Low-fired earthenware pottery

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Pamela Blume Leonard (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Setsuya Kotani

Abstract: My pottery in this exhibition is functional pottery made with red earthware clay that is indigenous to the Piedmont region of the Carolinas. I chose this clay for a variety of practical reasons, among them its ready availability and low cost. Also, the high iron content gives a warmth and depth to pieces fired at low temperature in either an oxidation or a reduction atmosphere. This earthenware clay was refined very little; it is rather non-plastic. I chose to work with it without modifying its properties because when I experimented with additions of more plastic clays I found the body less beautiful after being fired. My approach evolved from an initial acceptance of the glossy glazes and simple shapes of familiar red folk pottery. Gradually, I found that careful cleaning and preparation of each mound of clay, followed by steady coaxing on the wheel precluded the need for foreign clay additions I might have made. I found that with patient forming I could replicate, then surpass, the repertoire of wheel thrown shapes I had previously achieved with stoneware. Admittedly, my predilection for simple pots eliminated many problems that might have arisen.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1976

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