Ozone Louise Ceramics

Why "Ozone Louise"?
Why do you make masks?
Are they supposed to look like specific people? Do you know them all?
How on earth do you make them? Do you put clay on your friends' faces?
I like them, but I don't know where I would hang one.
Can I hang them outdoors?
That's a strange accent. Where are you from?
Who's that cute guy?

Why "Ozone Louise"?

When you go into the kind of restaurant or cafe that requires you to give your name when you order, it is not a good idea to say your name is Susan, especially if there are certain foods you refuse to eat. There are several million Susans out there, many of whom also eat food ordered in restaurants, so there is no telling what you might end up with. Even if you say your name is Susan V, when they're shouting it over a PA system it sounds almost exactly like Susan B, Susan C, Susan D. For this reason I have long used the names of my cats in such establishments.

Similarly, when you take ceramics classes at a community college, there are bound to be several hundred other students using the same lab, and at least half of them are likely to be called Susan. You have to put your name on your work, but to write "Susan" is meaningless. Trust me on this.

When I took up ceramics, my cat was named Ozone. I was used to giving her name as my own. My middle name is Louise. There you have it. I sign my work "Ozone Louise."

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Why do you make masks?

The eye will always try to make order out of chaos. My particular eyes quite often pull faces out of the chaos. I see faces in a pile of leaves, in the patterns of the carpet, in the grain of wood, or the cracks in tile. It's only natural that I would see faces in clay as well. I now preserve some for others to see.

I love to make wheel thrown pottery, and have done so for many years with great pleasure. I'm still making my mugs and bowls, but a few years back I desired a fresh approach and left the wheel behind for a short while. During this period, the masks emerged.

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Are they supposed to look like specific people? Do you know them all?

No, they are not specific people, and I don't know any of them. Once in a while someone will think they see someone they know in a mask, but it's an accident.

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How on earth do you make them? Do you put clay on your friends' faces?

No actual faces are harmed in the making of these masks. I use a soft-slab technique and do most of the formation of the masks with just my fingers. I have a few small tools I use to make the eyes and mouth, and various objects to make textures in the clay.

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I like them, but I don't know where I would hang one.

Masks range in size from only a few inches to over a foot tall. I can't know for sure what's right or wrong for your house, but I can tell you that I like to see the very small ones hung in unlikely spots. If you have a few inches of wall between door frames, that's a good spot. Some of them look really good over doorways. Bigger ones are good mixed in with the family portraits, or next to (or on the wall facing) a mirror.

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Can I hang them outdoors?

Some of them, yes. The ones that are high fired, such as porcelain, will be fine, as well as the ones made of low fire clay. Anything made of clay is at risk of breaking, so there are no guarantees. They're certainly safer indoors, but if outdoors is where they make you happiest, go for it with my blessing.

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That's a strange accent. Where are you from?

I'm from the US. I've lived in a lot of places, but mainly Illinois, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco. I now live just outside Cambridge, England.

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Who's that cute guy?

I travel with two cute guys. The tall one is my husband Dave. He's the one who brought me to live in England. The little one is our son, Christopher.

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