Leaf Dishes

I started making these trays and small dishes this fall and I am loving how the detailed beauty and imperfections come out in the final piece.

The first step is to walk around the property and collect leaves. I’ve been using maple, thimble berry and yarrow leaves. Then I roll out a slab of clay and smooth and compress it before placing the leaves on it and rolling over it again with a rolling pin. It turns out that clay slabs are super finicky and any rough treatment will come back to haunt you during firing! So much warping! After the first firing I paint an underglaze on to the surface and then wipe it almost completely off, so that the color remains only in the texture and leaf veins. The final step is an all over application of translucent green glaze.