Ernestine Sitkiewicz
When Ernestine Sitkiewicz sits down at the pottery wheel, her first inclination is to make a bowl. It’s not that she’s averse to making cups, vases, plates, or any other functional vessel; it’s that she is drawn to making bowls. Because the “bowl” is the ubiquitous vessel in all homes, she knows that there is a need for all types of bowls. Ernestine relies on your continual search for that unique bowl — whatever the functional criteria — in the hopes that a bowl she makes will become that special bowl you just love.
Ernestine enjoys throwing with a variety of clays from porcelain to earthenware fired primarily in an electric kiln to cone 5-6 and sometimes in a gas kiln to cone 10 if it’s porcelain clay. Her special technique of marbling the glazes has become her hallmark. The process of layering different glazes in a container and then pouring them onto the rim of a vessel to achieve a swirl of rich colors makes Ernestine’s bowls unique. Ernestine alters her thrown vessels by manipulating them by hand or incorporating hand-building techniques to achieve an organic or artistic flair.
She also creates jewelry pendants and vessels with a process of applying several layers of colored slips (liquid clay) to textured clay surfaces and then creatively sanding them to reveal a multi-color design. It is for her pleasure that Ernestine takes clumps of clay and transforms them through its many stages into a desired art form for your pleasure.
