Bread and Soup

So I told you that it’s spring, things are looking up, and I have some firings coming up. But I didn’t tell you what I’m working on! Well, during the fall I started some figurative/sculptural pieces about relationships. Remember the “community” bottles from 2009? (Here’s a reminder if you don’t). These new pieces come from a similar place, but they’re less abstract. During Portland Open Studios, a family came to the studio saying that they’d been debating whether my footed pots were male or female. I gave them a wishy-washy answer, but was pleased that my pots got them talking. Later that week, I told a friend about the conversation. He said something about not worrying about it unless I made pairs. That got me thinking. The next weekend I started what would become a series of pots about body language and the interactions between people. Two pairs are finished, two are waiting to be wood fired, and I have ideas for a few more. I hope to eventually display them together, either at the studio or elsewhere. Still ambiguously gender-neutral.

Maybe it’s the articles, the approach of Spring, or something else entirely, but I’ve been hungry for home-cooked food lately. Veggie soup, roasted potatoes, bread, quiche, lemon curd. I’ve been making functional work–tall mixing bowls, wide serving bowls, soup bowls. My mom’s big bread bowl is v-shaped and heavy with big, soft throwing rings. The bowls I’ve been throwing are more rounded but have similar throwing rings. I also like big, round feet on my bowls, to give them some visual lift, and something to grip while mixing and washing. Humm, think I’ll go bake some bread…