My work begins with surface.
I build, carve, compress and disrupt clay to create surfaces that suggest strata, erosion, fractured stone and landscapes altered by time. Glazes become another layer of that process—flowing, breaking, bubbling and responding to the textures beneath them.
Strata Clay Works grew from the same fascination with texture and layering that has long shaped my work as a painter. Clay gives those ideas physical form.
Meet the Artist
Diane Dean is a Hendersonville, North Carolina artist whose work explores texture, layers, and the effects of natural forces on a surface. After many years as a painter, she returned to clay and discovered a new way to express the ideas that have long shaped her work.
Through Strata Clay Works, Diane creates sculptural ceramics inspired by erosion, geological formations, weathered landscapes, and the unpredictable transformation of clay and glaze through fire. Each piece celebrates the marks of the process rather than trying to conceal them.
