Chris Longwell

When I make a pot, I can’t leave the surface alone.  I put marks all over it; Soft brush strokes of colored slip, deep cuts into leather-hard clay with steel tools and layered glazes of various opacity applied by pouring, splashing and dipping.  I start a piece or series knowing I am going to deal with a specific shape or form; With its function in mind, I leave the details of surface open for improvisation – a play between intent and chance.

In some pieces I like to make a mark or gesture over and over until it loses its individuality.  In this way the mark becomes an overall visual and actual texture, like the way a field of corn or wheat looks when you take it in all at once.   It is as much the act of repetition, and the meditative state it induces, as it is the visual results that attract me to this method of working.   Other times the surfaces reflect the nature of the materials and their interaction with the movements of my hands and body – viscous glazes poured, dripped or splashed in the manner of action painting.

During the firing the glazes made fluid by the heat of the kiln flow over and pool into the marks I have made on the surface of the pots.   Those same glazes pull color out of slips and run when activated by the fire.  The firing is the final event where I can manipulate the surface.  I prefer soda, salt or wood atmospheres because of their ability to impart accents on the work, adding to the layers of surface.