I’m headed back to the studio today.  As much as I am looking forward to getting on the wheel, my find is focusing on the slab roller.

The slab roller is not my natural choice for pottery tools.  The wheel is where I am at home.  Yet, I can’t get the idea of tiles, or more maybe more appropriate – wall sculpture – out of mind.

The seed was first planted at the Smithsonian Crafts Show a few years ago when I saw Natalie Blake‘s sculptural wall tiles.  I loved the undulation of the tiles and how they came together to make a scene or could stand on their own.

I then saw a Japanese-style platter of Catherine White‘s.  It had been fired in her anagama and was incredibly rich in color and texure.  I found myself drawn to the flat surface as a canvas.  Yet, I also found myself thinking back to Natalie’s tiles. There had to be a way to combine the two things I was most drawn to in each of these potter’s work.

That notion has been rolling around in my mind for almost 2 years now.  I have yet to really act on the ideas, much less sketch them out. The only thing that is certain is that they will be wood fired.  I can’t see it any other way.

I did let myself experiment a bit with going flat last fall when I made a few pocket vases like the one above.  I was worried as hell that the piece would warp and come apart in the kiln.  So it was a test of firing integrity for sure.  It turns out, they held up just fine even with a pretty thin backing. Even with the success of this test, I have yet to explore the ideas that marinate in my imagination.

Why haven’t I acted?  I think it is because I have been so wedded to the idea of functional and utilitarian pottery.  Can I really go non-functional?  Can I really go sculptural, since that is more what is in my mind’s eye?  I have hesitated.  I don’t think of myself as that kind of artist (whatever that means).  I am unsure of myself going down that road. Where will it lead? Yet I feel the pull.  And my mind’s eye certainly keeps going back there.

The pull got stronger this weekend.  While glazing some bowls for an upcoming fundraiser, a couple of my studio mates began talking tiles.  Having never made a tile, I stopped glazing and pulled up a chair.  The ideas that I had shoved to the back of mind, bounced right back.

So as I head to the studio today, I will give in.  I will make friends with the slab roller and experiment with the vision I have. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.

Keep imagining,

Laurie