pinchgallery: Barbara Walch

Handbuilt stoneware pottery
Thorndike, Maine

As one of Pinch's three founding potters, Barbara Walch's distinctive style of pinching clay became an inspiration for the name of our gallery. After twenty years of working with mainly pinched forms, Barbara began focusing on other building techniques, such as slab and coil. One of Barbara Walch's resulting coil built pots -- Big Windows, Version 9.6 -- was featured in Ceramics Monthly in 2001.

The pottery is stoneware, fired at very high temperatures. A striking characteristic of her work is that the exterior is often left unglazed, allowing the natural patina and texture of the fired clay to define the form. When glazes are applied, often only to the inside, they are reminiscent of colors found in nature, such as a clear morning sky or the cherry red of maple flowers in the spring light, or a drift of snow slowly melting into a plowed furrow. Barbara's work strongly suggests shapes and textures found in the natural world, and spring from both her intimate involvement in that world and from the nature of the clay itself.

According to Barbara, "I form each pot without the use of a potter's wheel or other major piece of equipment, because I like the tactile experience of immediate and direct contact with soft malleable clay." Furthermore, she says, "My work is meant to stimulate the imagination-while bringing to mind details of the natural land or seascape through organized forms; to renew our sense of connection to nature."

Pinch Gallery currently features two styles of Barbara Walch's pots: slab vases and vases topped by two tiny birds, in a variety of sizes, as well as her goblets, serving trays and bowls. Prices for Barbara's work range from $24 for a tiny bird vase to $200 for a teapot. Please contact pinch for pricing on a specific piece.

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Barbara Walch Handbuilt stoneware pottery Thorndike, Maine As one of Pinch's three founding potters, Barbara Walch's distinctive style of pinching clay became an inspiration for the name of our gallery. After twenty years of working with mainly pinched forms, Barbara began focusing on other building techniques, such as slab and coil. One of Barbara Walch's resulting coil built pots -- Big Windows, Version 9.6 -- was featured in Ceramics Monthly in 2001. The pottery is stoneware, fired at very high temperatures. A striking characteristic of her work is that the exterior is often left unglazed, allowing the natural patina and texture of the fired clay to define the form. When glazes are applied, often only to the inside, they are reminiscent of colors found in nature, such as a clear morning sky or the cherry red of maple flowers in the spring light, or a drift of snow slowly melting into a plowed furrow. Barbara's work strongly suggests shapes and textures found in the natural world, and spring from both her intimate involvement in that world and from the nature of the clay itself. According to Barbara, "I form each pot without the use of a potter's wheel or other major piece of equipment, because I like the tactile experience of immediate and direct contact with soft malleable clay." Furthermore, she says, "My work is meant to stimulate the imagination-while bringing to mind details of the natural land or seascape through organized forms; to renew our sense of connection to nature." Pinch Gallery currently features two styles of Barbara Walch's pots: slab vases and vases topped by two tiny birds, in a variety of sizes, as well as her goblets, serving trays and bowls. Prices for Barbara's work range from $24 for a tiny bird vase to $200 for a teapot. Please contact pinch for pricing on a specific piece.
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