THE PROCESS - THE HUMBLE POTTERY COLLECTION

In our technological society we are so easily seduced by tools and machinery. Living Wells Studio offers unique hand crafted pieces made one by one by Jody Tippett reproducing the artisanship of a time-honored craft. The wheel is used for certain kinds of forms, while handbuilding offers unlimited possibilities. The pieces communicate a human quality, representing the hands, the movements, and the personality of the maker.

A kiln is the oven for firing clay. This firing process changes the clay, hardening and strengthening it. The typical firing process for pottery has two stages. First, pots are allowed to dry. Then they are loaded in a kiln. The kiln is fired at a relatively low temperature. When the pots are removed from the kiln, they’ve undergone a chemical change and become “bisque” ware. Bisque ware is hard, fragile and porous. Bisque ware is then glazed, typically by dipping the piece in a bucket of glaze. Then the glazed pot is put back in the kiln and fired a second time. This second firing is conducted at a higher temperature. Living Wells Studio Pottery is stoneware fired to cone 10. The glaze materials melt – a process called glassification – and the underlying clay hardens and fuses with the glaze. When the firing is complete, so is the pottery.

For a detailed overview of the pottery making process CLICK HERE.