The question I am asked most often is "What do you enjoy making above all?" and the answer I usually give is "bowls."
All my work is made using soft slabs. Essentially, I roll the clay into slabs like you would pastry dough and form the work while the clay is still wet. For bowls, I rip and tear the slabs to fill in the round shape. From the inside, the bowl is relatively smooth, from the outside you can see the overlapping slabs and how the bowl is pieced together. Depending on the size of the bowl, you may see one join or many.
When making mugs and vases, I can envision the end result. With bowls, I cannot. The process can be incredibly frustrating. They dry unevenly, they crack, they warp, and sometimes fall apart while preparing them for the kiln, more so than any other work I create. But when one succeeds, I find the results incredibly beautiful. It's the unpredictable nature of the bowls that make them my favorite...while also contributing to my baldness.With that said, I still enjoy making mugs, vases, plates, trays, platters and everything else. I love working with clay and appreciate the challenges it presents each time I step into the studio.