Michael Gubkin, an Ohio artist, received his BFA from Cleveland Institute of Art in 1974 and his MFA from the University of Iowa in 1977. He currently has a studio in Ravenna, Ohio. Gubkin explains his vessel “Starred”: “It is part of my ‘Language Series’ with subject matter consisting of: pictograms, ideograms, diagrams, codes, indexes, musical notations, mathematical formulations, calendar markings, charts and maps. Each work traps a piece of knowledge past or present; some information is practical, useful and mundane, some is imagination, poetic and thought provoking and some is down right trivial. All is in reverence for man’s ability to record the spoken word into fixed lines, symbols and letters that outlive their authors”. This vessel was thrown on the wheel and the clay body is a heavily grogged stoneware. During the leather hard stage the wall is scraped and trimmed to reveal the grog that gives the surface its pitted roughness. Incised lines and marks are made with wire tools and roulette wheels; stains are rubbed into these crevices to further accentuate them. Polychrome slips are applied to the vessel’s surface and the inside is glazed with Albany Black.