About Woodland Pottery

My first experience with clay was in high school where I made coil and pinch pots. They still exist today at my parent’s house on the shelf with other kid-dom artifacts. What I remember most was the dramatic metamorphosis my pots underwent when fired to lava-like temperatures in the electric kiln and transforming their chalky coat into glassy layers of depth and color.

Many years later I took a pottery course where I learned to throw pots on a treadle wheel. Although my pots were better than in high school, they too engaged the company of homemade artifacts on the shelves of relatives and friends. My second experience bonded me closer to the craft but due to the high cost of equipment and my transient lifestyle my interests in clay faded.

Eleven years later (2001) I found myself in a small town of Idaho (pop. 1600) where I needed an outlet for artistic expression and a way to meet new people – expand my surroundings. I enrolled in an evening pottery course at Boise State University (a 75 minute drive via I-84). Like riding a bicycle, my previous throwing skills (inexperienced and inconsistent) quickly returned. Many of the steps to make a thrown pot also snapped back into place. i.e., centering the clay, wedging, turning the bottom, etc. (Click on Studio). I bought an electric wheel that Fall and took two more courses. With no kiln yet purchased, I practiced throwing, cutting the pot in half to study its profile and then re-wedge the clay to try again. Although I threw hundred of pots that would never make it to the kiln, I did improve my throwing skills exponentially.

In December of 2002, I returned to Dayton, Ohio for a new job and to set up a pottery studio. In July 2004, I bought a kiln and began experimenting with homemade glazes and firing an electric kiln to cone 6. With each firing I learn something new.

Currently I am working on pottery that has a simple design with highlights of organic symbols and nature entwined within them.