# Day Break

Solid and commanding, this ceramic bench carries a deep grey-black ground with a distinct linear energy running through it. Fine spiralling patterns are drawn through the glaze before firing and locked permanently into the surface by the kiln, sitting quietly against the clean-edged circular colour forms across the piece. This drawing into glaze is part of Gustavson's approach to treating ceramic as a three-dimensional canvas, where every mark is considered before the fire makes it permanent. Equally suited to indoors and outdoors, this bench works as a centerpiece in a living room, entryway, or studio, and just as naturally in a garden, courtyard, or terrace. The deep black ground reads with particular strength in open outdoor environments, holding its own against stone, wood, and landscape.

[Browse all works by Michael Gustavson](/collections/michael-gustavson)

## Details

- **Price:** 8500.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Art Scout
- **Type:** Ceramic Sculpture
- **Tags:** buy original art online, California artist, ceramic sculpture, collector art, Michael Gustavson, original sculpture, raku, totem

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 8500.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Day Break – studio raku ceramic bench by Gustavson with deep grey-black ground, fine spiralling hand-drawn glaze patterns, and circular colour forms locked by reduction firing
- Day Break by Gustavson – detail of spiralling drawn glaze lines and circular colour forms on grey-black reduction-fired ceramic surface

## Additional Information

- **Dimensions:** 35"×13"×20"
- **Artist Material:** Glazed ceramic
- **Artist Name:** Michael Gustavson
- **About The Artist Link:** https://www.artscout.pro/collections/michael-gustavson

### About The Artist Content

Michael Gustavson is a California-based ceramic artist who builds upon the traditional Japanese process of raku, reimagining it through a distinctly contemporary and highly personal methodology. His work bridges free-form organic sculpture and painterly abstraction, distinguished by unusually vivid, luminous color rarely achieved in ceramic sculpture.

Central to Gustavson’s practice is a firing approach he has developed and refined over decades, evolving from but ultimately departing from traditional raku. Rather than removing works from the kiln, he introduces pine needles at lower temperatures to create the reduction atmosphere while the pieces remain inside. This highly individual, studio-developed method allows him to work at significant scale and achieve exceptional chromatic depth and painterly nuance in glazed ceramic. Few ceramic artists pursue color with this level of painterly ambition.

Over a four-decade career, Gustavson has pushed the expressive potential of clay, developing a controlled yet highly responsive surface language. Describing himself as a painter-sculptor, he treats each form as a three-dimensional canvas built through layered glazes, textures, and color interactions. His vessels often suggest the human figure in motion, while his wall reliefs activate negative space as an integral compositional force. Large-scale outdoor sculptures and benches extend this painterly vision into powerful tectonic forms.

Inspired by Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Jackson Pollock, Gustavson’s surfaces often feature controlled dripping and expressive movement, translating the energy of abstract painting into fired clay.

Gustavson earned his MFA from San José State University in 1980. His work is held in major public and private collections worldwide, including IBM, Kaiser Permanente, Seagate, Cranbrook Museum, and Eastman Kodak.

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> Source: [Art Scout](https://www.artscout.pro/products/day-break)
> Updated: 2026-08-28