CAPISTRANO

These "birds in flight" seem to have swooped down on their return home, searching for the seeds of life in this forest of fertile landscape. Although made of hardened stone, they seem as if they have taken flight as they propel through space against the blue sky. Although reminiscent of a flock of birds, there is a reverence about the forms in their relationship to nature. Vessel, chalice referenced, with their rough honed, bulging surfaces of earth pushed from within, these birds seem to embody the remnants of human and landscape. There is a reminder of spiritual energy and ritual presence in the collective group of bird like forms.

The colorful bird like forms have been subjected to a unique firing process termed "High fire Salt and/Soda Firing.” In this process, salt or soda ash (both soluble in water) is added to boiling water creating a salt solution. This solution is then introduced into the kiln by a spraying method (using an air compressor and spray gun with 60 lbs. pressure) at cone 5 or 6 (Approx.imately 2100-22--F). The salt solution turns to vapor and interacts with the minerals in the clay's surface to create a natural glaze. Stones exposed on the surface will begin to turn molten at this temperature. The introduction of the salt fluxes the Stones, causing and later capturing, the undulating molten rock.