Artist Bio
Playing with mud and fire are activities that I’ve enjoyed since I was a child. It seems nearly universal that humans have the same primal urges. As an adult, making pottery satisfies both of those needs for me. That one then generates useful objects for eating, drinking and ritual makes the activity all the more compelling. I feel connected to a millenias-long craft that is about sustenance of physical and spiritual life. Pottery has been made by people wherever clay is found… all around the world!
Since that beginning, I’ve appreciated the opportunities and the pleasure of sending my pots home with pottery lovers old and new. As my skills and work progress, I delight in the ways that allows me to offer new takes on the pots I make, and to add new types of pots to my offerings.
Main Subject
High fire, functional and decorative stoneware pottery
Materials and Techniques
I start on the potters wheel, throwing with brown stoneware clay the various pots and forms that are in my lineup. Some things then get trimmed or altered off the wheel. I like to add texture and line to give opportunities for the glazes to break on the high points and settle into the low. Some of my glazes are very runny and juicy looking when they come out of the kiln. Some are on the stiff side, so that the textures and lines are very apparent in the end product. I also like using white slip, a thin porcelain type clay that is fluid, and usually apply it by pouring in various manners. I also pour 3-4 glazes on certain pieces and really enjoy the play between the layering.
I glaze fire all of my pottery in a gas fired kiln. This allows me to fire in “reduction”, an atmosphere that is low in oxygen. The chemical reactions this engenders result in a toasty brown clay and causes the oxide colorants to transform in color and richness. There is the element of unpredictability to the finished result that embodies a certain mystery and trains one in the art of giving up a certain amount of control. Success results in one-of-a-kind pots that I sometimes hate to let go!
https://www.firegardenpottery.com/
https://www.facebook.com/FireGardenPottery
https://www.instagram.com/firegardenpottery/?hl=en
