34. Liza Fisher, large wood-fired vase

34. Liza Fisher, large wood-fired vase

Fisher is a potter in Prospect Harbor, on the Schoodic Peninsula in Down East Maine, east of Ellsworth and Bar Harbor. Liza Fisher Pottery is part of Watering Cove Studios, which includes not only her pottery but her husband’s furniture-making studio, Fisher Woodworkings, and her father-in-law’s foundry, U.S. Bells. Her mother-in-law makes fabric art. More information about Watering Cove can be found on their website: www.wateringcovestudios.com.

Fisher writes: “I make simple, warm and comfortable pots to enhance the beauty found in our everyday moments . . . .   My pots are thrown on the wheel and fired for two days in a small wood kiln.  Natural ash glazes form. The long flames travel around the pots like water around stones in a river enriching the warm clay colors. The natural effects created in the wood firing compliment my creamy jewel-like glazes and loose decorative patterns, evoking images from nature like spring buds or fall leaves.” The website has several pictures of the kiln in operation.

Fisher told me that she first bisque-fires the pots in an electric kiln to harden them and make them waterproof and suitable for use. The wood-firing creates colors in the orange, russet, and brown tones. Ash deposits may form on the surfaces of the pots, creating speckling and blemishes. Fisher favors a cream glaze as a ground. She has a favorite design motif of a long line with curls extending outward on both sides of the line (visible in several of the photos). She frequently splashes glaze near the shoulder of a piece and allows it to run down the side (see item 35 for a clear example). She signs each of her pots on the base with an incised mark, a cursive "LF."

Fisher’s skills in throwing pots on the wheel are evident in all her work. What isn’t apparent in the pictures is how comfortable her pots are to hold. They are well balanced and sit solidly on a table top. The wood-firing creates random patterns in warm colors, and the ash deposits add to the feel of the pots. They are both visual and tactile pleasures.

Gray clay, wood-fired, various shades of reddish and yellowish browns; a splash of dark glaze on one side, base mostly uncolored. Weight: 1672 g (3.9 lb). Rim diameter: 8.7 cm (3-1/2 in); maximum diameter: 18.5 cm (7 in); base diameter: 9.7 cm (3-7/8 in). Height: 21 cm (8-1/4 in).

Hand-thrown. The pot sits directly on the base. The base is very slightly concave. Fisher’s mark, a cursive "LF," is incised into the base. From the base the walls curve outward and upward to the maximum diameter about 12.5 cm (5 in) above the base and then curve inward to the bottom of the neck, which is roughly 18.7 cm (7.5 in) above the base and 7 cm (2-3/4 in) in diameter. The pot then flares outward and upward to the rim. This was sold as a second because of several bubbles in the walls of the pot (visible in the third and fourth photos).

Most of the color on the pot is from the wood-firing. The upper part of one side of the pot was glazed and the glaze allowed to drip down the side to the base (see fourth photo). After the firing, the glaze became a dark brown, almost black. The interior of the pot is a smokey gray. There is only a bit of ash deposit on this piece.

Purchased from the artist at Watering Cove Studios, Prospect Harbor, Maine, October 2017.