Mandel: Raised in Michigan, Abby Rose Mandel earned her BFA from Michigan State University in 2005 before moving to Texas to teach high school art. Currently, Abby works out of her home studio in Austin TX. Abby Rose Mandel creates functional pottery with an emphasis on surface decoration and color exploration. The majority of the work is slip cast porcelain, using molds created by the artist, and hand built forms with an emphasis on slab construction. Recently Abby has been exploring the potential of coloring the clay with mason stains for slip casting and as textural elements when handbuilding. Once constructed and bisque fired, each piece is then sanded, meticulously hand painted, and layered with decals to create a unique piece of illustrated clay. The final pieces are then fired to cone 5/6 in an electric kiln.