Sheila Jenkins

 I fell in love with the sensitivity and responsiveness of clay when I was  an apprentice at Old City Pottery in Sonoma with Richard Roth back in the early 80’s. Since that time, most of my work has been thrown on the wheel and designed for the preparation and presentation of food. I want  my domestic pots to feel good in the hand, be enjoyable to look at and  engaging to think about.

Making things with my hands has  become a satisfying daily devotion. I am drawn to creating graceful forms with rich surfaces and subtle surface decoration that will  compliment, not over power, the form. Most of my embellishments are drawn from my love of the natural world and are often inspired by the  oak woodlands that surround my rural studio at Walker Lake in northern  California.

Recently my love of the beauty, subtlety and  elegance of reduction glazes has inspired me to expand my repertoire to  include funerary urns. These pieces enable me to explore glaze surfaces beyond what domestic ware typically allows. The richness of these glazes lends itself to the specialness that these pieces require.

Whether  my pots are used for culinary, celebratory or ritual use I hope they  will continue to nourish body and soul year after year, and in this way serve to connect the user to the maker