Vessels containing volumes
I like the idea that a bowl doesn't have to contain fruit or vegetables to still be useful, and that the domestic references of pots add extra meaning to vessels celebrating something more abstract, like love or joy. These bowls are often inspired by a particular poem and are usually, but not always, happy; they can also mark sad times - containers of memory, too.
Liz Mathews at Potters' Yard
London, England
Pleiades bowl, Liz MathewsA large open bowl thrown in white stoneware, whose lines can be extended to contain the infinite night sky. The words are from a poem by Valentine Ackland, 'All Soul's Night', and are set around the outside of the bowl to mirror the fallen leaves on the grass and the stars like flowers in the sky. The inside of the bowl is painted with a map of the November stars - set first in wax, with a wash of dark blue cobalt oxide; then appearing to be made from the clay itself, as the wax burns out in the firing - a cosmic association of material and poem.
Meteor bowl, Liz MathewsA large bowl thrown in white stoneware, lettered with an inscription by Giovanni Pascoli, translated by EJ Scovell. The words are lettered by brush on the outside of the bowl in cobalt oxide, and on the inside of the bowl in liquid wax, with the dark blue oxide brushed over the top. When the wax burns out in the firing, the words remain, lettered in the clay against the dark blue sky, where the wax resisted the oxide. The bowl is glazed on the inside with a clear glaze, giving a lovely contrast in feel with the unglazed earthy outside.
Golden day bowl, Liz Mathews'The day and the journey are yours and mine to share' - from a poem by Theocritus. The bowl is thrown in creamy white stoneware, and filled with a swirl of golden brushwork and lettered by brush in warm, joyful golden ochre hues. I often make bowls like this to commission to celebrate weddings, civil partnerships, anniversaries.