Strata, Ammonite & Planet Vessels (FIVE SOLD)
By Cheryl Cork
Original artworks
Hand-built grog stoneware - each piece unique
Sizes vary - H: 13cm - 20cm approx
£60 - £155 each
New for 2024: this is the latest range of superb hand-built grog stoneware vessels, by Cheryl Cork, with their bands of melded Porcelain White stoneware clay and some with volcanic-style inner glaze as a contrast to the speckled, granular external surface.
These Strata, Ammonite and Planet (round) pieces are individually made and demand great care and dexterity in terms of motif-making and carving away to get their slimline shapes and textured surfaces.
Based on pinch, coil and slabs pots, you can hardly guess their origins in the final forms, which resemble hollowed-out, quartz-veined beach stones and fossils.
The white motifs are revealed as Cheryl carves the clay. She then uses diamond pads, after firing, to produce the textured surface and remove any rougher areas.
In black and pale grey, these are beautiful objects to own.
Footnote: Some of these vessels have an extra dimension to their beauty: we call them Wishing Pots. In parts of the world some large beach pebbles, perhaps basalt with veining, are called 'wishing stones'. In order to be a true wishing stone, it can have only a single vein, which circles entirely round the stone without any breaks. If you find one, the idea is to close your eyes, make a wish, then you throw the stone into the water, as far as you can, and your dream wish will come true. We're not suggesting you do the same with the single-banded vessels - but you get the idea that they hold that extra charm.
ABOUT CHERYL CORK
Cheryl Cork began creating from her home studio in 2015, after completing a BA Honours Degree in Contemporary Crafts at Falmouth University.
Initially, her approach was to express emotions, with forms produced in slip-cast porcelain. Subsequently, a desire to experiment with hand-building appealed more than repetitively reproducing the same forms: "I had a hankering to be more free; to get my hands on raw clay to produce more organic and spontaneous vessels, rather than pouring liquid clay into moulds".
Today, her work is spontaneous, rather than planned and sketched in advance. Nature is a great inspiration. Simple sculptural organic forms, made from grey stoneware and white porcelain soneware, have been inspired by the geology of rocks and pebbles.
She has a constant desire to improve technical skill, and to produce a well-balanced vessel, which holds both stillness and movement. Much attention is given to surface texture.
Wheel-thrown stoneware functional vessels also provide a meditative and mindful experience in the studio. She also also uses the traditional Japanese method of 'kurinuki' to make hand-built vessels that allow freedom of movement: "My work is all inspired by Japanese style and ethics, where imperfections are embraced and, indeed, perfection is not acknowledged."