Teresa Tromp

Dennis Tromp

My son, Dennis, and I create Colored Porcelain, Functional Pottery on the potter's wheel, and/or handbuild using slabs, coils or pressing clay into a plaster or bisque mold that we wheel-throw on the potter's wheel.

There are various Colored Porcelain Clay techniques we are constantly experimenting with.

Neriage - a wheel throwing technique which involves 2 or more colored porcelain clays, spun on the wheel, integrating the colors.

Nerikomi - a hand building technique piecing together different sections of colored porcelain design, and either forming a slab built vessel or a press molded vessel.

This is perhaps the most difficult colored porcelain clay technique, as cracks can occur at any stage of the process. (the unmentionables - cracks)

Mishima - this technique can be applied to handbuilt or wheel-thrown pottery. After the greenware (or raw) clay has stiffened to leather hard stage (not quite bone dry, but dryer than wet clay) a design is engraved into the clay. The grooves, or channels created during the engraving process, are filled with a colored slip (wet, colored clay). After this dries sufficiently, the excess slip is scraped off, leaving the surface of the pottery smooth and level.

Sgraffito - sgraffito is an Italian word meaning - to scratch. This colored porcelain clay technique is the opposite of mishima. A layer of slip (wet clay) is applied to the surface of the pottery, and then a design is carved into the wet slip. This etching reveals the color underneath the slip. With sgraffito, the design is not flush to the surface of the pottery; it is slightly raised, and the etched design does not get filled in.

Relief Carving - I enjoy carving colored porcelain clay with various flowers and sometimes leaves with a bas-relief, or low relief design..

We color all of our porcelain by hand to create one of a kind color combinations.

Selling our work helps inspire the journey.

Your purchase(s), not only allow us to pay for more pottery supplies, but they also motivate us to produce a greater finished product.

Thank you to all the people who have helped inspire us along the way.