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Mike Allegretti
Roberts Creek
Over the years I have developed a style of pottery made from slabs of clay draped over original plaster forms. These pieces function as dinnerware, serving platters, trays and baking dishes. The decorating process I use incorporates dipping, spraying, wax resist and clay slips. In general, these pots are two-dimensional.
The new work I am creating involves the vessel form. These pots are larger in scale and sit upon the table ready for flowers or simply as art forms. They undulate and fill the space with curves. The process of forming the clay is similar in that I use plaster forms to establish the large slab shapes. The slabs must then be cut to follow the desired curves, bottoms attached and vertical walls supported. These forms provide new challenges for decoration as there is now the pull of gravity on the molten glazes on their vertical surfaces.
I am also exploring flat rectangles of clay as wall hangings with the intention of using the slip and glaze process to create art that is not reminiscent of tableware. These pieces are suitable for framing to function as abstract art.
Over the years I have developed a style of pottery made from slabs of clay draped over original plaster forms. These pieces function as dinnerware, serving platters, trays and baking dishes. The decorating process I use incorporates dipping, spraying, wax resist and clay slips. In general, these pots are two-dimensional.
The new work I am creating involves the vessel form. These pots are larger in scale and sit upon the table ready for flowers or simply as art forms. They undulate and fill the space with curves. The process of forming the clay is similar in that I use plaster forms to establish the large slab shapes. The slabs must then be cut to follow the desired curves, bottoms attached and vertical walls supported. These forms provide new challenges for decoration as there is now the pull of gravity on the molten glazes on their vertical surfaces.
I am also exploring flat rectangles of clay as wall hangings with the intention of using the slip and glaze process to create art that is not reminiscent of tableware. These pieces are suitable for framing to function as abstract art.
