san·guine
/ˈsaNGɡwən/
adjective
optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation.
Functional Art for Every Day Use
You wouldn't put your lips to a painting or eat off it. Using functional pottery is intimate.
My work is about comfort. I make invitations to brew and to drink, to hold and to eat. I make small mugs for old couples who like their coffee hot, and deep plates for latin women who add hot sauce to everything, left-handed teapots for young tea enthusiasts that can't find the right pot, and shallow bowls with small feet for cooks who mostly eat standing.
Comfort is about consideration and being specific. I make work that interacts, not just with what goes in it, but the life that it can be a part of.
Photos by Tuna
Quality Ingredients
One of the more common questions I get from customers is, “How do you know if a pot is made from good clay?” Any unglazed clay fired at or above stoneware temperatures (1230°C/2246°F) is safe to use for food and drink.
A clay becomes suitable for teaware when the artist has mastered that particular clay, and knows how to fire it. I use stoneware clays and food safe glazes to make sure you can get the most out of what I make.
“Pottery is 80 percent technique and only 20 percent art, but the most important is the latter. This can create conflict― if you have an idea but no technique, you can't make anything worth while. Technique and idea have to be balanced. But if you have only technique, then what you make is craft.”
- Ah Leon, 1996