{"id":23776,"date":"2016-11-30T11:25:53","date_gmt":"2016-11-30T16:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=23776"},"modified":"2016-11-30T11:46:08","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T16:46:08","slug":"karen-gray-sgraffito-potters-studio-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/karen-gray-sgraffito-potters-studio-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"Sgraffito pottery does more than just scratch the surface: it captures memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

THIS BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON<\/em>
\n\"the-potters-studio-and-gallery\"<\/h2>\n
Brought to you by these community-minded organizations because they recognize that
\ngood business is good for everyone:<\/h6>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone> <\/broadstreet-zone>\n

Potter Karen Gray began to focus on her now-favoured technique almost by accident. Facing three months of limited mobility thanks to a cast on her leg, she began carving images into clay at her wheel as a way to keep busy. She didn\u2019t know then that it would lead to a singular focus on the technique – called sgraffito, Italian for ‘scratched away’ – and a thriving custom-order business etching her customers\u2019 cottages, memories and beloved items in clay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so much fun that it just grew from there and I\u2019ve now pretty much morphed into just doing sgraffito,\u201d says Gray. \u201cFrom that came the ability to do custom orders which stemmed from someone saying, \u2018will you draw a picture of my cottage?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

To create her unique works, Gray first makes the piece \u2013 a mug or platter or bowl \u2013 and then lets it try so that the outer surface has begun to harden. She then applies a layer of glaze \u2013 often black but sometimes spots of colour \u2013 and when that\u2019s dry she begins to scratch the surface away to reveal the image. For custom orders, she works from a photo. Sometimes, she\u2019ll add layers of colour back to the areas scratched away.<\/p>\n\n\t\t