PROCESS

All of our pottery is handcrafted in small batches with regionally-sourced stoneware clays.

After each piece is wheel-thrown or slipcast, it is carefully dried, trimmed, dried further, bisque fired, glazed and then glaze fired.

When a piece is thrown on the potter’s wheel, it begins as a malleable ball of clay which is pressed, squeezed and pulled upwards and outwards to form a hollow-shaped vessel. After the piece has dried a bit and can be handled without being deformed, it is inverted and trimmed. Trimming removes excess clay and refines the shape of each piece as well as creates a foot.

Slipcasting is a production method that utilizes plaster molds and a liquid clay body (slip) to form a hollow vessel. Our plaster molds of wheel-thrown prototypes are made in-studio. After the slip is poured into a mold, the plaster absorbs water from it and creates a shell. The remaining slip is poured out and reused.

Up until a clay body is bisque fired, it can be reclaimed and used again. Bisque firing is an intermediate step in the process of an eventual glaze firing. Clay goes through several important stages during a bisque firing that make it stable for water-based glaze application, but leave it porous enough for the glaze to adhere to each piece.

All of the glazes we use are food-safe and lead-free, most are made in-studio. We typically dip each piece to apply glaze and use a wax resist before dipping when we want to leave exposed clay. We meticulously wipe the edges and bottoms of each piece to ensure crisp, clean edges.

After glazes are applied, we delicately load the wares into our electric kiln for glaze firing. The stoneware clays that we use most often mature at mid-range temperatures (approximately 2167 degrees). The effects of the heat during a glaze firing change the glazes from a soft, fragile substance to one that is rock-hard, impervious to water and time.