Andy May

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I returned to pottery after a fifty year hiatus working and raising my family with my beloved wife of fifty years. I was initially influenced in the arts by my high school art teacher, Mrs. Becraft. I still hear her calming voice often encouraging me and reminding me that, “It’s not finished yet.”
Today my ceramic art could be described as Sculptural Ceramic Form. Exclusively hand built and/or extruded, and working quickly, my forms come to life right before my eyes. I rarely work from a drawing. Instead, I employ standard hand rolled slab techniques, often around a form, and add texture with tools, found objects, fabrics, alphabet pasta, 3D printed stamps created on my trusty Bambu A1 Mini printer, and anything else in view. Next I apply my own engobes with various brushes, sponges and a spray atomizer. Now comes bisque firing to Cone 05-06 and then glazing. Here I use a combination of custom and commercial glazes and resists, fired to Cone 5-6 with occasional freak outs to Cone 10. The results of this madness is a tangible, textural form, often sized to pick up and handle, that is an accurate representation of my inner chaos, kept in check by Jesus, my family and making pottery.
In a more retail endeavor, I make ollas from Highwater Craggy Crunch, a high fire clay body I bisque fire to Cone 05-06. These extruded forms are inserted in house plant vessels to provide a continuous supply of water and reducing the frequency of the watering chore.