Works

Functional sculpture and functional work is a huge part of Penny’s life. Her communication is best through the clay.  By hand-building, Penny allows herself to develop a relationship with each piece that is different than throwing clay on a wheel. She enjoys taking that extra time.

Design

The seams, marks made with her fingers, marks of the clay, impressions of the canvas she uses and marks from the tools are left to show the process because it is what she has a love affair with. The bowls could now be the same size and yet each one different because it is built in steps - a building block process.

Penny’s sculptural thinking is occurring all of the time and she lets it surface because she chooses it, staying open to and paying attention to angles, folds, creases or what ever the clay presents. Penny's states, "Thinking it through too much can be frustrating and down right detrimental". That is why she does not sketch fully before she starts to work with the clay. She would rather "sketch in the clay." She points out, however, that everyone works differently. "Find out what works for you and be true to yourself."

Bringing The Medium To Life
"The clay brings itself to life. The key is staying out of its way and knowing when to stop." "Once again, clay is so basic and forgiving." Penny’s pieces look like fabric in some cases. It has folds and tucks and overlaps. She prefers the organic look of clay rather than rigid, harsh finished pieces.

What tools do you use?
Penny answers, "not the wheel!" For her, creations created solely by hand building. The use of fingers, a board and a good slab roller (one her husband built just for her) are essential elements. "The slab roller allows you to produce a consistent sheet of clay with less wear and tear on the body." Other useful tools Penny says she cannot live without include an exact-o knife, a rolling pin, cloth, homemade stamps, and a hodge-podge of “thingies” to press into the clay. Penny is continually looking around for materials to embellish with.  Penny States, " my daughter just rolls her eyes, and remarks "mom all you think about is pottery".  Penny also uses bamboo tools, and various loop tools, which are pretty standard among potters and plastic (to slow the drying process – she uses dry cleaner bags), and of course a kiln to fire the final product. She adds that tools are really dependent on the process chosen. However, Penny does recommend prioritizing the purchase of a kiln in your process, transporting pieces to and fro can be quite tedious and costly when pieces get broken.

 Summary
Clay is purchased from a local supplier along with other raw materials. Penny proceeds to roll the clay into a slab, cut out the pieces, and begin the building process. The moisture level must be kept consistent because the clay shrinks as it dries. Once built, the piece is allowed to dry and is then fired for the first time. Stain is applied to areas that will not have glaze applied, other areas are glazed, and then the piece is fired for the final time.

In the step-by-step process, while the piece of clay is flat or on the hump mold, texture is added. A hump mold is that which shapes and supports clay pieces as they dry. The clay shrinks and stiffens as it dries. "You have to pay attention to the shrinking aspect as this is when the clay will split if you let it go too long and you won't be able to get it off the hump mold." For an opposite effect, a press mold texturizes the inside of a piece… something you lay the slab into.

Penny makes her own hump molds. She goes to garage sales, thrift shops and local discount stores looks for shapes she finds interesting. She then pours plaster into the shape and lets it dry. She will make several castings of a new shape to allow for the availability of multiple forms to speed the productivity of making several pieces at one time. "It is logically a better use of the clay slab. You cut shapes out of clay like a puzzle to maximize all the material or slab."

Penny's favorite part of the process is the “texturing” time, after the pinching, rolling, and adding process is complete, it is the time when the textures are stamped, carved or added and the canvas comes to life and make the piece unique.  I love it!."

Penny states, "the clay continues to talk to me, it’s the listening part that is the challenge.”