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Peter Hayes

‘I have always been interested in why and how 'things' are made of clay. I am naturally drawn to shapes of artefacts and objects from other cultures and other times, but that remain timeless’.

‘Erosion and change through time and nature are recorded in a piece. My main aim in my work is not to compete with nature, but for the work to evolve within the environment’. Minerals, like iron and copper, are sometimes introduced into the ceramic surface and have their own affect on the clay. Sanding continues the erosion process so that the texture and cracks do not interrupt the surface but become an organic, integral part of the patina. ‘Each individual piece takes on its own developing surface; its own history and its own aesthetic. I am merely the maker’.

Red Burnished Forms

The leather hard surface is rubbed and polished to compress the clay. By adding red slip to the surface, which has been very finely ground, a highly polished effect is created. The finished pieces are wonderfully smooth to the touch, with deep red burnished surfaces and black carbon markings where the fuel from the kiln was not entirely burnt away

Raku

Raku uses both fire and water; the clay is pulled out of the kiln and plunged straight into water to cool it, or wrapped in straw to create colour and texture. Repeated grinding and polishing of the surface ensures a highly smooth finish and Peter often ‘repairs’ any natural cracks appearing in the surface using gold or copper.

Black Surfaces

The black pieces are taken red hot from the kiln and buried in dry sawdust to cool. The white clay draws in the burnt carbon sawdust, giving a jet-black finish. Alternatively, Peter uses sagger fire, whereby after biscuit firing, the piece is placed in a clay sagger, which is packed with sawdust and placed in the kiln until the sawdust begins to smoke (just before the sawdust ignites). Pieces are then removed from the kiln and left to cool.