I am a full time potter from East Central Minnesota. All of my work is created from porcelain or stoneware slabs impressed with native plants, vintage fabrics, or found objects. After assembling, bisque firing, then glazing, they are fired to 2250 degrees in a soda-fired gas kiln.

The soda firing is very complex and the results are never quite the same. The 35 cu ft caternary arch brick kiln which I built in 2009 is preheated overnight. The next day at about 2200 degrees a solution of soda ash and water is sprayed above each burner into the kiln. It volatizes and reacts with the silica in the clay, creating the rich surface variations on each piece. Heavy deposits of soda create an “orange peel” texture. By adjusting the ratio of oxygen to air at critical times during the firing I can create an array of rich color.

To quote a good friend and fellow potter, Denise Morris, “I don’t make pottery to live, I live to make pottery .”