Ceremonial Teaware Lit by the Flames of Woodfire.
Ceramics has been a passion of mine ever since I was a young girl. My grandmother was an artist who introduced me to sculpting, clay, and painting as early as I can remember. From then on, I quickly fell in love with clay and ran away with it. I grew up in Pennsylvania, and after high school I moved out to the coastal town of Arcata, California where I attended school at Humboldt State University. I majored in Botany and minored in Ceramics. The ties of nature and clay solidified with me during my time there, and I fell in love with wood firing and soda firing. I spent a lot of time in the redwood forest there and continue to do so in my new home in the PNW and I love to have my work reflect the colors of nature.
I now live in Portland, Oregon where I make and fire my work. I am involved in many different wood kilns in the area and love to help lead firings. The wood firings are fire by hand, and usually take 4-7 days of non-stop wood stoking of the fire. The fire in the front of the kilns creates the high heat to fire the work, and the ashes from the fire are brought through the kiln and land on the pots. The ash melts as the kiln gets hotter, and turns into a natural glaze and sheen on the pieces.
Most of my work goes into the kiln as just bare clay without any glaze, as I utilize the natural wood ash and the atmosphere of the kiln and the path of the flame to paint my pieces. The clay that I use for most of my teaware is a high fire stoneware clay body with a small amount of native Oregon clay in it as well. I find it is a perfect clay for teaware as it can be slightly porous. The teapots that are glazed are noted, though.
When I am not wood firing kilns, I also focus on creating work out of a soda kiln which is another atmospheric kiln. During this type of firing I spray soda ash into the kiln at a high temperature which acts as a flux and created very cool glaze effects, as well as acts as a natural glaze for unglazed pieces. We achieve states of reduction in this style of firing which draws out the color of the fire path on my work.
I enjoy making tea ware, as tea is a very grounding force of my life. I make a variety of teapot sizes, styles, and shapes that can be intended for use of different types of tea from Classical Chinese or Japanese style teas to herbal tea blends as well. My tea bowls are intended for use with matcha, but would also be perfect for chai, cacao, or any other beverage. All my tea ware is meant for both ceremonial and ritual everyday use. I hope to enlighten tea experiences with the beauty of these pieces. My journey of tea is endless, and I am excited to always be coming out with new teapots and tea cups.
I now live in Portland, Oregon where I make and fire my work. I am involved in many different wood kilns in the area and love to help lead firings. The wood firings are fire by hand, and usually take 4-7 days of non-stop wood stoking of the fire. The fire in the front of the kilns creates the high heat to fire the work, and the ashes from the fire are brought through the kiln and land on the pots. The ash melts as the kiln gets hotter, and turns into a natural glaze and sheen on the pieces.
Most of my work goes into the kiln as just bare clay without any glaze, as I utilize the natural wood ash and the atmosphere of the kiln and the path of the flame to paint my pieces. The clay that I use for most of my teaware is a high fire stoneware clay body with a small amount of native Oregon clay in it as well. I find it is a perfect clay for teaware as it can be slightly porous. The teapots that are glazed are noted, though.
When I am not wood firing kilns, I also focus on creating work out of a soda kiln which is another atmospheric kiln. During this type of firing I spray soda ash into the kiln at a high temperature which acts as a flux and created very cool glaze effects, as well as acts as a natural glaze for unglazed pieces. We achieve states of reduction in this style of firing which draws out the color of the fire path on my work.
I enjoy making tea ware, as tea is a very grounding force of my life. I make a variety of teapot sizes, styles, and shapes that can be intended for use of different types of tea from Classical Chinese or Japanese style teas to herbal tea blends as well. My tea bowls are intended for use with matcha, but would also be perfect for chai, cacao, or any other beverage. All my tea ware is meant for both ceremonial and ritual everyday use. I hope to enlighten tea experiences with the beauty of these pieces. My journey of tea is endless, and I am excited to always be coming out with new teapots and tea cups.