Tessa Wolfe Murray constructs slab-built vessels using up to five separate sections of white earthenware clay for each piece. Elliptical shapes achieved through this technique have always had a place in her practice.
Tessa’s inspiration for surface decoration is distilled from a process that begins with photographs taken whilst travelling: rock formations, beach debris, horizons,buildings and their surfaces. Her shapes are defined by the decoration she seeks, and in some cases by her time spent drawing museum artefacts.
Tessa decorates the surfaces of her vessels using volcanic stones and incised line drawings, then applies metal oxide slips. After two firings in an electric kiln some vessels also receive an outdoor smoke-firing to create another surface layer. The contours of her slab-built vessels have been refined as her understanding of proportion and balance has developed.
Colours arise from Tessa’s sea and coastal surroundings in Sussex. She says, “I aim to represent a true range of colours, whether they are describing the moods of the sea or the subtle tones of a landscape or cliff face.”
