I’ve been carving mountains on pots for a few years now. Actually, that’s not quite true. I had my husband, who is a cartographer and very connected to the landscapes of his youth (Mount Lassen), carve the mountains in the beginning. He carved them so effortlessly. I enjoyed watching him work and how relaxed it made him.
But our lives are busy so there came a day that I had a set of mugs that I wanted mountains on and he was not available. I do love carving, but learning to carve mountains came gradually. First, I copied his carvings. But after maybe three dozen pieces I began to feel my own version of the mountains and what they wanted to look like.
My favorite series were the painted series. With these I was loose, I improvised and took risks. Some of them did not turn out, but some were breakthroughs. I did spend many years painting as an art form, but being out of practice and in a new medium, I was pleasantly surprised when everything came together.
My other favorite series came with a shift in my vision. I wanted to emphasize the rocky nature of mountains. I enjoyed carving a distressed rock outcropping. I added steeper more defined mountain escarpments. I really like how the raw speckled buff clay presents as the body of the mountain.
If you’re interested, see my process in this video:
You can find many of these pieces at my Art by the Lake fair in Tahoe City, June 13th-15th, 10-5pm. I’ll also be in Graeagle this July. And to Genoa in September (2025). Here’s the schedule page if you’re interested. Thanks for stopping by!
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