Elizabeth Williams

As my confidence grew in my ability to create pottery, I was happy to get experimental with firing techniques. Although some firing techniques can be risky as the dramatic changes in temperature can damage pottery, the striking results are well worth the risk.

Traditional Raku Fired Thrown Pottery

For the traditional Raku firing process, I tend to use my thrown pottery. These two pots are a shape that I have been throwing since I first began to learn to throw aged 15.
I think this shape has developed from my desire to throw the perfect cylinder from a young age, but the curved top of the vessel is my small expression of individuality.
It’s been a shape that I often find myself returning to in throwing. I love the combination of the rigid and quirkiness in these little pots.

Smoke Fired Cylinders

When learning to build and fire a barrel Raku Kiln at Bowji Studio with Sally Tully and Lee Pollard, I created this series of tubes to experiment with.

To make these, I used an extruder to create the basic shape and attached a base to each tube once I had cut it to the desired length. I then spent a long time burnishing each tube to create a perfectly smooth surface.
The combustibles used included copper wire, Growmore Fertilizer and Seaweed collected from a local Cornish beach.
I loved being able to use everyday items to deliver such awesome colours and effects. This is something I would love to explore further.

Modified Smoke Fired Cylinder

While making the previous vessels, one cylinder whilst leather hard, had a knock by mistake, which resulted in a very happy accident. After the initial disappointment at the damage, I decided to embrace it and began to twist and bend the tube to create something entirely new.
Out of all of these smoke fired pieces, this has become a firm favourite of mine.

Horsehair Raku Plate

A technique I had not tried before, I loved getting to experience decorating using the Horsehair technique.
The immediacy of seeing the imprint of your feather, hair or sugar being burned onto your clay in real time was fascinating.
Although we were advised to plan what we were going to do prior to the pot coming out of the kiln, the rushed nature of this technique, led to my mind going entirely blank and my instincts taking over.