Leslie Krist

medium:Pottery

Leslie Krist has been hand-crafting artwork for over 25 years. She resides in northern Michigan where her hand-crafted ceramic artwork is defined by her love of nature.

Many of her creations showcase sgraffito, a classic and labor-intensive carving technique that involves painting colored slip (a colored liquid clay, usually black for sgraffito) onto the surface of the pottery then scratching away the slip to reveal the design.  She loves the interaction between the graphic quality of the slip against the natural color of the clay and the texture created while carving.  

As the design is revealed, the clay is left with a sculptural, almost wood grain texture creating unique pottery and tiles that are beautiful, but also functional. Once complete, each piece is dried, and  bisque fired. Glazes are applied to the bisque pottery, and it is fired a second time. The glaze seals each hand-crafted piece in a stunning colored glass-like coating which not only accentuates the design but also makes it easy to clean while preserving the piece for years to come.