RAMH.ARTS — Making, Design & Reflection through Art, Craft and Systems

Clay & Fire

This heart is one of many pieces I used as test tiles. I couldn’t help being impressed by the color results. Glazes, minerals, elements, and other pigments simply dropped into the glaze. The clay body is terracotta.

A plate built from custom clay and glazes, splashing the materials to draw a tree.

I made a few, fired them, and family started ordering. Then others did too. They sold very quickly. I should make them again someday 🙂

I have the recipe for this glaze somewhere. It turned out unexpectedly beautiful. They sold like hotcakes.

These are Latin American–style terracotta tazas. Made from a custom terracotta that almost vitrifies and is polished to seal it. They are functional as is.

A low-fire crackle glaze. Tension, cooling, and time made visible.

Gerstley borate, manganese, and tin glaze on terracotta.

Plates.

Small ceramic basket

Low-fire glaze with green pigment.

Tall Ashtray.

Decorative plate, white and black pigment.

Oval tray.

The power of routile.

A ceramic rooster

RAKU pot

Ready to fire

Little holes in the head, for the insense to come out.

Set of terracotta cups

A ceramic pot for a plant.

Testing a red pigment

Fired to a rock

Terracotta espresso cup.
Hand-built, custom-made terracotta and glaze.

These pieces come out of long processes with heat, material, and uncertainty.

They’re not illustrations of an idea.

They’re the result of decisions made before, during, and sometimes after the firing.

Clay holds form.

Fire tests it.

Some surfaces melt.

Some resist.

Some crack, shift, or surprise you.

I work with refiring, layering glazes, and pushing materials close to their limits.

Not to perfect them, but to see how far they can go without losing their integrity.

Each piece carries the memory of what it went through:

heat, time, tension, cooling, and choice.

What you see here isn’t decoration.

It’s material that has been stressed, transformed, and allowed to settle into its final state.