Dog Bar Pottery

Poviding wood fired pottery
to the ceramic community since 1992

Dog Bar Pottery
35  Perry  Hill  Road  Ext.   
Westhampton, Massachusetts 01027
Telephone: (413) 320-6283
E-mail: dogbarpottery1965@gmail.com
The wood fired and salt glazed finishes are durable, long lasting and dish-washer safe. Our pottery is hand made and wheel thrown, made from stoneware and porcelain clay.HomeAboutPotteryKilnPicture
Galleries
Exhibition
Galleries

The Pottery

   I make wood fired stoneware pottery. All my pots are functional though I do make some pieces that are prettier to look at while other pieces are more rewarding to use. All my pottery is hand made. I make everything on a Leach or treadle style wheel. I like to throw pots on the wheel and then alter them, using a knife to cut facets or a paddle to change the form. I love to decorate or paint on the pottery too. In the studio I spend my time getting the pots ready to be fired. I try and make forms and decorations that will complement or in turn be complemented by firing them in the wood kiln.

    The process of firing our kiln with wood is exhilarating. The fire makes the kiln come alive -- but trying to control something that has a life of its own is intensely challenging. The fire reaches temperatures up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit and must be fed for 24 hours. A flame sometimes as long as 40' long flows through the kiln like a river overflowing its banks. None of the pottery is spared by the fire or by the ash and salt that are carried along with it. Each piece of pottery that comes out of the kiln has its own story to tell. Even two pots, practically identical and put in the kiln side by side, will be completely different from each other once fired. The first pots that I unloaded from the wood kiln were magical for me. What came out of the kiln was so much better then what I had put in; my simple, even "crude," pots had been transformed. Ten years later, I still get the same thrill unloading the kiln. Not only are no two pieces the same, but also through the magic of the kiln and the fire, the pottery is alive.