Selden Lamoureux
Perhaps it's my background in archaeology, but I am drawn to objects that seem both ancient and outside of time. My need is to stay focused and honest while working, because what I am thinking and feeling in those moments becomes embedded in the clay.
My influences are many and varied, having worked with North Carolina potters like Sid Oakley and his sense of elegance, Brad Tucker and his sure sense of form and surface, and Siglinda Scarpa and her knowing hands. But perhaps the strongest influences in my current work have, on the one hand, harkened back to the Dead Sea Scroll Jars from the ancient Levant, and the contemporary painting of Sarah Graham whose images embody the timelessness and mystery that speak to me so strongly.
Selden lives and works in Pittsboro, NC.
She's a member of the Chatham Artists Guild and participates in the Annual Chatham Artists Guild Studio Tour held during the first two weekends of December.
Studio visiting hours on request: Selden.Lamourexu@gmail.com
Website: EarthOxPottery.com
Pit Fired Pieces are low fired in an improvised “pit” made from an old electric kiln. The pieces are laid in the bottom of the pit, covered in wood shavings, topped with a campfire, and set ablaze. Once the initial fire has died down, the lid is closed and the fuel is left to smolder overnight.
I do not control the resulting surfaces except very broadly by encouraging greater or lesser heat in the early stages of the firing. Always unexpected, I have a sense that the pieces emerge from the firing exactly as they are intended to be.
Please note that the pit fired pieces are porous and not food safe.
While the pit fired work I do is relatively recent, I have been making functional pottery for over 45 years. The first time I sat down at a wheel I had a strong sense of the vocabulary and grammar of the clay, and I have been carrying on a conversation with it ever since. Even after all these years, there is still magic in turning something out of nothing
My functional work is largely wheel thrown with hand build elements sometimes incorporated. I fire a mid range porcelain clay in an electric kiln. The functional work is food safe, microwave and dishwasher safe, and can be used in an oven (please note it should be placed in a cool oven and preheated along with the oven to avoid temperature shock).
