Melissa Mytty

Laurey-Faye Dean Is known for stoneware wheel-thrown functional work. Dean has developed a process for adding relief to the surfaces of her works; she carves molds that she then presses into the leather hard thrown vessels. Dean?s work is typically glazed in shades of blues, browns, and greens. Glazes are formulated in her studio. Additional surface interest is created by carving into the vessel and using slip trailing. Dean fires her pieces to cone 7 in an oxidizing atmosphere.

Dean began working with clay at age 14 in 1975 when she studied with Ursula Vollrath. She describes her pots as, ?purposefully pretty, lyrical and narrative, visual poems to the Southern Appalachians.? The motifs Dean uses reflects the environment of plants, animals, and landscapes of the Appalachian Mountains. She is inspired by Mark Trail comics, Palissy, the French potter of the 1500s, and the historic American art potteries: Rookwood and McCoy.