The great Mashiko potter Shoji Hamada once wrote that, "the thing to remember is that the simplest clay is the best. Clay itself is already the most complex of mixtures because it is alive, a living thing." When it comes to shaping that "living thing," too many modern potters feel the need to stamp their personalities all over the clay and basically just "kill" it -- an artist's ego-trip so to speak.
The Japanese have many terms to describe clay, my favorite being tsuchi aji or "clay flavor."
A good stoneware pot should always have fine tsuchi aji, even if it can be appreciated only on the base in the case of a glazed pot. How does a potter fulfil the desire to bring out the beauty of the clay without neglecting the desire to make an artistic statement? In short, the answer is to "listen" to the clay, to allow it to dictate how it should be fired and what form it wishes to attain.