Yellow Sun-Face Ornament by Roberta Polfus

Measures approximately 3" x 3"

Handmade by Roberta Polfus of Oak Park, Illinois.

My earliest memories are of my grandmother’s flower garden—her tulips, poppies, and hydrangeas—and my pockets filled with treasures from the beach. Since then, natural objects have always attracted me. My thrown, altered, carved, and gestural pieces are intimate forms that fit and feel good in my hand. While they are generally not representations of actual objects, they reflect the shapes, patterns, colors, and surfaces that I am drawn to in nature—the petals of an apple blossom, the grooves of a spindle shell, the pattern of a hosta leaf, or the texture of a weathered rock all inform and inspire my work. 

I use a combination of wheel-thrown and hand-built forms that are altered, carved, and sprigged. With a variety of airbrushed matte and gloss glazes, the pieces are fired to a high temperature in a gas kiln, cone 10 reduction, around 2346 F.