In December, I have my first solo exhibition at Riverside Pottery in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. For this exhibition, I am working on lots of ceramic pieces. To condense my theme, I am basically illustrating memories, family traditions, and how that relates to nature through my ceramic work and using some printmaking techniques. One idea I am developing is remembering important homes I have lived in or spent time at. I am doing this by creating wall pieces that are similar to house numbers. Since I have a natural vibe going for my work in this show, I am choosing botanical imagery that relates to each place I am making the piece about. 

The technique I am using for these pieces in sgraffito. I am using darker clays such as speckled turtle and brown bear clay, and covering them with porcelain slip. Slip is a mixture of water and clay and makes a paste that I use to cover the darker clay. When this dries, I am able to carve through it with various clay tools the design I want. 

One piece I am working on is about the house I am currently living in. My roommate and I like to cook a lot and over the summer we started a garden growing vegetables like zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes. We also have tons of herbs growing such as rosemary, basil, cilantro, parley, lavender, and mint. The mint and lavender have become a part of our everyday lifestyle including cooking, and just placing things around the house for fragrance. 

All of this being said, I wanted to incorporate the lavender in my piece about my house. I am going with this design style that has the house number in the center, with some type of plant or flower that relates to the house number I am showcasing. I have made a couple others with my family’s house I grew up in, and our family farm house. I have also been working on pressing some flowers or plants from my garden into the clay and making these into wall pieces as well. So far, my favorite plant has been citronella because of the intricate details in the lines on the stem and leaves. 

I’m excited for how these are going to turn out and more pictures will be posted after glazing!