Iris Davies works with clay, either using the throwing method on a potter's wheel or by hand building. The thrown pots are burnished when leather hard, biscuit fired and then slowly smoked in a sawdust kiln, during which process random patterns appear on the pieces. These are then cleaned and polished and a smooth tactile surface is created. Each piece is unique and cannot be replicated exactly.
She also uses the Raku method of producing clay article, mainly creating plaques and pictures which can be frame. This technique first originated in Japan in the sixteenth century. The drawn slab of clay is biscuit fired to about 1000 degrees centigrade. It is then glazed with low temperature glazes and refired to about 970 degrees centigrade when it is withdrawn from the kiln and plunged into sawdust and wood shavings. After a few minutes it is washed and the unglazed clay has taken the smoke and become black, and some of the glazed areas have become crackled. Gold leaf is then often applied to the picture.
Iris Davies says:
"I became interested in working in clay when I was living in Hong Kong where I started to learn the technique of throwing and hand building. I was particularly interested in Japanese and Korean ware. As I had a young family my time was limited and it was only much later, after my return to England, that I became more serious about my work and started to teach myself the methods that I use today. My years at art school have had an influence on the pictures and plaques. Sometime later I joined the Sussex Guild and exhibit regularly at their fairs, and also at various galleries in the South East of England. My work is influenced by various factors, such as Japanese art and design and my love of Italian architecture and Renaissance artists. However, all travel and everyday things have an influence on all things that I make. A recent trip to Australia has led me to produce a new range of pots and pictures."
Please bear in mind that the range of stock changes daily, and inclusion of a picture on this site does not mean the item is necessarily in stock.
Guildford House Gallery
155 High Street
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3AJ
Tel: 01483 444740
Fax: 01483 444742
Email: guildfordhouse@guildford.gov.uk