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Hand Built Ceramics by Sylvia Hacker

Oxford, England


Samples of Recent Pots


Light brown double necked pot with linear decoration, 10" high

"Raika Iwami" pot, 16" high

Classical pot with Oriental motif, 7" high


Aims and Techniques

I am preoccupied with form. Many of my ideas are inspired by organic forms such as seed pods and shells. Some are derived from fleeting views of abstract shapes in artists' prints that have stimulated my imagination. Others are fresh forms that I have developed out of traditional shapes. Many of my pots are sculptural or semi-sculptural; others are of a more functional character.

All my pots are hand built from coils or slabs. I prefer to handbuild as this gives me greater control over form than can be achieved with the thrown pot. I use stoneware clay and fire to high temperatures. My pots are either reduction-fired in a large butane gas fast-fire kiln, or oxidize-fired in a small electric kiln. My large garden pots are made of a mixture of red terra cotta clay and stoneware, and are fired to stoneware temperatures in order better to withstand frosts.

My glazes are varied according to the needs of the pot. I use wood ash glazes, and sometimes oriental glazes such as Tenmoku and Shino.


Some More Recent Pots


"Roger Vieillard" pot, 9" high

The black and white sinuous forms are a recent idea, inspired by a print by the French engraver Roger Vieillard. They hover on the boundary between pottery and sculpture.


Octagonal blue-brown pot 7" high

I am much attracted to the octagonal form, with its association with seed pods and other organic forms (e.g., the shell of a sea urchin). I take pleasure in exploring the numerous possibilities implicit in this natural shape, as you will see in the two pots below as well. Octagonal pots from £195.

Brown octagonal pot, 7" high Black Tenmoku octagonal pot, 6" high


'Double' pot ,13" high

The 'double pot' is a new idea, based on the traditional Chinese double gourd pot. I intend to develop this form in the future and to explore its possibilities. From £245.


Square lipped black and white striped pot, 7" high

I've experimented with this shape producing both smoothly glazed pots and this, lava-like, glaze. From £195.


'Holed' pot, 12" high

I've made a variety of holed pots on and off for several years. Turning the pot only slightly presents an entirely new aspect. From £175


Double necked black and white pot, 12" high

I find the shape fascinating — an abstract conversation-piece in the medium of a sculptural pot. I like the way its character changes according to the angle of vision, and I am fascinated by the way in which different combinations of glazes and different kinds of linear decoration affect the impression it makes. From £275


View My Pots In Person!

Would you like to see the pots I have in stock? I'd be happy to show them to you. I live and work in Oxford, England. Please send me an email with suggested times at which you might visit. Please include your telephone number.


More Ceramics for You to View...


Email: sylvia_hacker@lycos.com


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