Mann Made Designs

Mann Made Designs

Mann Made Designs

About The Artist

Barbara Mann • Norfolk, VA

Ceramics • WHOLESALE AVAILABLE • CUSTOM COMMISSIONS

My wheel-thrown forms are botanical or aquatic themed using matte slips. I’ve always had a fascination with flowers and plants for their beauty but also their transiency. The blossom is the unique way we identify a plant as of a species. A flower is the means for the plant to really get the message to its pollinators: this is her “come hither” move. My new line of primitive-fired pieces uses various soluble metals within a saggar, coaxing ghost images from leaves to brand the pots.

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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

Wheel-thrown clay. My graphic pieces are hand painted and once-fired with matte slips and glazes. I am working on a new line of primitive-fired pieces that also uses plant life to place a mark on the pot. Using various soluble metals like iron, copper, and silver within a saggar, I coax ghost images from leaves and other organic matter to brand the pieces.

What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

There is always a new flower or leaf to work with. I am working on a new line of primitive-fired pieces that also uses plant life to place a mark on the pot. Using various soluble metals like iron, copper, and silver within a saggar, I can coax ghost images from leaves and other organic matter to brand the pieces. These pieces tend to be far more subtle than my other highly graphic pieces, and the excitement of the firing process keeps me experimenting.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

40-some years and still going strong.