Soul Jar Series — JAMIL SCHERIEF

The Soul Jar Series began in 1994 as a technique to relieve production throwing fatigue.
I allowed myself to do anything I pleased with the form, the surface, and the glaze.
A single jar form was made from that exercise and i went back to throwing like a madman.
Later in 1995 or so, I saw some of the local studio glass work coming out of Pilchuck and was immediately taken by the beauty and size of the vase forms. Enter - Lino Tagliapietra!
I have seen Lino’s work twice, both times in his gallery in Belltown in Seattle. I was stunned into silence. The reverence i have for masterful technique combined with creative fury found it’s peak in Lino’s work. It was a sacred experience for me. The Soul Jar Series was a challenge I gave myself to see if clay could achieve in form what the glassblowers had accomplished. They are both plastic materials and so, i reasoned, should be possible.
These forms took me 3 years to figure out how to make. Completed in 2009 in Walla Walla, Washington, they are to date, the greatest achievement of my career. Fired to cone 5 with Velvet Underglazes, they are monochromatic by design, in order to see the form. Ranging from 15 to 39 inches in height or 38 to 99 centimeters, the body of the form is precise, technical, austere, while the lid is playful, collapsing, loose. I like to use opposite energies in the same piece. Thank you for taking a look and stay tuned for postcards for sale of these images. Cheers - Jamil