Hayne Bayless

The Hayne Bayless workshop was fun. Not just "fun" but a fun approach to pottery. His work is detailed and in some cases mechanical, in that the simplicity and function of elements as in his teapot hinge is, in it-self, art. The diverse and imaginative forms he creates are both whimsical and functional. The decretive patterns are made up of simple ideas and straight forward marks and lend themselves to the form in a wrap-around look. We thank Hayne for a great workshop and hope to see more of his work in the future.

Hayne’s work is hand-built stoneware or porcelain, reduction-fired (with exceptions, using slab techniques and extruded elements, some with added handles and stems of metal or hand-carved hardwood.

The two-day workshop included:

• Principals of hand-built functional pottery, with emphasis on how to get the most out of your extruder and slab roller

• Unusual approaches to surface treatment using colored slips and pattern-making materials

• How to make customized extruder dies using tools and materials found at any hardware store

• How to make your own hand tools and modify those you have to suit your individual needs

“The unintended result, often misread as a mistake and so dismissed, is one of the most fertile sources of new ideas. The trick is not to fool with clay's inherent desire to be expressive.

Pay attention to the clay, not only for the sake of each piece, but because the clay will offer - or impose - its own suggestions of new forms and ways to work.

My pots are not so much about harmony, although that does happen, but more about tension. I love what spawns in the friction between what I want the material to do and what it would rather do.”

Click here for movie "Teapot".
Dialup speed (low quality)
Running time 12:54