My Birch pieces are created from a slab of clay which I form it into the shape that I want. Many of my birch pieces are based on actual trees that I have found in the woods while hiking. I really like creating mushrooms, on my pieces. Many pieces have chaga on them which is a fungi that grows in trees wounds. It can take several years before the chaga is visible. It appears like black, knobby burnt charcoal with an orange center. Hoof fome fungi looks like it’s name sake and ranges from creamy gray to brown. Lichens on trees indicate good air quality so we want to see them. I really like Hypothermia physodes  or easier to say Monk’s hoof lichen. Colors range from a dull gray to green same for Physcia  adscendrns . Many of my pieces have the paper bark peeling from the trunk.  The lenticels  (horizontal black lines) really make the pottery look like birch. Lenticels are pores that allow the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the tree and atmosphere. Trees are just amazing.  After the bisque firing I hand paint the pottery. Starting with layers of white, light grays, medium grays, and cream. If one takes the time to really study tree bark there are so many hues of colors. Once the trunk is finished, I start with the layering of colors on the fungi and lichens. And finish with the lenticels and the small holes that wood peckers make within the bark while probing  for insects.
Size: 5” tall and a bit over 3.5” diameter