Sean Scott
Teapot – SS
Endicott brick clay
Cone 5 oxidation
Slab built
Terra sigillata and glaze
4.5 X 8.5 X 5

My making process has many steps, starting with slaking down 50 pounds of Endicott Brick Clay.
I add a dash of barium carbonate to prevent scumming, a little OM-4 Ball for plasticity and some Custer Feldspar to help tighten up the body. The next step is to strain the slip through a 30 then 40 mesh sieve to remove the course material and then let the clay dry until it is firm and wedgeable.
I form a slab with a rolling pin and throw it on a table to stretch it out; this is repeated until the desired thickness is achieved. A paper template is used to trace a pattern on the slab, which is then folded onto itself to create the main body. The vessel is rested in a shallow bowl upside down and is worked and refined as it stiffens. I pinch the spout, handle, and knob from solid pieces of soft clay. The spout is allowed to stiffen before it is cut in half, hollowed out, and put back together. Construction of the flanges and gallery is tricky. Holes are perforated where the spout attaches to make a strainer and everything is assembled including the bottom. Portions of the surface that are to be left raw are burnished.
In this piece, I raked a texture onto the surface and then let the pot dry completely before brushing a white terra sigillata on the body. The piece was bisque fired to cone 03, a liner glaze was poured and glazes and oxides were brushed or trailed onto the exterior. The glaze firing was a quick one to cone 5 in an electric kiln.
This piece was part of a series of 10 teapots and was made towards the end of the run. Continuing themes of exploration include utility (so much to say here), proportions, form (especially as it relates to the human body), texture/surface quality, patterns, color, play, nature and metaphor. Color was likely the element I was pushing the most and also exploring the fuming of the glaze on the terra sigillata. I also switched my stamp on this pot.

One memory I have of a poignant tea experience was during a trip to the remote Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota with four coffee- drinking dudes.
We paddled and portaged our way quite a distance the first day and found a good campsite. After waking early the next morning, our fearless leader, Keith, panicked as he searched the packs for the coffee. Hmmmmm, where was it? Back in the truck, far, far away. For the next four days we all survived on my ample supply of first-grade Dragonwell Green Tea.
One of the fellas did find a few packets of instant decaffeinated coffee that he mixed into the tea for flavor. If I remember correctly, I was the only one who lugged in a ceramic tea bowl. Overall, given the alternatives, everyone was fairly pleased with the tea’s invigorating quality as a way to begin the day.