My style is somewhat free.  While I strive for the very best, my focus is not on perfection.  My philosophy is that “flaws make it real”.  If someone wants a perfectly created pot, with a perfectly rendered design, with perfectly even glaze, then the Pottery Barn has many lovely machine made pieces from which to choose.  Some of my favorite pieces were made from mistakes I made on the wheel, where I lost a little control and “ruined” what I was doing.  If it can be turned into an interesting piece, then I dispense with my original plan and rework it.

My love for nature comes in as I like to embellish with leaves and flowers.  My favorite kind of glaze technique is to sponge on layer upon layer and then enjoy the way they drip together and blend and create dimensions and levels of color and shade.

My story as an artist/potter goes way back to when I was a little girl.  I was fascinated with making things, drawn to taking raw materials and putting them together to make something completely different, which in turn made other people happy.  I was always receiving craft kits, paints, coloring and drawing supplies as gifts.  One of my most favorite gifts was the Play Doh Fun Factory.  I so enjoyed molding and shaping the clay. 

In high school, I made a mask in Freshman art class.  I spent hours as a perfectionist would, carefully molding and shaping a realistic face.  Sadly, half the face blew off in the kiln.  No one gave me clear warning about air pockets.  I was devastated.  I hadn’t fully developed the artist’s heart,  that would have been able to say “Cool, now I can do something really interesting with it.” 

About twenty years later, I took my first ceramics class at William Paterson University, little did I know when I opened that clay bin that the love for clay work would become permanently imbedded in me.  It was hard, hard work.  It took many hours and days to learn, which reinforced my love for the craft.  And I know it sounds cliche, but I am still learning.

After college, I got married and found a full time job.  But so longed to get my hands in clay once more.  I still had my wheel and some clay at my parents’ house, but no way to fire what I made.  I searched around and found the Old Wortendyke Station Studio in Midland Park.  There I was able to teach a class and take a class.  It was a wonderful experience and anyone who wants to work with clay, I highly recommend the studio.  It is a quaint old train station that was converted into a studio and next to it, is an old train car converted to a shop that sells beautiful American Crafts. 

Now I have my wheel and a kiln and a little bit of work space and I am working in clay at home.  I hope you enjoy browsing this site and feel free to contact me at florence@fircreations.com.