Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Casual Influence of Dan Finnegan

Surprise! The kids and I got to open up a very special box yesterday. It was a mug from east coast ceramic artist and blogger Dan Finnegan. This is a big thing for us, we’ve seen lots of amazing examples of salt glazed ware but we haven’t actually gotten to handle any examples as of yet. As I look around, salt glazing seems to be a rare item out here on the west coast. So as I said, this is a big thing for us


Dan’s work is so different from mine and needless to say, my kids went nutz over it. (Thanks Dan, we snuck in a small victory on that one… now my youngest wants to find a salt glazed wood-fire to participate in this year… I told her it’s all about huge piles of combustibles, camping, and fantastic plain-air cooking. She’s hooked.)

Other than the salt glazed and wood fired angle, the detail that I’m focusing in on is Dan's use of sprigged accents.
I use a sprigged element to hallmark my ware, but I seem to have neglected taking it any further. This is something I’ve put off exploring any further for a few years now… so I’ve grabbed a few of my waxes from my metals studio to use to create a new set of experimental sprigg moulds to play with on the next load of ware.

Thanks for the kick in the pants Dan! I’m looking to make you proud…

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

that's a beautiful mug... that sprig is killer too, looks almost like a cat's eye. looking forward to seeing that wee skull pop up here and there

Hollis Engley said...

Lovely little mug, that one. He's a pretty fair potter, that Finnegan.

cookingwithgas said...

oh, you will enjoy using that mug.
I was looking at it so hard I missed seeing you behind it!
Nice- both mugs!

Linda Starr said...

those sprigs are the icing on the cake of that mug, can't wait to see sprigs gracing your work.

Dan Finnegan said...

Lovely post, Mr Ghost! I too merely sprigged my own initials on pots for many years...but I took to looking hard at old german salt glaze and my little 10 watt light bulb went off! I'll be watching. Glad that you enjoy the mug...hearing that never gets old!