Influences
Scott's style has been shaped by many different events and ideas.
Exposure to other artists’ styles through books, magazines, workshops,
and galleries, as well as his collaboration with others have all broadened
his ideas about style, color, and form. Scott has taken freely and liberally
from all the sources which he has experienced and developed his own piecemeal
style.
Inspirations
One of Scott's greatest inspirations came from a most unusual
source. He stated in a recent interview "I had run out of pyrometric
cones, and instead of making the usual 1 ½ hour long drive to Tampa,
FL., I located a local hobby ceramic supply house. As well as the cones,
the store also had a large selection of commercial glazes and lustres. In
a workshop I had participated in during my school years, I had seen how
Steven and Susan Keminify used commercial underglazes in combination with
their unique Raku work. I had never used any commercial products myself.
I was much more accustomed to mixing custom glazes from powdered material
in five gallon buckets. Walking between the racks of shelves filled with
thousands of small jars in every shade of the rainbow with names like Matador
Red, Nova Orange, and Iris Purple, I wondered how this incredible resource
could be used. When fired to cone 06, I found them to be easy, reliable,
and remarkably consistent. Many of the glazes could be mixed together to
create entirely new colors. Others were completely incompatible."
Why Break A Perfectly Good Sculpture?
"Unusual interactions sometimes occurred such as when the
red and green were applied next to each other and fired normally, the color
green would turn black and the red would fade away altogether. I wanted
to use these complimentary colors next to each other so the only solution
I could come up with was to break the piece and fire the parts separately.
This process worked well and allowed me to use lustres and overglazes in
a more selective manner. After the firing was complete, the only thing to
do was to put the pieces back together. I had only been using this technique
on platters and vases."
The Animals
"I was anxious to get away from the potter’s wheel
and vessel form so I returned to what I had been doing as a child- making
animals. The only necessary difference was that my new animals had to be
large and hollow. I knew that any armature I used would have to be removable.
I came up with a technique of building a rigid skeleton with tin foil and
vermiculite, as well as large amounts of masking tape. The armature is covered
with white earthenware and the animal’s features are sculpted. After
drying to a leather hard state, the animal is then cut in half and the entire
armature is removed. The two halves are then carefully rejoined and bisque
fired. Generally, this part of the process takes 1 to 3 weeks. The animal
is then broken into pieces using the wooden handle of a hammer. Then each
piece is glazed separately and fired. Some of the pieces are fired a second
time with lustres or another layer of glaze in a different color to create
depth and design. When the firing process is complete, I use a paste epoxy
to reconstruct the animal creating the finished product. Because of increasing
demand as well as time constraints this year, I have begun having my original
animals cast. I can now produce a series of each animal, allowing me to
try limitless combinations of colors and designs. Because of the way each
piece is broken and glazed, no two pieces ever look the same. I am hopeful
with the extra time and income generated through the use of the casting
process, I will be able to obtain more gallery representation as well as
increase the scale of my work."
