What I Do
It all starts with an idea and a lump of clay. The most exciting aspect of what I do is making a customer's vision come to life on a vessel sink. Whether it is animals, scenes, patterns or a combination of elements I would love the opportunity to create the perfect vessel sink for your bathroom.
The Process
Most custom vessel sinks take 4-6 weeks to complete. My sinks are thrown on the potter's wheel so they start out round but can be modified into oval shape or squared off at the top. Once they are firm enough to handle they are turned over and the underside is trimmed to give them a nice foot ring to sit on your vanity (although drop in with a flared rim is an option). I then turn the sink back over and add either sculpted details like sea turtles or repeated patterns along the rim. Adding the details is the very time consuming because everything I do is handmade. Sometimes I use molds created from elements I sculpted or stamps I created and other times I start from scratch, but everything is handcut, hand manipulated or scultped. Once I finish making the sink the next step is drying, drying is the part of the process that takes the most time. The sink must be dried slowly to avoid cracking. Once it is dry the sink gets fired in a kiln twice, a prefire and a glaze firing. The glaze firing is where the final magic happens!
Crystalline Glaze
I use crystalline glazes primarily as my glazing method. The flower like or burst pattern appearance of the glaze is from actual zinc crystals. For me this this is where the true magic happens with my vessel sinks because each one is unique and can not be exactly duplicated. Crystals actually grow in the glaze as the kiln is slow cooled over a period of hours. The detail of the cystals is amazing! Color variation and halos (rings around the crystals) are caused by holding the kiln for durations of time at different temperatures. This is a very demanding method of glazing and I have put years of experience and experimentation in these glazes. These glazes are so fluid at top temperatures (around 2320 F) that they must be fired on pedestals to catch the excess glaze (or the glaze would run all over the kiln shelves) so the bottoms of the vessel sink are ground smooth on a diamond grinding wheel
