Larry Halvorsen

"My drive is the creation of the work—the new and undiscovered ideas."

Larry Halvorsen works with stoneware clay, constructing his pieces through a combination of hand-building techniques such as coiling, press-and-slump molding, and slab building. He coats the pieces with black slip, and then, using the ancient technique of sgraffito, he carves through the slip, revealing the natural clay beneath. His pieces are fired once to cone 10 (2300 degrees) in a natural gas kiln.

Halvorsen's influences range from ancient stone tools, ritual objects, and Celtic monoliths to the wondrous variety of form and pattern in nature. He was also influenced by the two years he spent in the Peace Corps in Central America, where he saw Pre-Colombian pottery, the Mayan sites of Tikal and Copan, and the highlands of Guatemala.