Judith Ernst

October 3, 2025
Susan Brubaker Knapp
Blog, Clay

Judith Ernst

ceramics – Chapel Hill

This is one in a series of posts about artists in the Orange County Artists Guild.

Describe your process or technique.

My process is unusual. First I throw my pieces on a wheel. Then I create a pattern using a vertical, horizontal, and diagonal grid, afterwards removing the top of the vessel so that I can get my hand inside. I cut through the wall and move parts of the clay pattern, changing the angles of the various connecting planes. Then I fill in the gaps I’ve created with clay on the inside and the outside, making new walls. This results in a deep relief, and changes the thrown form. Then I reattach the top and continue the pattern to the top by adding clay shapes. Afterwards, the piece is carved and refined.

Do you work in a sketchbook or journal? If so, how does it influence your process?

My ideas are formed in my mind’s eye, though I never know exactly how they’ll work three-dimensionally until I make them. I do draw rough diagrams of my pieces prior to glazing. The diagrams include lines, arrows, and notes about where each glaze should go, in what order, and in which direction they should be sprayed. I use at least three glazes – and usually more – on the outside of each of my pieces. Glazes are mixtures of chemicals that interact under high heat. They’re difficult, not all compatible, and the sketches keep me from making mistakes. I can also go back to see how I’ve glazed earlier pieces.

What is your inspiration?

I use the vessel form conceptually, because vessels have an inside, an inner dimension. A vessel is introverted, self-contained; it has an existential presence connected to its mysterious inner space. In the ancient world, vessels were used functionally, but also metaphorically in ritual and literature, employing some of the same ideas of interiority. I treat the metaphor of the inner as a resonant subject matter for non-functional ceramic art pieces. Implied are the dichotomies between the inner and outer, the hidden and the seen, the created world and the ineffable mystery.

Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?

“To penetrate into the essence of all being and significance and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment for the guidance and benefit of others – by expressing, in the world of forms, truth, love, purity, and beauty – this is the sole game that has intrinsic and absolute worth. All other happenings, incidents, and attainments in themselves can have no lasting importance.” – Meher Baba

While clay may seem a pedestrian vehicle for such lofty purpose, I try to make all of my vessels beautiful and visually interesting, creating a dialogue between the vessel’s outer planes and mysterious inner spaces.

Has your work been featured in a magazine or website?

Some years ago I was approached through Instagram by My Modern Met, an art and culture website co-founded in 2008 to promote positive culture and celebrate creative ideas by featuring artists, designers, and photographers. My Modern Met currently reaches more than five million monthly visitors and has a large global community, including 3.6 million followers on Facebook and 2.5 million on Pinterest. They produced a very nice short video of my process. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kktYARF1Soo