ABOUT

Artist Statement

My work has been formed by all the times spent during my childhood walking in the pine forests of Lithuania, gathering wild berries, mushrooms and spending time outdoors. This deeply felt connection to nature, combined with my everyday living experience in an urban environment, translates into the pots I make.    Working with clay I feel my connection to the earth and nature, which allows me to create forms that are both functional and beautiful, and incorporate a life and character of their own. I like to combine simplicity and opulence in my designs and for the design to follow and enrich the form of the object. I combine organic imagery and motifs with geometric ornaments and abstract designs to reveal a juxtaposition of natural beauty to man-made environments.   I leave a part of myself reflected in each pot I create and hope to share the warmth and joy of making them with those who use my pots.    There is a diverse range of influences in my work. Nature plays a major role as inspiration in my pottery as well as historical Japanese ceramics and art, medieval manuscripts, the Art Nouveau period art and folk art, with a touch of the pagan.

Process

I work on a potter's wheel with porcelain clay. Delicate thin lines are applied using a slip inlay technique at the greenware stage and both underglaze and glaze decoration is added at the bisque stage. I create two bodies of work, one fired in an electric kiln in an oxidation atmosphere to cone 6 and another fired to cone 10 in a reduction gas kiln.