The form for the towers is a hybrid of many visits to central America to research the Mayan cultures and specifically their historical architecture.

I built some plywood forms to press wet clay into and then produced this series of work. Each piece was incised with various tools while the clay was leather hard. After drying and bisque firing the pieces, I applied a light wash of black stain and then glazed the whiteware clay body with a clear glaze.

The best part of this type of studio activity is the design work with the ceramic decals. Each side of each piece, including the underside is carefully considered. The largest decals are applied first and the pieces are fired. Then the smaller decals along with gold luster is applied and the pieces are fired again. I was attempting to get the most complex 2D surface onto the 3D tower forms. Each piece has a different story to tell.