Category: Art + Design

I love birds and always love coming across different kinds of bird houses.

Aside from looking pretty, they provide a nesting place for a variety of birds.  More than 24 species of birds nest in birdhouses (provided they have ventilation and drainage holes), including songbirds, swallows and owls. Most of these birds nest in tree cavities, but when natural nesting areas remain scarce, birdhouses serve as a backup. They’re also an attractive outdoor home decoration on their own.

I recently came across some of the most beautiful and intricate birdhouses which are handmade by ceramicist/artist Laura Temkin.  I went to her lovely indoor/outdoor home to have a look at her studio and all the exquisite (some more ornate) handmade birdhouses surrounding her home.  I’m not sure that these photos here do them justice.  

As Laura says, making art is her therapy.  Certainly it is a way of expressing emotions. I asked her about the process and she replied below:

“Ironically,  the process is so involved in the making that it lets me forget my worries in the real world.

I usually start with basic slab walls, cut by sight, perhaps a ruler nearby.  I do this fairly carelessly because I am impatient, and because the pieces have more character when they are not perfect. 

I’ve always thought that the clay itself where it bunched up or split apart is as beautiful and inspiring as anything I can create.  It is the nature in the clay showing itself.

I like to combine unexpected textures with jagged seams.  I punch them with holes that will later be sewn back together.  I cover them with barnacles or *sqrafitto so the underglazes will influence the final piece.

I always add glazes dark to light.  First celadon dipped or painted, before painting other glazes in the same color palate of greens and blues.

Between the use of 3-4 glazes painted and overlapping the underglazes, the various textures break over an edge.  The pieces are fairly controlled and yet clearly offer many opportunities for the glazes to interact, allowing for an appreciation of the materials itself.

*Sgraffito is a technique where potters can put a layer of glaze or slip on a piece of pottery, let it dry, then use a pottery carving tool to scratch at it to show the base layer of color. Sgraffito derives from an Italian word meaning “to scratch.”

Who wants to be perfect? More interesting to be slightly less-so and have more character which is more important anyway.  Like these birdhouses.

Sidenote: Laura’s husband Steve is also an artist.  They’re a creatively interesting couple.

Photos: d. king

Where to buy:

https://www.shopmarketmarket.com/