I cannot remember when I didn’t love clay. I also cannot remember when I didn’t love line and atmospheric color. It has been with me always- even in my earliest days as an art student in the 60’s. I have lived, studied, and taught ceramics in New York, London, and the North of Ireland- places that are deeply a part of me. Clay and painting have been the constant driving force in my life wherever I went. But then I came to the Southwest....and it changed me as an artist forever. I have always loved elemental design, shape, pattern, process and light so I started painting on clay. My vision seemed to find a home.

Recalling my first trip to Indian Market and afternoons spent with the native American potters I am reminded how easily I fell into the rhythms of the Southwest: my first drive into Taos with my daughter, Amy. Days spent at the pueblos talking with the artists about their work and their generous sharing of ideas and methods. My many desert and mountain walks. Chaco Canyon...I can go on and on but at the end of the day it is all about the work and the process of creating something beautiful from the earth with my two hands.

I have been developing my own techniques for some time while also employing age old methods to achieve my personal style. I love to throw and trim my pots on my potter's wheel which differs from the traditional hand building of the pueblos. The painted pieces are all painstakingly painted freehand- I do not use stencils or tracings. The pieces often take ten to twenty hours to paint. Each piece gets a double coat of paint to add vibrancy. In addition to the painted pieces I also use horsehair burning techniques to finish pots which adds an intentionally random look to the work. I use traditional hand finishing and burnishing techniques to complete my pieces. I do not use glazes.

It is truly a labor of love- a love of creating positive and negative space, straight line on a curved surface, a design that expands and contracts with the vessel shape. The design elements I choose to drape over a particular piece makes for a very exciting, organic process. Rhythms are created and I don't always know where the design will take me. Therein lies the magic for me. No two pieces are ever the same shape or pattern- like people, each is one of a kind.

Bonnie Hanna