Thomas Perry Pottery

	During a trip to Japan to view the country's treasured historic pottery, I discovered Dotaku, bronze bells from the Yayoi period, 500 BC to 300 AD. I was excited by the forms and design elements as well as the mystique associated with their being found buried in rice fields and the accompanying speculation that they may have been sounded and displayed as prayers to the gods to reap rich rice harvests. And there was the direct tie to clay as the later period casting molds were modeled in clay. Inspired by these ceremonial bronze bells, I initiated a series of ceramic bells by employing combinations of wheel-thrown and slab-built elements fired with a copper-patina glaze. This led to a broader interest in Asian bronzes and to other forms, in particular tall open vessels and lidded urns, utilizing similar techniques and celebrating nature, contemplation, and imagined lives.