Process
On Anna’s Ceramic Art
Wood Fired Ceramics
Wood‑firing is a 5th‑century ceramic tradition still practiced today. In my work, these limited‑edition pieces are created in an anagama wood kiln that holds 300–400 pots. Preparing for a firing, loading the kiln, tending the fire, and finally unloading the work is a labor‑intensive process that spans well over a month. During the firing itself, someone must be at the kiln around the clock, stoking wood into the firebox roughly every five minutes for seven straight days. The temperature slowly climbs to 2400 degrees using wood as the only fuel source. As the fire burns, wood ash settles onto the pieces and melts in the high heat, forming natural glazes and drips unique to each vessel. Depending on the type of wood used, the subtle colors can range from yellow to green (oak or walnut) to pink or purple (cherry or mulberry). I construct these vessels with careful attention to volume and form so they can fully receive and reveal the effects of the wood kiln.
Earthenware Ceramics
My clay process involves attention to fine details and craftsmanship. I hand build with red earthenware using pinching, slab, and coil techniques. After the forms are built, I brush on a layer of white slip, which gives me a surface to use sgraffito—a carving method that lets me draw through the slip and reveal the red clay underneath. The hand building and sgraffito together are important to my aesthetic as they create subtle textures, marks, line variation and imprints across the surface. I finish by adding bright underglazes for color and contrast.
On Anna’s Paintings
Landscape Paintings
Anna’s paintings and murals are created in response to her observations of nature, especially of the Loess Hills landscape and the grassland biome as it relates to various systems and a larger order structures. She uses lot of color and paints in a post impressionist style in order to make her art relatable and visually interesting. These paintings often highlight specific locations where public and private land meet in order to show the results of commodification and conservation of the land.
Pottery Classes
Experience the process of building pottery first-hand. Anna offers hand-built pottery classes at her studio in Malvern, Iowa, or travels to your art space within the Omaha Metro area.