Pam Cummings
Pam Cummings came to pottery about the same time she started growing flowers and enjoying cooking. Each day she enters her studio in the woods and make pots that speak of her surroundings– quietly elegant, functional pots that hint at the leaves whispering outside, or egrets winging along the nearby Susquehanna.
Whether Pam throws the clay into vessels or roll it into slabs that become canvases, she often finishes her pieces with sparse brushwork reminiscent of Japanese sumie. These pots are objects she love to make, over and over again. Pam’s work to make the good individual pot that only comes from working in a series of related forms over time. The clay brings challenges and is always teaching her something new, if not about form or technique, then about patience and acceptance.
The way the glaze breaks on a defining edge, the gentle curve of a cup’s lip, the arc of a handle as it reaches above the teapot to meet the user’s hand–these are the touchstones, the pulse, of Pam’s daily work.
Pam works alone and produce each piece herself. She uses dark stoneware clay and mixes her own glazes from raw chemicals, then fire in an electric kiln to 2130F. All she pottery is lead free and safe to eat from. It is important to her that her pots fit comfortably into homes where people use them for cooking and eating and sharing. From her hands to yours.
