Juniper Clay

I find beauty in the tradition of functional pottery. My forms are made to be both seen and used: cups, plates, bowls—vessels potters have been making for eons. I also explore the conceptual satisfaction of repetition and the possibilities revealed in variations on a theme. Some ideas only fully emerge after the tenth (or hundredth) time you’ve made an object.

I want the objects I create to be as honest as possible. In practice, that means I make simple forms that speak to their purpose, and glaze surfaces that don’t distract from the form. I'm also a minimalist, so I generally leave some surfaces unglazed to give the holder a way to see and connect with the clay in its most elemental state.

I became an artist later in life. I didn’t discover ceramics until my late thirties and my age has informed my work in a way I didn’t anticipate. In middle age, I know what I like. I know what I value. I can appreciate the way I work, and build my practice around my own habits and abilities rather than shoehorning myself into a place I don’t fit.

That kind of personal knowledge is invaluable to an artist, and it wasn’t available to me 20 years ago. I hadn’t yet seen enough of the world. I didn’t have anything to say then. I do now.