D. Michael Coffee

Pagosa Springs, Colorado

Title: Blue Vase

Year of Creation: 2004

Glaze: Ponderosa pine ash(yellow) and alkaline cobalt matt

Clay Body: Cone 10 stoneware

Dimensions: Height 22 inches, Width 4 inches

Artist's Statement: All of my work is High-Fired to Cone-10, or 2350F. Firing at 7,200 ft in an oxygen starved atmosphere tests the limits of the clay & oxides used in my glazes, and has a dramatic effect on the outcome. I accept the base materials (ie.: clay, glaze oxides) but I work them in non-orthodox ways. I strive to work intuitively and with a “mindless mind” state of awareness. For me, the challenge is to let go of predetermined understanding and foresight, and to work at developing my instincts. I also prefer to abandon the conventional for the “thrill of the investigation.” I need to be surprised, and actually welcome variability and naturally occurring obstacles. I enjoy forcing limits so that unusual results can occur. I never profess to fully controlling my work, as it is created by the extremes within the kiln. I have a lot of “waster’s” but I don’t consider them to be failures, as I find that I learn by them as well. I see inherent beauty in the commonly misunderstood flaw. I believe in the aesthetic concept of Wabi Sabi, or the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, incomplete, natural and unconventional.