E-mail Jill
E-mail Sean

Tel:  509.466.4612

jill 

 

heart sheild  heart shield

Jill and Sean Smith

Clay Fox Pottery

I grew up making mud pies. As a child I was constantly creating masterpieces in my sandbox by day and coloring “out side the lines” in my color books at night.  Still “mud –minded” I studied ceramics at the University of Puget Sound, graduated with a BFA and later received a MFA from Whitworth College. In 1972,  I established the Clay Fox Pottery and happily became a studio potter with my hands in mud ever since!

Raku fired pottery has been my current love for the last 8 years. Rooted in the Zen philosophy of simplicity and a harmonious interaction between all things, raku to me is a coming together of clay, fire and soul. The process involves brushing a clay pot or slab with a metallic glaze, placing it in a small kiln and firing it to about 1800 degrees. This is a “low fire” temperature compared to most pottery and leaves the clay itself still very porous. The pot is then removed with tongs while it is red hot and placed in a garbage can full of newspaper that instantly ignites. Raku is the sport of pyromaniacs! The flame and smoke bring out the lusters in the glaze and turn the exposed porous clay permanently black. Depending on the dancing flame, each piece is uniquely different. I like the interaction that happens between my work in clay and the spontaneity of the flame… a true spiritual merging of potter, clay and fire.

I have a studio on the banks of Peone Creek in the Little Spokane River valley just north of Spokane, WA. My current line of work expresses that closeness to the earth, trees and stream that are right outside my studio window. Nature, my life long teacher, has inspired me with leaf designs that start out so temporary and then are preserved forever as impressions in clay.

More>>

 

Home

ArtStyle Northwest
901 West Garland Avenue
Spokane, WA 99205
509.325.4070
Contact Us


WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY   10:00 AM TO 6:00 PM
Or by appointment


©Copyright 2008-2009 ArtStyle Northwest. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this website may be reproduced without the permission of the artists.