48. Amy Clark, miniature wood-fired vase

48. Amy Clark, miniature wood-fired vase

Amy Clark is a potter in York, Maine. Her studio, Ocean Fire Pottery, is next to her house. “The pottery I make,” she states, “is earthy and created to be used and enjoyed. . . . I create simple forms with natural colors in hopes of evoking serene, effortless emotions from the user.” For more on her and pictures of her work, visit her website: www.oceanfirepottery.com.

Light gray clay, the interior and the upper part of the exterior were glazed in a gray color; exterior decorated with brown slip, with colors from wood-firing. Weight: 72 g (2.5 oz). Rim diameter: 3.4 cm (1-1/4 in); maximum diameter: 4.7 cm (1-7/8 in); base diameter: 3.5 cm (1-3/8 in). Height: 5.5 cm (2-1/4 in).

This sits directly on the base. The artist’s mark, “Ocean Fire Pottery York Maine” has been stamped into the base. The walls rise outward in more or less a straight line to the maximum diameter, which is 2 cm (3/4 in) above the base. After a brief arc around the maximum diameter, the walls then move inward, again in more or less a straight line, to the neck, which is 2.7 cm (1-1/16 in) wide and 4.7 cm (1-7/8 in) above the base. From the neck the walls flare outward slightly to the rim. The walls are comparatively thick for the size of the piece.

This follows much the same glazing and decorating program as item 51. The interior and the upper part of the exterior down to about the maximum diameter have a gray glaze. The exterior was decorated in curving lines using a brown slip. The ends of these lines extend over the base of the pot; I infer from this that Clark held the pot upside down when drawing these lines. During the wood-firing, the pot acquired additional colors. The lower part of the exterior (the part not covered by glaze) is largely a dark red in color. The upper part is mottled creams and tans. A portion of the pot just above the base has no coloring, allowing the clay color to show. The pot is much speckled on the outside with ash. The interior of the pot is colored red. The upper part of the exterior has a sheen from the natural ash glazing.

For such a small pot, a lot is in play here. The curving brown lines impart motion and freedom to the piece. The colors laid down by the wood-firing and the ash specks are entirely random. 

Purchased at the artist’s studio, Ocean Fire Pottery, York, Maine, September 2019.