A selection of contemporary female ceramicists who decorate with fine art drawing and sgraffito to create vibrant, vivid botanical imagery to express their love of nature.
Tiffany Scull, UK
Tiffany says ‘discovering and specialising in the decorative technique of Sgraffito has allowed me to pair up my two loves of drawing and clay work’. She views every unique work as a three dimensional clay painting and a celebration of the natural world.
“Since being a small girl I have loved to draw and was encouraged to develop this through my childhood. My excitement for the magical possibilities of clay began at Art College and these feelings have never faded. Discovering and specializing in the beautiful technique of Sgraffito has allowed me to pair up my two loves of drawing and clay work.”
“I am passionate about this time consuming process and have developed a distinctive and unique style, with each piece being made, and meticulously decorated by hand. Telling a story and trying to capture a fleeting moment in time I find very fascinating. Birds and fish are particular favourites and being such nervous creatures I hope to give the impression they may take flight from a vessel or dish at any moment.”
Reed Warblers ovoid bud vessel — Tiffany Scull
Tiffany Scull ceramic vase – birds in tree
Studiopottery.co
Ceramic teardrop vessel with honeysuckle flowers — Tiffany Scull
Hummingbirds & Orchids Wall Art plate — Tiffany Scull
Fiona Hiscock, AUS
Due to her fascination with Australian native plants, Fiona Hiscock frequently travels to specific locations to study the local indigenous plants. Taking trips along the Victorian coastline, extending towards New South Wales, sparked an interest in the Banksia Serrata plant and resulted in many drawings and water colour paintings. Spending time in the banksia forests allowed her to observe the plant’s many forms as well as the bird and insect life that supports their environment.
Her drawings and ceramic art references the botanical illustrative traditions of depicting the life cycle of the plant, including the bud, flower, birds and occasional pollinating insects, to provide a sense of the overall habitat. She employs large scale vessels to illustrate her high regard for the botanical traditions in the ceramic arts.
Fiona Hiscock exhibition – Gallerysmith
Banksia stoneware vase — Fiona Hiscock
Prior to painting on the clay form, I make detailed water colours on paper of the selected plants. I transpose the image onto bone dry, hand built, coiled vessels by applying layers of ceramic stain.
Aussie botanical vase and jug – Fiona Hiscock
Stoneware vase with flowering gum and Rosella bird – Fiona Hiscock
2017
Fiona Hiscock Australian native plants and birds
Gallerysmith via looking with soft eyes
Fiona Hiscock banksia double handle pitcher with honeyeater inside
2017
Stoneware vase with flowering gum tree and Rosella bird – Fiona Hiscock
Fiona Hiscock banksia flower bowl
2017
Fiona Hiscock – king parrot pitcher
2018
Fiona Hiscock banksia and honeyeater vase
Felicity Aylieff, UK
Felicity Aylieff established her reputation as a maker of large-scale, sculptural ceramics at the Royal College of Art in 1996. Ten years on, after an ‘incredibly liberating’ artist residency in Jingdezhen, China, the historic home of Chinese porcelain production, she went on to produce a series of monumental pots, the largest of which stands three metres high. Returning each summer since then, Felicity has developed the surface decoration of the pots with printed, stylised drawings of plants and flowers or colourful clouds of exquisite, exotic butterflies.
Felicity Aylieff’s work provokes an immediate sense of awe, both through its monumental scale and the expressive, yet considered, handling of surface decoration. Deeply-rooted within a context of traditional Chinese ceramic-making, her vessels are immediately contemporary.
‘Monumental Vase; New Pots on Pots’, Felicity Aylieff
2016
Felicity Aylieff – ‘Monumental Vase; Still Life, A Moment in Time II’ (right)
Thrown and glazed porcelain with hand-painted Fencai over-glaze enamel, 2016
Monumental floral and botanical decor vases – Felicity Aylieff
Messums Wiltshire
Abstract decoration ceramic vessel – Felicity Aylieff
Porcelain, Still life with three Chinese vases, – Felicity Aylieff
City–Jingdezhen
Felictiy Aylieff with her monumental Jingdezhen porcelain vase
Felicity Aylieff — monumental vase with contemporary botanical decoration
Cathy Franzi, AUS
Cathy Franzi’s work aims to reflect the textural and formal qualities of plants and refer in some way to the connections between them, ecosystems they inhabit, and attributed cultural values. “Through my work I investigate ways in which representations of Australian flora on the ceramic vessel can express current botanical and environmental knowledge”
Her chosen subject matter gifts her the opportunity to be around nature, one of her cherished pastimes and to indulge her fascination with Australian native plants.
Flowering gum tree sgraffito vase — Cathy Franzi
Cathy Franzi in her studio
Cathy Franzi, On the nature of things, — Wallum Banksia
2016, porcelain, wheel thrown & altered, engobe, sgraffito
Cathy Franzi – Spiny headed Matrush, porcelain, wheel-thrown & altered, engobe, sgraffito
2016, Height 60cm
Cathy Franzi ‘Scrub She Oak’ — porcelain, wheel thrown & altered, engobe, sgraffito
2016, Height 52cm
Carrington Falls Grevillea vase – Cathy Franzi
wheel thrown & altered Limoges porcelain, engobe, underglaze, glaze, sgraffito
Cathy Franzi, Red & Green Kangaroo Paw porcelain vase
wheel thrown & altered, engobe, sgraffito,-H-60 x W-17
2016
Cathy Franzi, Hakea Multilineata ceramic bottle
‘Waxy Wattle’, Cathy Franzi, 2016
porcelain, wheel thrown & altered, engobe, terracotta slip, sgraffito, H-41 cm
Cathy Franzi vase
Jo Ann Axford, NY
The beauty of the forms and textures in the plant world initially seduced me to carve botanical images into the surface of my pots. The book, “Botany of Desire” by Michael Pollan inspired me to explore botanical imagery beyond its beauty, to the reciprocal relationship between Man and plants and its effects on the delicate balances in nature.
‘Bindweed Yunomi’ Jo Ann Axford
4.5 inches height
Incised cup – JoAnn Axford
Dandelion Covered Jar — JoAnn Axford
20.5 inches height
Peony ‘Snapshot’ shotglass – JoAnn Axford
Porcelain, height 2,25 inches
JoAnn Axford—‘Dogwood and Chickadee’
Morning Glory bottle — JoAnn Axford
9 inches height
Danica Wichtermann, AUS
“My pieces are inspired by our amazing natural environment, the bush, flora, sea and landscape; where I draw on characteristics which are at times unseen or overlooked. Each piece goes on its own journey, and as these forms are all made by hand, no piece is exactly the same”.
“Since I started working with clay in 2006, making forms on the potters’ wheel has become my passion. There is something so soothing and meditative about it. I create pieces that I love to share with others and my forms evolve and change constantly. I love to express my love of nature in my art. Many of my favourite tools come from nature itself. I use gum nuts, shells, seed pods, & found items to print into the surface.”
Danica Wichtermann – ‘Native windows’
Blue on white Three Eucalyptus porcelain bottles – DW Ceramics
Gumnuts black on white vase – Danica Wichtermann
Banksia vases by Danica Wichtermann
Danica Wichtermann (DW ceramics) — Wattle vase with sgraffito
Sgraffito black on white native flower vase
Modern Australian ‘Sturts Pea’ vases – DW Ceramics
Sturt’s desert pea flower
DW Ceramics black white sgraffito modern contemporary design sculpture vase
Kangaroo Paw flower
Banksia nut sgraffito – Danica Wichtermann
Flowering Banksia Birthday Candles
Dry banksia nut
New Banska inspired tower – Docklands
Blue/white Coral Gum–vase–Danica Wichtermann
Banksia waratah domes and vase – DW Ceramics – WA
Tall eucalyptus vase — Danica Wichtermann
Danica Wichtermann in Perth studio
Danica Wichtermann_ Two Bottle brush Eucalyptus vessels
…
Oiva Toikka Mid Century ceramic bird, Finland
Gerry Wedd — Mei Ping vase with botanical detail
Georgina Proud flowering gum ikebana
Diana Fayt orange canteen vase
Kerry Goodwin Samphire Spider Orchid Large-10 inch Vase – Moorcroft
Mollie Bosworth —- ‘Tangled in Blue #87′ cylinder vase
Jock Puautjimi ovoid red ant vase
Émile Gallé, Multilayer glass vase with lake landscape decor engraved with water lilies, cameo glass
Flow Blue 10–Pillow Vase with Blue Lily design
Timber Hills Antiques on Ruby Lane
Yellow Tiger Paws flowers
Petrichor leaf fall bowl – Shannon Garson
Porcelain stork vase- ‘Lotus in Sunlight’——Ning Gang, China
Orange flowering gum tree flowers with two orange bellied parrots (Top left)
Orange gum flowers with a parrot blending in.
