Description
I made JT Landscape Vase on the potter’s wheel from a toasty brown stoneware clay. I start from a cylinder with no bottom. When the clay is still quite soft, just firm enough to manipulate without it collapsing, I remove the cylinder from the bat and put it on a ware board. Now the fun begins. With one hand on either side of the cylinder I gently but firmly move the cylinder inward. My goal is to reference the sides of a canyon or southwestern palisade perhaps. I enjoy the smoothness of the wall and the softness, and I handle the clay as little as possible, allowing it to “move into place” with the least amount of effort.
This JT Landscape Vase is asymmetrical and is drawn in slightly off center with two openings not exactly the same. And I did this intentionally as it makes the piece more visually interesting. Drop your favorite bouquet of flowers and easily distribute throughout the canyon walls. I like to think of the flowers springing up from the landscape.
I call the surface treatment “Joshua Tree” because the combination of earthy red iron oxide with subtle glazes somehow reminds me of Joshua Tree National Forest. Go figure. I start by rubbing red iron oxide into the clay. Next I dip the upper portion in a red gold matte glaze, but only the upper third. Also, the interior is lined with red gold glaze. I then overlap the red gold with a copper green glaze that I make. This creates a sheeting, mirrored effect over the earthiness of the red iron.
Fired to 2200 degrees F. Water tight. Stable and durable. Makes a great wedding, anniversary, housewarming, or anytime gift.
Compare to Taos Oval Vase
8.25”H x 6.25″L x 2.5″Deep (at it’s widest point)
