Steve Murphy

I seek to make beautiful and functional art. My bowls are made from stoneware clay on a potter’s wheel. Many of my pieces are carved. The textures gained by carving create variations in the glaze thickness and color. I make and sell the carving tools that give my pots a distinctive feel. Surface patterns are made with altered brushes and colored clay slips. Most pieces have a single glaze that is fired in either a gas reduction or wood fired kilns. My introduction to clay in Japan nearly 30 years ago laid the foundation for my craft and art. My educational background in design, study of Japanese tea ceremony, and love of food all add to my functional ceramics — pottery that can be used every day and treasured as a work of art. Sculpturally, I create a variety of forms including incense burners inspired by Japanese and Mayan beast sculpture and study of animals at the zoo. My more modernist sculptures are based on microscopic organisms. I have been an active part of the wood-firing community in New England for over 18 years and a teacher of clay for nearly 30. Currently I am teaching at Mudflat Pottery School and Harvard Ceramics.