This is how the load looked before the firing. Pots are glazed and decorated and ready for fire.
I lit the kiln at 6 a.m. on Monday morning.
I have been a potter since 1980, beginning in Michigan where I took classes at the Flint Institute of Arts. I have lived in Oregon with my family since 1993 on a small homestead where we raise a menagerie of animals and do extensive amounts of gardening. I am the mother of seven home-schooled children and have been married for twenty-seven years. Though I have many creative outlets, such as jewelry making, quilting and cooking, pottery has been the area where I get the most satisfaction. I enjoy making utilitarian pottery for the home and like the challenge of large pieces so I also create birdbaths and fountains for the garden. I have also made sinks and tiles. I recently realized a twenty year dream when I acquired a gas kiln to make reduction fired pottery.
Making pottery is very challenging work. It requires continually tapping creative depths for form and design ideas. Technical knowledge to bring those creative ideas to life is crucial. Each piece is completely one of a kind, made with hands and clay, without the use of molds or machines, except the pottery wheel. I mix all my glazes from raw, powdered chemicals such as feldspars and silica; clays like bentonite and kaolin; colorants like copper and cobalt. I never use highly toxic materials like lead or barium because I don’t want them in my work environment or in my finished product. Loading the kiln is an intricate and precise process that can be very time-consuming and back straining but I do it all myself also. The kiln fires for about twelve hours to nearly 2400 degrees F. during which time I constantly monitor the temperature and kiln atmosphere. After maturation the kiln must cool for two days before I can see the results of the fire on the pots. It’s an exciting process to turn a lump of clay into a thing of beauty and function. There are always new techniques to learn and new ideas to explore. I especially want the unique, hand-made quality of my work to be evident in each piece. I don’t make any two pieces the same except with special orders for sets of work. My gardening hobby tends to influence my work so there are often leaves and vines incorporated into the pots and grass-like designs in the glazes. I am always ready for a challenge in clay, whether it be twelve place settings of dinnerware or a sink for my bathroom.
In addition to my clay craft I am also passionate about food, cooking and baking. With my baking skills I have started a baking business: Fleur Cakes. I make fine quality specialty desserts and wedding cakes.
