The pots in this series are made from the same red earthenware clay that I use for all of my work. Three different local clays that I dig near my home in northern Orange County are used to create the textured surface of these pots. One is directly beneath my studio about 12” down (I found it while digging post holes), one from nearby Little River and the third,  a bright orange, very clean and slick clay that comes from a termite mound in the woods.  These clays are used pretty much straight out of the ground with the natural bits of gravel, sand and organic matter still present. Some I have painted on in a liquid form, some have been rubbed into the surface while dry, others have had the dried clay pressed into the surface of the still wet pot. Glazes and some commercially available clays are used to enhance the surface variations.

  All of my pots are first and foremost about the shapes. When I began working with this technique several years ago I found that I loved the way these irregular textured surfaces seem to greatly emphasize the organic nature of the forms. The lack of structure on the surfaces acts as a sharp contrast to the precision of the shapes.