SVEND BAYER

BORN: 1946 in Born in Uganda to Danish parents
RESIDES: Devon, England

If you look for perfection in my pots you will not find it. Look at them as you would on survivors, or maybe your oldest and dearest friends. Like them they have scars and blemishes, the signs of a life lived. In my pots these scars come from the firing process. To get the surfaces and colours I am looking for, my pots are subjected to the extremes of a four day wood-firing. For days they are repeatedly covered in burning wood and embers, re-emerging only to be covered again and again. Some get knocked over, some broken, others end up sticking to each other. Occasionally a pot will explode, showering shards over its neighbours. Many do not survive, but some of those that do have a story to tell. My pots have to be picked up, felt, turned over and around and examined. Every time you look closely at them, they will tell you something new.

Some years ago I noticed that the celadon liner glaze in some of my pots changed to a wonderful blue when exposed to ash from the firing. I had also noticed an amazing transformation in the shino glaze and more recently, in the kaki glaze. These glazes are normally protected from kiln ash, but I love the startling colours and movement in the surfaces that result from this treatment. Like many wood fire potters I use shells to separate my pots from each other and whatever they are resting on in the kiln. It is both practical (protracted wood firings produce copious amounts of ash which melts at high temperature, rather like filling the kiln with super-glue) and decorative. Shells leave dramatic fossil marks.

I am aware that this firing technique produces pots at the extreme of the ceramic taste spectrum, but once acquired, nothing else quite hits the spot any more. The losses can be dauntingly high but like an addicted gambler, I get just enough exciting pots to keep me coming back for more.

-Svend Bayer, August 2007

Svend Bayer
Large Squared Vase, Kaki glaze
stoneware
16 x 8 ¼ x 5"
SV2		 SV21 Svend Bayer
Small Bottle, Shino glaze
stoneware
3 ¾ x 2 ½ x 2 ½"
SV22		 SV22
Svend Bayer
Bowl, Kaki glaze
stoneware
2 ¼ x 5 ¼ x 5 ¼"
SV19		 SV19 Svend Bayer
Bottle, Kaki glaze
stoneware
8 ¼ x 4 x 4"
SV10		 SV10
Svend Bayer
Jar with Lugs, Unglazed
stoneware
8 x 6 ½ x 6 ½"
SV8		 SV8 Svend Bayer
Bowl,
Shino glaze with Kaki trails
stoneware
2 ½ x 7 ¾ x 7 ¾"
SV26		 SV14
Svend Bayer
Teapot, Kaki glaze
stoneware
2 ½ x 7 ½ x 7 ½"
SV9		 SV16 Svend Bayer
Jar with Lugs, Celadon Glaze
stoneware
13 x 9 ¾ x 9 ¾"
SV6		 SV6
Svend Bayer
Jar, Celadon Glaze
stoneware
17 x 11 ½ x 11 ½"
SV1		 SV1 Svend Bayer
Jar, Shino Glaze
stoneware
13 x 9 x 9"
SV5		 SV5