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of heirloom sourdough starter! Although making her own clay is hard and tedious, Ms. Richards believes the higher iron oxide content gives the glazes more vibrancy and certainly the clay is heftier and of a more artisanal quality than the commercial variety. I couldn’t help asking what Ms. Richards did with the leftover beer. “Drink it, of course!” was her mischievous reply. It certainly seems a treat for a grueling day spent clay mixing!
Ms. Richards brought me to a table to show me a personal project, intended as a border for her kitchen. A gingko leaf, which came from trees she planted, had wandered inside to become a model for some tiles. Delicately painted, Oriental-looking fuchsia flowers bloomed across other squares. One tile depicted lemons, onions and shrimp. “A bowl of soup!” laughed Ms. Richards. Other tiles in this assemblage were various solid colors, made interesting to the eye with relief designs. The whole thing had the effect of a nature botanical study with a dash of musical lyricism.
Kimonos are a repeated image. Some are painted on individual tiles and larger sized robes are constructed from many small tiles, a portion of sleeve on one, the hem on another. Of course, the kimono designs reflect her childhood years in Japan, where she lived in a traditional house with tatami mats and sliding rice-paper doors imprinted with beautiful designs. Ms. Richards’ grandmother, a painter and supporter of art traditions, would summon the local kimono makers to the house each year, whence all the females of the household would be outfitted with
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