Artist Statement

I moved to Oregon twenty-five years ago to become an aircraft mechanic. While studying at Portland Community College I took a ceramics class and it changed my life. The clay became the voice I was never able to find. Once equipped with the needed skill sets I began creating ceramic objects and vessels. Larger work became my focus but I still continued to hone my skills on various techniques and numerous different forms. My favorite forms are large Grecian urns with their gently sloping shoulders, Japanese Moon jars and large platters with their wide open spaces that provide opportunities for experimentation with textures and glazes combinations. I like to make planters to accommodate specific plants, this I believe adds to the viewers experience and the plant’s overall benefit to the purchaser as a complete work to be viewed and enjoyed as it changes with the growth of the plant. They literally give the vessel a life beyond itself. Coffee mugs of all shapes and sizes are my go to form when coming back into the studio and the potters wheel. I like to make a variety of shapes and sizes for people to choose from when purchasing a mug, that could be with them for a good long while. It’s like the planter that fits the plant, I think the mug should fit the person drinking from it. 

When I start a project large or small the surface and glaze considerations are always at the forefront of the process. Surfaces can be from ultra smooth to cratered and rough. It will be these surfaces that a glaze or combination of glazes will be chosen for. If in the end I feel a different surface would describe the form better a series of pieces may evolve. It all depends on what the work is calling for. My glazes range from dark Japanese Temmokus to bright copper reds and everything in between. Some of my work calls a dry scaly glaze that isn’t necessarily good for your morning cup of coffee. For me the form always determines the glaze treatment.

My work is about creating some place beautiful and unique for the viewer to retreat to even if that is just that favorite mug that helps them start their day. It could be the midnight darkness of a starless night or the overlook of some forgotten desert valley. My work is about looking for a less stressful continuation of our lives. Michael Robinson