embervincent

from the belly of the earth comes clay, fire, water....

Some of the first things I made from clay were Goddesses - it seemed natural - almost compulsive to shape a female figure from the earthy mud I held in my hand. Intrigued by primitive beginnings of clay, I experimented with pit firings and clamp kilns - some of the most ancient methods of firing where the embers smoulder for up to 3 days, then as earth and fuel fall away, pieces of fired clay emerge from the earth like dinosaur eggs - smoking, cracked, and sometimes in a thousand pieces!!

As I got more precious about my work I wanted pieces to survive the firings so moved onto Raku and Smoke firing - still unpredictatble in the patterns and colours that emerged but less breakages! I started making vessels - bowls and vases and my work branched into two. Now I make Raku and smoke fired vases and bowls, and Goddess sculptures that are mostly fired in an electric kiln.....but sometimes the two worlds meet!

You can also visit my website: www.embervincent.co.uk