Sculpture
And Pottery
About Shirley
I've been on this earth for a long time, and been playing in the mud for
over 30 years. During the long time, raised three daughters--who in
their turn have provided six grandchildren, followed by two great-grand
children. During the playing in the mud years, I have lost some of
those I love and acquired many more to love.
The jobs that I've held have been many and varied--all grist for the mill
of life. Never made too much money, but always seemed to get by. I've
been fortunate in that my need to create art (in whatever form I was
currently working) also created enough cash to pay for the next round
of creativity. Producing/creating the artwork is where I am happiest.
Once the forming is done, I either don't have the desire or maybe the
expertise to do a good job on the glazing end of things. That's why I
keep the finishing touches as simple as possible.
My palette of glaze colors and choices are restricted to oxidation
firings, except for raku. I use commercial lead-free glazes for my stoneware and
raku firings. I came too late to ceramics to be willing to invest the
time and energy into the chemical recipes necessary for glaze
experimentation, so I put my faith in others. Now, raku is my favorite
way of finishing a pot. I love the sponteneity of raku, and the
surprises that can happen in the blink of an eye. I experiment with
raku glazes by underfiring, overfiring, layering and praying. I keep
notes for anything complicated, but for the most part let serendipity
have its way. Maybe not very professional, certainly not scientific,
but my memory is still working and I can usually duplicate my efforts.
I use underglaze a lot on both stoneware and raku pieces. Again, it's a
matter of limiting my exposure to making glaze choices--clear works for
me. My years spent as an oil on canvas artist have given me a level of
comfort working with underglaze colors. I like a clear crackle raku
glaze over the brilliance of the underglaze colors especially when I get
a rich velvety black during the smoking (post-fire-reduction) process.
You'll note that quite a few of my pieces have the word "SOLD" after them. (Hooray for me!) However, you may use them as a point of reference for something you might want. (Hooray for YOU!) We can discuss things by email and see if we can come to a meeting of the minds. Then I'll get to work.
"Does This Make My Butt Look Big?"
Paper clay sculpture in the Conversations Series