Making art can be so therapeutic for both the mind and the soul. You can literally lose hours doing something creative that you love. And, if you can make something truly amazing and unique using an old technique but putting a new twist on it, that’s really extraordinary.
Sean Forest Roberts is doing exactly that with his beautiful and colorful pottery pieces.
Washington-based artist, Sean Forest Roberts, and his partner Valeri Aleksandrov, run a ceramic business called Forest Ceramic Company.
Together they run the studio and its marketing like a well-oiled machine.
Sean has a background in chemistry and four years in science labs.
This has allowed him to experiment and develop such intricate porcelain forms and patterns in his pottery pieces.
His signature pieces are best-known for the process of carving multi-layered ceramics that in turn create very intricate and colorful designs.
It’s not your grandma’s pottery that’s for sure.
This 29-year-old artist got his first start in pottery back in high school.
While he was studying chemistry at Carleton College he also developed a passion for making ceramics.
He’s never actually taken an art class outside of ceramics and everything he’s learned about making art has been pretty much self-taught.
And it’s always a work in progress.
What makes Sean’s art truly unique is the fact that he’s always interested in exploring the art of ceramics that isn’t the typical way of making the pieces.
He’s finding new, innovative techniques for the craft.
He’s always experimenting to create his artful pieces.
After all, he’s been at this for the past 15 years. The last seven years he’s spent working on colored porcelain.
The intricate step-by-step process he uses is called “slipcasting”.
First, he creates a prototype form on the pottery wheel. Then, he creates a plaster mold of that form.
He “casts” it a couple of times in one day using a slip-liquefied clay to recreate the original prototype form.
Then there are 10-12 steps to undergo for each piece.
To finish a piece, the whole process takes about a week to have the product out of final glaze firing.
I dunno exactly what that means, but it sounds pretty involved.
Then, there’s the actual process of carving out each piece.
Here you can take a glimpse of how it’s done. It looks like magic to me. So amazing.
Sean’s studio is pretty much like a laboratory.
It’s no surprise because he treats his work very scientifically. The majority of his inspiration actually comes from nature and chemistry.
Wow, I had no idea how much work goes into making each and everyone of these unique pieces.
This is definitely some intricate and dedicated work. I’m impressed.
I’ve always loved pottery and ceramics.
I just never would have guessed it can be elevated quite like this. I find the whole process truly fascinating to watch.
