Heron in Clouds Vase

Wheel thrown cutout whiteware carved vase with sculpted and carved flying heron attached. Interior glazed with deep blue glaze, rim gold-leafed. Each item is hand formed on the potter's wheel or constructed from slabs rolled through a slab roller from 100% white stoneware clay. The sculpted, birds, trees, and other forms are attached to the vessels using clay slip and left to dry slowly. Once completely dried the sculpture is bisque fired to cone 04. The piece is then carefully painted and air-brushed with a clay-based underglaze and fired to 2100 degrees. Some pieces are then "smoked fired" and masked, using torn pieces of paper to the form to create highlights when the piece is set on fire in a galvanized can containing redwood needles and leaves. Finally, the piece is sealed with an acrylic sealer to preserve the smoke finish. Some pieces are glazed on the interior to hold water, others are painted with a cold finish gold acrylic to silhouette the form. All work is one-of-a-kind, individually made, no two are the same and may vary slightly from the photo shown.