Current Newsletter: Newsy Updates, 2024
Setting the Table with a Garden of color
For many years my husband and creative partner Howard Peller and I owned and operated Fioriware Art Pottery in Zanesville Ohio. I currently maintain a studio on our historic farm in Roseville, Ohio. I am a master on the wheel, and hand throw most of the forms. I press tile, and use the jigger machine to form our vintage bowl sets from the Fioriware archive. True to bluebird pottery traditions, I do most of my throwing in the warmer seasons, and hook rugs and weave during the winter months. This creative activity is informed by an affection for form, color, pattern, texture, and utility. Visitors are welcome to browse the gallery at the farm by appointment. Make an appointment by calling 740-252-7256 or emailing at mfraioli@columbus.rr.com
Loading the Gas Kiln
Podcast of my ceramic journey filmed this summer by Isaac Dreier, from WHIZ news
Nattering on but revealing a few family secrets!
My Brent wheel, a wedding present, picked up in Indianapolis in the dead of night, on our way to our yet unseen home in Kirksville Missouri. 37 years later and still throwing strong.
Our Bluebird Clay Mixer, also running like a champ, 35 years later, 300 lbs at a time.
Wedging is still a chore, but the rhythm of the spiral wedge is meditative and upper body strengthening!
I trained at the Program in Artisanry (Boston University) in the late 70’s and earned my Journeymans degree (AA in Ceramics) by throwing a dinnerware service for 12. Throwing dinnerware is still one of my favoirte things to do, knowing that the dishes will bring visual comfort to those who use them on a daily basis. Pictured here a few pieces from that set, which my parents used for many years.
After the work is bisque fired, it is glazed with the opaque Majolica glaze. Then I paint the designs on with hand mixed colored stains. These motifs are waxed out, (the wax is dyed blue so that it can be seen) and when dry, the background colors are spun in. Painstaking care is used to daub up all the spots of glaze that ball up on the wax, so that the motifs are clear and crisp against the background when the wax melts off in the kiln. This technique is unique, as most imported work is either a decal or has a brush stroked background.
The Porcelain work is hand stamped. Some of it is thrown on the wheel, some is hand pressed, other pieces are extruded. I have always loved Indian block prints and still remember the t-shirts that were abundant during my high school years and despite multiple washings still had the wonderfully fragrant smell of their country. It is such a pleasure, having visited the block carvers and printers in Gujarat and Rajasthan, to be holding their work in my hands and making new work with my hands for you to hold with your hands.