I. The body
We throw on a blended stoneware — iron-rich, grog-tempered, the colour of wet creek bank. It is a forgiving clay: it holds its shape at coil height, trims clean at leather-hard, and fires a warm buff that makes every glaze look like it belongs.
Nothing leaves the studio as a first. Pieces are dried for four days, then bisque-fired at cone 06 before a single brush of glaze touches them.
II. The glaze
Our five house glazes are mixed from ash, feldspar and local clay — no commercial stains. Ember takes its warmth from iron oxide; Celadon Mist is a thin ash glaze that breaks pale green over edges; Charcoal is nearly a glaze-less surface, fired to a soft satin.
Each dip lasts three seconds. One more, and the glaze runs; one less, and the clay shows through.
III. The kiln
The wood kiln burns for fourteen hours to cone 10 — about 1,300 °C. We stoke on a two-minute rhythm through the night, and the flame does the rest. Ash from the stacking settles on hot surfaces and melts into its own glaze: the kiln's signature.
Opening day is a small ceremony. Roughly one in twelve pieces is a "second" — we sell them anyway, with the flaw noted, because the flaw is the point.