CM Ceramics consists of the art and pottery equipment of its creator Clark Marshall. The art is executed solely by the artist, and each "glaze-all" apparatus is executed under the design and supervision of the tool's creator (Clark Marshall). ARTIST STATEMENT
During my year and a half tenure as a graduate student of Renaissance Art History with Syracuse University in Florence, I found that the mo
st breathtaking works of art I studied were manuscripts, not the paintings and sculptures I had learned about as an undergraduate. I researched manuscripts in order to learn more about the Renaissance artists. The stunning calligraphy on the vellum and paper pages of Florence's archives, had a profound impact on my aesthetic. Whether Michelangelo, Leonardo, Ghiberti, Domenico Veneziano, or Piero della Francesca, the calligraphies of the Florentine masters are of themselves masterpieces. Having first majored in ceramics at Utah State University, I was able to developed an image transfer process so that I could use these texts as a design element in my work. I start with old copies or facsimiles of primarily Florentine documents, make detailed silkscreens out of the images, and bring them to life on each piece. The texts are often placed vertically rather than horizontally, and often transfer onto the piece in their mirror image, emphasizing the beauty and the aesthetic of the writings, rather than their content. My more recent endeavors with image transfer have led me to explore the lesser-known field of Water Soluble Metal Salts (WSMS) on cone 10 porcelain. The surface of porcelain when coated with a WSMS yields a smooth mat finish, which would be difficult to obtain with a conventional glaze. By high-firing my works, the historical echos are preserved and brought to the attention and enjoyment of the viewer. My first priority has always been making beautiful works of art, while still working within the parameters of functionality. I keep my coloring methods simple by only using three or four glazes in my studio at once. I know that if I have a few glazes that will always do what I expect, and a few that will be somewhat unpredictable, then I will be able to keep my pieces interesting, while still maintaining a degree of stability. The most exciting part about being a ceramic artist, is the final step in the process— firing. Even the humidity and air pressure can alter the color and saturation on glazes during a firing, and even the most meticulous of potters can still have unpredictable results come out of a kiln. What results then, is not an original piece born solely of the artist, but rather an original piece born of a collaboration between the artist and the elements of nature that surround us every day.
-Clark Marshall
