Every ceramics artist strives to inject an element of originality into their work, to distinguish it from that of everyone else creating with clay. Our pursuit of this ideal has led us to a triaxial expression.

First is the Axis of the Medieval. Most of our functional work is based on Medieval European forms. This tradition grabs us in a way that no other does. Also reflecting the Middle Ages is our pursuit of wood-firing. This is the period Medieval fuel and offers a wide range of possibilities in pyrography.

Second is the Axis of the Primeval. If it can melt, cool, and crystallize in, on or as the ground, it can melt, cool, and crystallize in, on or as our work. Thus, we look around us for things that make us glow. This leads us from the shales and sandstones of the Coast Ranges, through the silts and clays of the Willamette Valley, to the various volcanics of the Cascades and Oregon’s interior. If our great-great-great-grandpotters used materials essentially straight out of the ground, why shouldn’t we? This Axis leads to the antiquitous and fascinating artistic traditions of the Pacific Northwest indigenous peoples. Also lying upon this Axis is the unlikely tradition of garden art. Both clay and plants existed on earth long before man and we have much in common with both. We were originally formed from clay ourselves. When we eat plants, we become them, for we are what we eat. The aforementioned technique of wood-firing shares this Axis with the Medieval Axis. Not only is this firing method ancient, its results are visually compatible with our conceptions most works from times of antiquity.

Third is the Axis of Upheaval. There is a school of thought in the arts—or perhaps it’s more of an attitude—that in order for something to truly be art, it must push the envelope, challenge the status quo, buck the trend. While we don’t necessarily agree with this, we do acknowledge that much interesting artistic expression results from taking one’s art in different directions, or at least ones in which one has not yet gone. Thus, we sometimes happen upon something interesting that deserves to be repeated after we see what happens when we try something unusual.

We invite you to delve into our world and see how Thistillium Pottery turns about these Axes!