Andrea Gill is one of the potters responsible for the resurgence of decorative earthenware and majolica glaze techniques. The surface treatment of her slab built pieces grew out of her interest in painting and fifteenth-century decorated Spanish and Italian tin-glazed majolica pottery. Her bowls and vases explore the possible opportunities for manipulating a recognizable domestic form without losing its identity.

“I choose to make vases and bowls because those forms allow the most open interpretation of shape without losing the iconic identity of the object. The scale of the vases, from two to six feet, gives me room to explore color, shape and pattern. The bowls provide a more intimate space where I have been exploring narrative ideas, recently involving mythology. My devotion to surface patterning has also proven to be an addiction that satisfies my love of stylized image and my firmly positive response to the word ‘decorative’. In the motifs of my overlaid figure/ground surfaces, I suspect I am often exploring my subconscious. The sources for the motifs range from my garden to doodles to texts of historical ornament, such as Owen Jones’ Grammar of Ornament. There is the affirmation of historic precedence of the painted pot, and the possibilities of current clay and glaze technology to support my vision.” - Andrea Gill