Chicken Sgraffito Mug

This is a slip cast cup with hand-carved design
 10.5cm high

Artist Statement:
Handmade and -painted earthenware.

I like to think of myself as a hands on ceramisist. This means that every step from wedging the clay to stacking the kiln is done by my hands only.

I believe that handmade items enhance our lives and therefore love making vessels and functional ceramics.

My prosses starts with a design concept I put down on paper, most often in charcoal. This initial artwork is often framed up and presented along with the resulting ceramic vessel. The next step is making the vessel through either wheel throwing, hand building or slip casting, used separately or combined.

Most often the design is applied using a technique called sgraffito. Whereby an underglaze is painted on to greenware and a carving tool is used to carve away the paint that reveals the natural clay beneath. These designs are often compared to woodcuts or linocuts.
The master drawing and complimenting ceramic works function well as useable art and decorative pieces.

I hope that each if my pieces turns the ordinary daily lives of the people who take them home into extraordinary!

About the Sgraffito Technique