Handmade in the
Pacific Northwest
Sarah Jewell Olsen was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska.
Sarah is a ceramic artist, mother, and art teacher living and working in Vancouver, Washington.
I make utilitarian pots with a design aesthetic. The practical beauty of my work is intended to overpower the mundane, mass-produced objects, and enrich experiences.
Through thoughtful craftsmanship, I intend to communicate the importance, permanence, and necessity of my pots. I use porcelain and dark stoneware to throw and hand build shapes that are informed by facets of design, historical ornamentation, and Modernism.
Clear Glaze Recipe
Minspar 36.5
Silica 21.5
Gertsley Borate 18
Grolleg 10
Whiting 8
Strontium 6
Whiting 8
This recipe works at Cone 5 and at Cone 10.
There is very little crazing if you can switch out the clay type to match your recipe.
I use this base glaze recipe with the addition of Mason stains to layer my colors.
Industrially-made clays I love:
Laguna’s #570 WC633: High-fire porcelain, nearly zero cracking when handbuilt onto thrown work.
Clay Art Center Tacoma’s Mid-Range English Grollege Cone 6
Clay Art Center Tacoma’s Mid-Range Stoneware Plum Black
Unique ceramic earrings made by hand using stainless steel hardware for sensitive ears.
Iron-rich mid-range stoneware with hand-drawn and hand-carved surface designs.
Reduction-fired porcelain jars with hand-drawn black-inlay designs.