Antoinette Badenhorst interviews ceramic artist Connie Christensen in a fascinating discussion about Shino glazing techniques, ceramic surfaces, and the artistic possibilities of atmospheric firing.
In this inspiring interview, Connie Christensen shares her experience working with Shino glazes — one of the most admired glaze styles in ceramics, known for its warm tones, carbon trapping, soft textures, and rich surface variation. The conversation explores how Shino glazing combines chemistry, firing atmosphere, and artistic intuition to create expressive ceramic surfaces.
Connie took classes at art centers, community colleges and she attended numerous workshops. She realized that working in clay is a combination of art and science. 
Her online Shino workshop at TeachinArt is just that: a combination between art and science. 

One of my favorite activities in porcelain is to alter and carve the clay. It is wonderful to feel the clay respond to my intuition. ​

​ It is not always easy though. One push too far and the clay will start to crack. Sometimes I get carried away and forget that the clay will need to be fired once it is made into a wide rimmed bowl. Porcelain is very demanding in the kiln, since it become semi-glass. If I just work and do not plan, it ends up in a disaster. 
This bowl was one of those that did not make it, but has a beautiful story behind it: 
When I was presenting workshops in Europe in 2016, I created this wide rimmed bowl from Audrey Blackman porcelain. Koos and I carried it with us to all the next workshops, allowing me to work on it for 2 and a half months, over the workshops that I presented in 6 different countries. We traveled by car.  I began to trim it in Slovenia, altering and starting the carving process in Belgium, back to Switzerland, where I originally threw it, continuing to perfect it in Vallauris, France and finally carrying it to Spain with the hopes to get it bisqued and to leave it behind in Europe. Unfortunately, it started to crack, due to our long hours on the road and possibly the unpredictable situations that it went through, so we decided to break it.
In 2018 I made one at  La Meridiana and one in Switzerland

Since that trip I went back to Europe several times and I was recently in South Africa. Many other potters discovered this wheel throwing process now and it is interesting to see how they brought their own design to it. 
 
I love the carving process and the challenge to being able to carry it with me in a box for such a long period; was amazing. Porcelain can tolerate many things; uneven drying conditions is not one of them. 
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It helps to understand the porcelain clay medium and if nothing else, I use my success and failure to teach my students.
If you are having difficulty with porcelain, you can start to read my blog posts here and consider doing one of my classes. I teach students ongoing in online workshops, but I am also teaching classes in different parts of the world. ​