert Potters Association

Support. Inspire. Create. Renew.

So, I was hoping to be apart of the last AFTA exhibit to benefit the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens. I put all my eggs in one basket and failed miserably. The large shadow box cracked in the bisque fire. Lesson learned. This time around, First, I changed my clay body from B-Mix wood fire to paper clay. Paper clay takes a licking and shows no stress.  Second, I scaled down the size. My original box was about 30 lbs. of clay. Yes, I realize now how crazy that was. Third, I did one box in B-Mix wood fire and I’m drying it slowly and I have detached the inner shadow box from the bottom of the box. It will be bisque firing this week end on a large cookie. Fingers crossed. 

As a potter, you have to think: What do I want to do? What do I want to say? And how do I do that technically? I wanted to create a permanent clay box that had a space to put the reclaimed artifact I collected from the wilderness park. I wanted the clay space around the artifact to reflect the place and nature that the find came from. And yet spoke of the renewal that is going on at the park. I feel  nature is a force to be reckoned with: the seed is strong and the land is fertile. And we are helping with the process along. 

 This is a very moldy paper clay box. turns out that is a common problem with this clay. Good thing, it burns out.

 This is the same box after I craved my leaf motif. I was getting ready to glaze this.

A snippet of the finished box with chard wood in the shadow box. 

Power tools to help cut the wood. Sweet.