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Clay enables her expressions

Examples of Kosai pottery line the walls of the studio of Spokane Valley artist Lezlie Finet. She uses multiple glazes and firings to obtain the swirling vivid colors that, unlike other raku forms, will not lose their luster. Below, Finet with an example of her pottery. (CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON / The Spokesman-Review)
Jennifer Larue Correspondent
Examples of Kosai pottery line the walls of the studio of Spokane Valley artist Lezlie Finet. She uses multiple glazes and firings to obtain the swirling vivid colors that, unlike other raku forms, will not lose their luster. Below, Finet with an example of her pottery. (CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON / The Spokesman-Review)

Lezlie Finet, 53, is a potter.

“I never outgrew my childhood fascination with making pies out of mud, building castles in the sand, and just generally digging in the dirt,” she writes on her Web site. Working with clay has let her turn that fascination into a way of life.

Her works include lamps, vases, wall vases, wall plates, urns, lidded vessels, tile wall pieces, beads and clocks. Manually formed, wheel thrown, or rolled out as slabs, the pieces are textured or hand carved. The creations are finished with different types of firing.

Born in Wisconsin, Finet has lived in a lot of different places. She attended college at San Diego State and University of Hawaii where, in 1984, she earned a degree in business. She worked less than two years in management until she decided that she was not cut out for the corporate world.

Using what she learned in business, she opened an art gallery in Hawaii. It seemed to her like a natural progression.

“I just fell into it,” she said, “I was using my business degree to surround myself with art and I loved it.”

She had always been attracted to art. Her mother was a painter and a weaver, and Finet kept her hands busy making jewelry and stained glass. About 1987, she discovered clay and was hooked.

“I started doing it a couple of times a week to relieve stress.”

She eventually joined her husband, Brian Nelson, in a charter and tour company. In 1994, they settled in Spokane where Nelson grew up. While Nelson ran an RV dealership, Finet started creating art full time.

Working in an ideal studio space on her Spokane Valley property, Finet is free to experiment. The solitary work of a potter is both primal and challenging and incorporates the four elements: earth, wind, water and fire. “I will never be bored,” she said.

Her techniques have gone from simple to the rapid-fire method of raku, and finally, to a new procedure, Kosai. Meaning “hue of light,” Kosai is an in-depth and dangerous technique. “The process uses toxic chemicals,” she said, “Not many people do it.”

Even with goggles, a respirator and long gloves, she still holds her breath and runs. While a lot of energy and multiple steps are necessary to create Kosai ware, the final products are alive with waves of iridescence.

Being a potter is an endless learning experience and allows Finet to cater to her short attention span.

“I think the endless possibilities of pottery will continue to pique my creative curiosities and satisfy the whims of my mental muse.”

Finet enjoys swapping knowledge with other potters at group firings, workshops and art shows. She has shown in Idaho, Washington and Texas and has sold a fair amount of work. She has even taken her show on the road; with a small wheel and kiln, she has spun pots along the roads she traveled in an RV with her husband and four Chihuahuas.

While she may never get a complete grasp on the endless techniques involved in the art of pottery, it is her goal to continue to grow and learn the many facets of her chosen form of expression.