Ian George
Statement
Ian George's work is predominantly wheel thrown. Even handles are sometimes thrown as hollow tubes. He likes to assemble or alter the forms to escape the restrictions of the wheel and to introduce humour to the pieces.
Individual pieces arise from both drawing and experimentation. His ideal is for every form to be truly functional. In practice, as forms develop over time, corrections are made alternatively to improve either form or function.
The work is fired to 1280°C in a wood fired kiln over approximately 11 hours. The wood firing effects are enhanced by additions of washing soda to the wood stokes above 1200°C. By introducing all the soda as a paste on the wood itself he obtains more variation in glaze depth — from dry to shiny orange peel.
The wood for firing is willow. Interior glazes are shino, tenmoku or honey glazes. Exterior slips are locally dug clays, ball clays or occasionally slips with oxides added.
To see more of Ian's work, please visit his web site www.iangeorgeceramics.co.uk.