My Love of Porcelain

I work in porcelain because it feels wonderful when I'm throwing--creamy and soft. Since it hasn't any iron in it, porcelain is the perfect clay for my interest in glazes. I'm able to get a wide variety of visual and tactile effects

My early porcelain pieces were small pods and petal bowls, wheel thrown and altered. They were finished using both colored slips and glazes.

To further bring out the three-dimensional quality of the forms, I added surface carving. I then took a detour and carving bottles became my focus, however, the glazes that best suit carved work were too limiting considering my fascination with glazes.

I am now producing thrown pieces, some of which I still alter into forms inspired by nature. This has permitted me to return to the micro-crystalline glazes I love and expand into development of matte-crystalline glazes. The pieces are fired up to 2350° Fahrenheit. I use both gas and electric kilns.

Marsha Silverman was born in New York City in 1943. She received her training at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where majored in ceramics. She was awarded the Boit Prize and the Clarissa Bartlett Traveling Scholarship. She set up her first studio in Rexford, New York, in 1972.

After marrying in 1975, she moved her studio to Anchorage, Kentucky, where she worked until 1981. Her studio is now located in Miami, Florida, where she has lived and worked since 1981.