"Bowl with Blue Ash Glaze"

Lance Timco

"The more I create, the more I want to create."

Lance Timco is best known for his series of wheel thrown vessels decorated with angular and curvilinear shapes. Designed with the idea of mazes or puzzles, the hand carved contrasting bands of black, white, and multi-colored copper circle his vessels, imbuing rhythm and life into the classic shapes.

Timco begins the creative process with the rhythmic wedging of stoneware clay as he contemplates each series of forms. The forms are wheel thrown, hand-carved, dried, bisque fired, glazed and finally glost fired in a Raku kiln. In the Raku process, the piece is fired to a maturing temperature and removed from the kiln while the piece is red hot. The piece is then placed into carbonaceous materials. The combustion of the materials creates flame and smoke and provides the colorful and blackened surfaces seen in Timco's work. Raku pieces are porous, will not hold water, and color patterns will vary with each piece.

The Faux-Raku process was developed by the artist to create more functional work with the look of Raku. Timco's Faux-Raku pieces have never seen the inside of a Raku kiln, nor have they been blackened with smoke. They are non-porous and will hold water.