I throw my pieces, striving for lightness and elegance in form, sometimes deliberately distorting them, always using multiple trails of glaze. More recently, I have moved to hand-building tall vases which then become canvases for organic, bark-like designs.
Elizabeth Davies has worked with ceramics since 2000 and in a dedicated and focused manner since 2016 when she returned to Canada from Europe where she had worked as a conference interpreter. Her pieces reflect the imprint of different people and places she has known in her life. While living and working in Brussels, she was influenced by the flowing glazes of the French oblate Daniel de Montmollin, the simplicity and elegance of the British potter Chris Keenan and the quick, deft decorative movements of the Nigerian Danlami Aliyu. However nature has always been the main source of her inspiration. Many of her pieces reflect the ocean, shorelines and beaches she knew growing up in Angola on the west coast of Africa. More recently, her abstract designs have been inspired by the serene beauty of plants, from the fine grasses and wild flowers of the open meadow to the majestic age-old trees of the forest. Her intention is always to intrigue, and to have the viewer feel the urge to reach out, touch and hold.
For the past six years, she has been a member of Gladstone Clayworks co-operative as well as the Ottawa Guild of Potters.
Artist Statement
My ceramics are inspired by natural forms, and serve as a canvas for abstract surface design. The patterns of my thrown and distorted bowls evoke the ever-shifting shorelines on the African beaches where I grew up. My tall hand-built vases are inspired by trees, their bark covered in creepers and dappled in sunlight. With all my pieces, I layer free-flowing streams of slips and glazes, adding depth and movement to capture the eye and make the viewer want to reach out, touch and hold.
