Stacie Loftus

Creating with clay allows me to explore my fascination with shape, texture and color. I find it rewarding to create functional pieces that people can hold, use and connect with. I love seeing people who use my functional wares form a personal relationship with a piece whose shape, texture and glaze is uniquely theirs. I utilize to mid-range stoneware to create all my functional pottery from smaller coffee cups to larger vase forms. For items that are wheel thrown, the forms are allowed to dry to a leather hard stage before being inverted and trimmed. It is at this point that any additional texturizing carving or attaching of handles is done. From here the pieces are set aside to become bone dry. Once dry, forms are bisque-fired then subsequently glazed before being fired for a second final time. I will have examples of all stages of the working process and will demonstrate wheel throwing and hand building throughout the weekend. My non-functional work allows me to experiment with alternative forms and finishes. using alternative firing techniques including (raku, sagger, obvara and pit-firing). Each of these pieces incorporate a bit of serendipity during the firings as no two are ever the same.