Lesley Lent: Pottery
I am a narrative potter. I loved stories long before I used clay. The day a potter friend allowed me to work with clay in her studio and I felt the plasticity in my fingers, I knew this was something I wanted to do. Starting with tiles, I began shaping the surfaces into forms depicting my family. That was narrating in clay. I like throwing simple forms used for household functions. I have a fondness for folk art, its humility and handmade uniqueness. An ordinary utilitarian vessel can become a favourite, somehow imparting an identity to the user. When I developed a technique using lines (usually iron oxide) mixed with wax resist to separate glaze colours, I believed I had discovered something, until I learned it was a 14th Century Persian technique called cuerda seca!
I love reduction fired pots where glaze and form speak, without the potter’s interfence, but my work always returns to the telling of a story. An authentic piece is one of a kind, comfortable to use, it makes one feel good, belongs to the owner and it speaks. So came my pots, each unique and with that came constant working at the skills needed to successfully decorate the vessel where glazes fired on the clay become integral in the vessel itself. While discovering how to work and make glazes, I found my way of telling stories on pots. I draw narratives in-the-round based on my South African heritage and use motifs of animals and plants. More recently I borrowed Mimbres images, Mexican folklore, and English nursery rhymes. Always, I long to let the pot talk using my depictions. Having worked for years on my own in an isolated studio in New Mexico, I benefit greatly from being with other artists and those in-becoming. I enjoy new styles but always return to the decorative, sometimes a simple figure or design or then again a fully fledged story. I practice to throw good forms but it is the illustrations that make me a narrative potter.
Here are some of Lesley's work - past and present. Click on images to enlarge.
More current images coming very soon!
"Africa Remembered"
Three African cups
Bushmen Art Plate
Chameleon Bowl
"Decorators at Poole Pottery II"
"Fishy Love"
Mimbres Turtle Bowl
Roosters
Check out Lesley at her own website - www.lesleylentpottery.com
