River Eyes - Ceramic Dish

Product description:

• Deep ceramic plate, hand-carved abstract river design
• Blue slip with carved wave/drop motif on the sides and eye-shaped detailing through the center
• Diameter: approx. 25cm

Introduction

This is a deep ceramic plate: 25cm across, with enough depth to hold its shape for serving, but it's not a bowl. I handbuilt it and worked blue slip into the surface, then carved an abstract pattern by hand into the clay while it was still workable. It's part of a small ongoing series where I explore water, movement, and memory through carved line work.

Inspiration

The design started with a simple idea: what would a river look like if you had to carve it instead of paint it? I carved large drop shapes along the left and right sides of the plate, echoing the pull of water along a riverbank. Down the center, I carved a bunch of small eye-shaped forms. The eyes are meant to feel like something watching from within the current. The idea that water carries memory, that it sees and holds onto everything that passes through it. Together, the drops and the eyes turn the plate into a kind of quiet landscape: motion on the outside, stillness and awareness in the middle.

Every cut is done freehand, so the depth and rhythm of the carving shift slightly across the surface. That's intentional. I want each plate to read as something made by hand, not stamped from a mold.

Conclusion

This plate works equally well set out for serving, used as a catch-all for rings and small objects, or simply displayed on its own. It holds attention as a standalone piece. Because each one is carved individually, you're getting a plate that won't be reproduced exactly again. It's handbuilt and glazed in small batches in my home studio in Malta, made slowly and one at a time.