Vases made of Icelandic clay All warning lights are flashing. Our planet is at a boiling point. Man-made climate change with global warming and extreme weather conditions threatens life on Earth. Immediate action is called for to reduce the carbon emissions of the world's population. It is said that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something. A key concept to deal with these predicaments that we Earthlings have found ourselves in is sustainability. It consists in the fact that everyone who inhabits the Earth can meet their needs without going so close to the quality of nature that it reduces the possibilities of future generations to meet their needs. In this contemporary reality, I have, for the past few years, been experimenting with Icelandic clay, mainly from Búðardalur. My graduation work from the ceramics department at the Reykjavík School of Visual Arts was made entirely of Icelandic clay. The motivation for my work with this interesting material is to some extent the above-mentioned state of the globe, but also the fact that I find the Icelandic clay extremely beautiful and I enjoy it in its rawness as I use it. Sustainability is the dominant guiding principle in my works with Icelandic clay. I collect the clay myself from nature and process it entirely by hand. But it is quite a work to process clay so that it becomes usable for molding, and it takes place in several steps. I prefer not to add any additives to the clay except paper to increase its plasticity and make it more manageable. The project I am presenting at Design March 2025 is called Earth and Water. It consists of small hand-moulded vases with a free and natural shape. There is no glaze on the exterior, to keep a natural look. The texture is quite raw, but the earthly tone is warm and beautiful. The process requires time - it is a sort of a slow design. I call the work Earth and Water because these substances are one of the foundations of life on Earth. The vases are a symbiosis of the two whereas the clay is actually baked or fired earth filled with water in which living things such as plants can thrive.