vika

As a college student years ago, I started out in theater technical & set design and moved through several fields (counseling, publishing, import, education...), taking a winding path that kept returning to ceramic. I've been working in ceramic for more than twenty years now, the technical (as a college instructional technician) and the beautiful.

I've always enjoyed history & small work, from across the ages (my jewelry is a direct result of this influence). At one point it occurred to me that custom clothing-makers, of all kinds, would probably prefer custom buttons for their work...and I was off! I enjoy photography & bring that to my work, freely patterning the clay, and then cropping small vignettes that become buttons, rather than using molds. Having sewn for my children in years past, I've been careful to watch the weight (even on the large buttons) and especially careful to bevel and sponge the edges, including the edges of the holes--fired ceramic is like glass and sharp edges will eventually fray and cut fibers. While I leave most backs unglazed (in the tradition of potters who like to "see the clay"), they are polished smooth, to avoid pilling.

The clay goes through a surprising number of steps before becoming one of my buttons: it's rolled to a uniform thickness, patterned, cropped, formed so that it will not warp in the heat, top edges smoothed. After waiting a bit, pilot holes are made and uniform holes drilled, edges are cleaned, upper and lower edges are beveled, including the edges of each small hole. Next, every edge is sponged smooth, backs are signed and tops glazed--sometimes in up to four steps. The buttons are mounted on handmade stilts and fired for about 9 hours. Then, they are washed, backs polished, some go through an additional firing or finish, and finally, they are hand tied onto complementary cards. It's a labor intensive process that yields small pieces of art I can be proud of.