89. Lauren Garlick, large built-up vase

89. Lauren Garlick, large built-up vase

Lauren Garlick is a Boston-area artist. For more on her and other examples of her pottery, see www.tbzonlineartshow.com/lauren-garlick.html.

White clay, green, black, and cream glazes; base left unglazed. Weight: 1286 g (2.9 lb). Rim and maximum diameter: 14.3 cm (5-3/4 in); base diameter: 8.7 cm (3-1/2 in); Height: 22 cm (8-3/4 in).

This is a hand-built pot. The base is a bowl. It sits directly on the flat base, which has been inscribed “LAUREN” with a tool dipped in green glaze. Other lines have been scored in the bottom and the sides of the bowl in the same fashion. The walls of the bowl rise in more or less straight lines from the base to a diameter of 14 cm (5-1/2 in) and a height of around 5.7 cm (2-1/4 in). Above this the walls appear to have been formed using ribbons of clay with irregular edges. The sides were built up by overlapping the edges of these ribbons in an upward spiral. The surface of these ribbons has been carved in spirals and other shapes. The surface is quite rough, perhaps as a result of a textured slip. The interior of the pot, in contrast, is smooth.

The interior of the pot is cream-colored. The exterior was covered with a green glaze, which pooled in crevices and pulled away from edges and high spots on the surface, leaving a mottled pattern of many shades of green and white, where the clay shows through. Some green glaze was splashed into the interior and allowed to drip down. Since other pots on the artist’s website have similar splashes of green on the interior, this was intentional. One side of the pot has a large triangular-shaped patch where black glaze flowed down the pot.

A complex piece with endless variations in color and shape. It’s an experience to hold and touch this pot.

Purchased at the annual winter sale at Feet of Clay Pottery, Brookline, Massachusetts, December 2019.