tree vessels
each tree vessel I make responds to the time I have spent studying and connecting with a specific tree. An intimate moment, where I choose to listen to the tree’s wisdom and essence of being/
not only do the physical attributes speak to me, such as bark texture, branch formation, folds and crevices; it’s about the energy dialogue between us/
from Crab Apple trees, to Poplars, to Scotts Pine and Sequoia, the choice of exploration and understanding is endless. The variety even within each species never ceases to inspire me/
often I form the grounded base on the Potter’s Wheel, throwing stoneware clay while remembering…then I build upwards in coils, blending, pressing, cutting and folding. Coiling conjures the same concentric circles which represent a tree’s life, much like each coiled layer represents a moment in making time in my own life, in my studio/
The completed form is finished with wild clay slips which I forage from various locations on my travels. The inner space of the vessel is covered with a water tight glaze for functional use/
every tree vessel is unique, some even made incorporating woven willow and wire to suggest reaching branches; each one is marked with my signature ‘S’ on the base
evocative tree vessels
Each tree vessel begins with time spent studying and connecting with a particular tree. It is an intimate encounter: a moment of stillness in which I listen to the tree’s presence, character and way of being. Its physical attributes — bark, branching structures, folds, scars and crevices — become part of this dialogue, but equally important is the less tangible exchange that takes place between us /
From Crab Apple and Poplar to Scots Pine and Sequoia, every tree offers a different encounter. Even within a single species, no two trees carry themselves in quite the same way; their individuality continually opens new possibilities for exploration /
I often begin by throwing a grounded base on the potter’s wheel, working with stoneware clay while recalling the tree and the experience of being alongside it. From there, I build slowly upwards in coils — blending, pressing, cutting and folding. The concentric rhythm of coiling echoes the growth rings through which a tree records its own passage through time. Each layer of clay similarly becomes a record of making: a moment accumulated within the life of the vessel and within my own time in the studio /
The completed surface is layered with wild clay slips that I forage from landscapes encountered on my travels, allowing earth gathered from one place to become part of an artwork responding to another. The interior is finished with glaze, creating a contrasting reflective space within the more elemental outer surface /
Every tree vessel is unique. Some incorporate woven willow or wire, extending beyond the ceramic body like searching or reaching branches. Each carries traces of a particular tree, landscape and moment of encounter, before being marked with my signature ‘S’ on the base /
