For more than a decade as a “country potter,” I focused on using stoneware clay and firing my pots in a wood-fired kiln, introducing salt at approximately 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit. The direct interaction with the flame and sodium vapor created surface variation that added interest to my applied glaze and exposed clay patterning.

In 2019, now living in the heart of the city, I started experimenting with porcelain clay fired in an electric kiln, seeking some of the same “magic” I experienced in the wood kiln. I continue to be fascinated by what is possible, and happily frustrated by working within the limitations of a clean, oxidized firing atmosphere, where firings are not unlike running a large toaster oven, rather than the more direct stoking and flame interactions of a wood-fired kiln.