Porcelain vessels from the Contour Studies series displayed on a neutral linen backdrop.

Contour Studies is an ongoing series of porcelain vessels exploring restraint, presence, and the quiet tension of line and glaze. Each piece is hand-thrown in porcelain, balancing fullness of form with subtle surface treatments. Glaze edges, ink lines, and shifting planes of light draw attention to boundaries—where stillness meets movement, and purity of form meets the trace of the hand.

  Inhale  

Porcelain vessel with soft celadon glaze and narrow neck, titled Inhale — a rounded form embodying stillness and breath.

Inhale marks the beginning — the intake of air before motion.

A vessel of quiet anticipation, its soft celadon glaze rises in a gentle arc, catching light like the surface of still water. Thrown in porcelain, the form swells from a narrow foot into a poised, rounded volume that seems to breathe in its own stillness.

The glaze thins at the lip, dissolving from misted green to pale ivory — a threshold where air meets form.

It embodies the essence of breath itself: calm, contained, and alive in the space between movement and rest.

Inhale is an Air vessel in the Contour Studies collection.

Two porcelain vessels in soft celadon fading to ivory on a white shelf against linen.

Soft Horizon I & II

Close-up of celadon-to-ivory glaze showing the subtle horizon line on porcelain.
Close-up of celadon-to-ivory glaze showing the subtle horizon line on porcelain.

Soft Horizon I & II rest at the boundary where form meets atmosphere — a quiet conversation between weight and flow.

Each vessel is wheel-thrown in porcelain, the surface dissolving from misted celadon to pale ivory in a gentle transition that recalls reflections on calm water. Together they hold a sense of breath and rhythm — twin presences balanced between solidity and drift.

They embody the hush of water at rest, the moment before light begins to move.

Soft Horizon I & II are Water vessels in the Contour Studies collection.

Slope and Silence

Porcelain vase with ochre and ivory glaze in a diagonal drift on a white shelf, linen background.

Slope and Silence captures the quiet tension between movement and rest — a still point shaped by gravity and calm intent.

Thrown in porcelain, its glaze drifts in a soft diagonal — a meeting of ochre and ivory where light gathers and settles like dust on stone. The form narrows toward a fine lip, balancing volume with restraint, fullness with poise.

It speaks of grounded silence — the stillness of things that have found their place.

Slope and Silence is an Earth vessel in the Contour Studies collection.

   Still Flame

Tall tapered porcelain vessel in pale celadon with dried hydrangea bloom, on a white shelf.

Still Flame holds the moment between warmth and quiet — a steady glow poised within stillness.

Thrown in porcelain, the vessel rises in a slow, tapering ascent, its celadon glaze softening toward the lip like breath dissolving into air. Near the base, pale clay gathers a trace of fire — a memory of the kiln’s heat held in calm reflection.

It is a study in endurance and balance: flame without flicker, light without motion.

Still Flame is a Fire vessel in the Contour Studies collection.

  Mist Valley

Rounded porcelain moon jar with mist-green glaze deepening to off-white, on a white pedestal

Mist Valley rests at the meeting point of form and atmosphere — a vessel that seems to breathe its own landscape.

A soft celadon glaze settles like morning mist over pale porcelain, deepening into muted green along the midline before dissolving into gentle off-white. The horizon edge, where glaze thins and gathers, captures a moment of transition between solidity and air, weight and light.

It evokes the quiet of distant hills seen through mist — grounded yet dissolving into space.

Mist Valley is a Threshold vessel between Earth and Air in the Contour Studies collection.

 Held Breath

Held Breath - a porcelain vessel crafted by Cath Smith. The image shows a bulbous vase glazed with a soft mossy green transparent glaze.
Close-up image of a metallic object, possibly a kettle or pot, resting on a white surface.

Held Breath embodies the still point between motion and pause — a vessel drawn tight with quiet anticipation.

Thrown in porcelain, the glaze pools and fades across its surface like air gathering within a lung, translucent and suspended. Its curve narrows toward a fine lip, holding both fullness and restraint in equal measure.

It reflects the essence of air — not of flight, but of stillness sustained in breath.

Held Breath is an Air vessel in the Contour Studies collection.