I love earthy red clay, how it smells like dirt just dug up from the garden, the way it warms up in response to my touch, how it transforms from a cool dark milk chocolate brown to a toasty terra cotta red when fired. I even like cleaning up the mess it makes all over my studio.

My pots are built by hand from coils and slabs. I photograph flowers from my California garden and wherever I go (most recently Maine, Crete and Cornwall) and transfer them as directly as possible to the clay through mono-printing, stenciling, or carving; sometimes I press just-picked flowers into plaster to create molds and then attach the sprigs to the pots. Usually somewhere along the way in the process the clay wants to be a different shape or wear different flowers than my original intention and I’ve learned to listen since it really does know its own mind best. All of my vases are watertight to hold fresh blooms and the tableware is food safe.

~ Jean Victor