Pattern drawn in color can be clear and fresh as though it had just grown there. The source is nature - the natural process of building a series of perfect layers, each one alive with authority. Maija Grotell was always curious about materials and their possibilities. I'm not being curious about my next door neighbor. But about materials I have been tremendously curious.
Colored clay slips alone create an extraordinarily rich surface on many pieces.
This range of roughness is also used under glazes and sometimes built up in relief patterns. Areas of slips and glazes are brushed onto the works as the wheel revolves so that even deep glazing radiates the handled, spiral skin of the clay beneath. Maija developed a dazzling series of turquoise blues from copper oxide, as well as reduced reds, plums and flesh pinks. Dark, boiling iron-oxide glazes balance contrasting color patterns to build surFaces of symphonic volume. Pale yellows, greens, tans, grays and white extend a glowing spectrum along with intense accents of orange and silver.