Liz Denys

Starlit sky coffee pitcher, 2024

April 13, 2024

Starlit sky on a clear night / the milky way / eternity / clarity / raindrops sticking to window glass
Black stoneware clay with fine white grog, slab-built, blue hare's fur glaze

This black stoneware pitcher has a squat, geometric form with a hexagonal base and opening. The form flares out towards the bottom and each of the six sides is made of two trapezoids - a larger one on top and a smaller on the bottom.

The blue hare's fur glaze is applied in a tape-resist starburst pattern from the corners of the geometric form.

The glaze is mostly transparent but speckles of blues, both light and navy, float in each section of glaze.

The bottom is sanded to give a perfectly flat surface and some lighter brown texturing around the edges. My signature and the year are stamped in the bottom, and glaze fills those impressions.

The inside of the pitcher is glazed solidly in the blue hare's fur glaze.

Patina tissue box, 2024

March 28, 2024

Tan stoneware clay with black speckles and light grog, slab-built, matte copper patina glaze

A tissue box has a maze-like pattern in black speckled matte green glaze reminiscent of tarnished copper.

The revealed tan speckled stoneware has flashed from the salts in the glaze and appears in a shiny, teak-toned color.

Each side of the tissue box has a unique maze-like pattern.

The top has a hole for pulling tissues surrounded by the maze-like glaze pattern.

Bottle glass planter and drip tray, 2024

March 1, 2024

Algae in pond water / crests and troughs / sea glass
Heavily grogged buff stoneware clay, slab-built, glossy bottle glass green glaze

The planter and its drip tray both have wavy edges and sections of each overlap. The planter is glazed in a glossy teal green. Near the rim, the glaze is more matte and grey, and in the body, it is the bright crackled blue-ish green.

The drip tray is also glazed in this crackly blue-ish green along its wavy edge. The unglazed portions look like straw colored sand.

Black coiled planter with attached drip tray, 2024

February 7, 2024

Heavily grogged black stoneware, coil-built, denim satin glaze

A dark brown, navy, and olive glazed cylinder forms the body of the planter.

A mess of coils glazed in the same tones attach to the top of that cylinder.

An unglazed black plate is attached at the bottom of the cylinder to act as the drip tray.

A wall of unglazed coils connected to the rim of the drip tray make a coral-like sculpture that surrounds the body of the planter.

The glazed body of the cylinder has a satin finish that glistens softly in the light.

The raw, unglazed black stoneware coils surrounding the planter are arranged in a random pattern. They are more matte than the body of the planter.

Some of the coils attached to the drip tray come up to the full height of the planter's body.

Others end much earlier, revealing more of the planter's main body.

All parts of the planter have an intentionally rough surface.

Blue satin glaze breaks lightly over groggy black clay coils forming darker areas that evoke oil in water, while others are left raw like black sand.

Black & white cookie jars, 2024

January 23, 2024

The classic New York City treat reimagined as a pill jar
Tan stoneware clay with black speckles and light grog, slab-built and altered, porcelain slip, brown underglaze, black, white, and clear glazes

These shallow pill jars are made to look like ceramic black and white cookies.

Their lids have iconic half chocolate, half vanilla frosting done in white slip and brown underglaze under a shiny clear glaze.

The jars have the iconic puffy cookie's circular shape with puffy round edges.

A light tan clay with speckles represents the cake part of the black and white cookie.

The interior is divided into two-compartments that are glazed white, and the black speckles in the clay show through the glaze. The underside of the lid says 'eat me' in black glaze inlaid into stamped letters.