About Me

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I grew up with an artistic family, so it was simply natural to be interested in creating.  As a child I was always fiddling with some sort of material, clay in particular interested me.  I have a distinct memory of creating a set of little ducks from clay which was dug from the earth at our home.  In high school I took every art class they offered, but never had access to a pottery wheel.   I decided to not pursue art in college, instead receiving a double-major in health promotion and anthropology.

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A few years after college, I was drawn to be creative again.  I was torn between the art-form of glassblowing or pottery.  Since I love working directly with my hands on a material I went for pottery.   My first classes were at a municipal pottery center in Fort Collins and I enjoyed the potter's wheel from the first moment!   I am now continuing my work at the Northern Colorado Potters' Guild & Studio.

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Porcelain

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Although I enjoyed creating  with stoneware, I felt something was missing.  I still wanted the airy and ethereal feeling of blown glass.  Once I learned that porcelain  became translucent when thin, I knew that was it!  I had to explore this material.  It combines my favorite things about clay and glass.   

Translucent porcelain feels like magic.  I never tire of seeing light pass through the luminaries. 

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Luminary Process

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Porcelain is as challenging to work with as it is beautiful.   Every step of the process takes a little extra care.  

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I throw each luminary on the wheel, so each one is unique.  I use Laguna Frost cone 5/6 for all my luminaries and some of my other work.  Once they are thrown, I wait for them to dry enough to trim.  A great deal of time is spent trimming to ensure that the walls are evenly thin which makes much carving easier.  After trimming is done, I carve each one by hand.  I mainly use DiamondCore Tools for my carving.  I don't normally have  set pattern for carving, I just see where the piece takes me.   Finally, before firing I sand them by hand.  This cleans up any untidy carving spots and is the scariest part!  Then they are bisque fired, glazed, and glaze fired.  

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Because the process is very organic and I respond to the clay, I am unable to fill custom orders or make sets.  However, luminaries can be easily grouped together to create a cohesive look.

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You can also see some of my process on my Instagram page.

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Adeline Engelstad

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