Slow moving wheel

I like my pottery to look and feel handmade – each piece a little different from any other and feels well made, sturdy and interesting. So I use a style of pottery wheel that allows me to work slowly enough that the marks from the wheel are quite evident in the finished pot. Soft clay helps that too. Carving feet and forming handles give me an opportunity to match or contrast the look and feel of the wheel thrown clay to add interest.

Fired once

Many potters use two firings in their process – a first firing and then a glaze firing. I fire my pottery only once because I find that I help me stay focused on an individual pot from start to finish. And I love the way the slips and glazes move on pots that are still wet. I couldn’t do some of the decorations that I do without the single firing process.

Decorated by fire

Soda firing is a form of atmospheric firing (similar to salt or wood firing) where pottery is partially glazed during the firing.  In soda firing, a sodium carbonate (or “soda”) solution is sprayed into the kiln during the firing where it chemically bonds with the clay and forms a glaze.

The characteristic quality of soda glazing is in the variations in color and pattern (called “flashing”) that are not entirely predictable.  The natural forces of fire and airflow act on my pottery in ways that can generate infinite varieties of organic patterns. 

There are some ways that soda firing is predictable.  Certain places in the kiln, depending on the flow of fire, produce pots with more or less variation.  With this in mind, I make specific pots for specific places in the kiln.

Ready for daily use

Sturdy rims and handles. Glazes stress tested in the dishwasher. My pots are made to be used, loved, and to last.