HANDCRAFTED CLAYWORK

Handcrafted claywork satisfies our human senses, offering aesthetic balance in an increasingly high-tech world. My work is meant to be explored with the eye and the hand, lived with, and reflected upon, providing an element of high touch in an increasingly impersonal world

"Thus in looking for the best approach to pottery it seems reasonable to expect that beauty will emerge from a fusion of the individual character and culture of the potter with the nature of his materials - clay, pigment, glaze - and his management of the fire, and that consequently we may hope to find in good pots those innate qualities which we most admire in people."

Bernard Leach............
"A Potter's Book" 1940

The Way of John's Claywork

John's pottery is greatly influenced by the folk pottery and tea ceremony wares of Japan. In his work you will frequently find his interpretation of numerous traditional Japanese forms. These include such items as chawan (teabowls), chaire (tea caddies), cha tsubo (tea storage jars), kyusu (small side-handled teapots), suribachi (kitchen grinding mortars), mizusashi (fresh water containers), sushi oki (sushi plates), and other forms for serving Japanese-style food and flower arranging.

John's glazes and clay surfaces tend to reflect the subtle aspects of the wabi/sabi school of tea. They are subdued and quiet in tone, yet upon closer inspection offer great depth and complexity suitable for continuous discovery of new aspects.

Unlike the traditional craftspeople in Japan, John is free of the bounds of strict tradition when it comes to to exploring vessel form. We now live in a "world community", and influences can and do come from all corners of the globe. John is always experimenting with new ideas for the sculptural aspects of his vessel forms, and many of his pieces are intended as pure visual statements on the nature of the vessel form and how it relates to space.

John prides himself on the great personal involvement he has with each and every piece of work he produces at River Bend Pottery. All of the work done directly on the clay pieces here is done by John himself. This personal decision limits the total possible amount of his annual pottery production, but as an artist/craftsperson who makes truly handcrafted work, John feels that this approach is appropriate. In fact, this limited production capability makes each piece produced by John just a little more special and more highly valued.

John currently has Michael Fong, also from Wilton, NH, studying with him on a part-time basis. As part of his ceramics education Michael often helps him with general studio tasks, studio repairs, firewood preparation, and also frequently assists with stacking, firing, and unloading the large wood kiln. Michael does not wedge John's clay, form, alter, or assemble John's pieces, nor wax, glaze, or decorate any of John's forms in any way.

When you purchase one of John's pieces, you can be assured that John actually did, with his own two hands, make the piece you have in your home.

General Studio Procedures

John uses a number of clay bodies in his work, each selected for its particular properties for the pieces being created. A couple of these are commercially formulated bodies blended by a potter's supply house, and a couple of these are custom formula blends created by John and mixed at the studio. In his search in his clays for what the Japanese often call "tsuchi aji" (literal "clay taste"), some of these clay bodies contain some local materials from the surrounding communities as well as sand from the banks of the Souhegan River located right behind the studio.

John uses numerous forming techniques to produce the various items that he makes. The most prevalent technique in his production is throwing on the potter's wheel. Many of these inherently round thrown forms are then altered to change the shape by stretching, paddling, fluting, and faceting. He also uses handbuilding techniques that incorporate slab building, press molding and assembly, hump and slump molding and assembly, and extrusion and assembly.

The wet clay surface is often enhanced by the addition of colored clay slips. Sometimes these slips are actually inlaid into the wet clay surface by filling in carvings or stamped impressions and then shaving the slipped surface back flush with the background clay, a technique called "mishima". Occasionally, dry clays and powdered rocks are pressed into the wet surfaces to give "dry riverbed" effects.

John's current glaze palate has been developed over about 32 years of extensive technical study, and many of the glazes he is now using have been in production for about 25 years. A few of his glazes contain local materials like local clay, granite dust, powdered river sand, and wood ashes. All glazes are mixed by hand, by weighing out the proper proportion of ingredients and suspending them in water through thorough mixing and sieving. The glazes are applied mainly by dipping, pouring, and brushing. The low temperature overglaze enamels which are occasionally used as accents are purchased premade from a commercial supplier.

All glazes, including the bright colored overglaze enamels, are lead and cadmium free (two highly toxic glaze materials regulated by the U.S. F.D.A. for use in pottery production). John also does not use barium compounds, another metal oxide which, while not currently regulated by the U.S. government, is suspect by some industrial health specialists as to its possible negative health effects. The predominant colorant John uses is iron oxide. Some glazes, slips, and on-glaze decoration contain low percentages of copper and cobalt oxides. The bright red overglaze enamel contains actual gold.

The firing of the work is done in fuel fired kilns located at River Bend Pottery. Most work is bisque fired (first firing) in a gas kiln to about 1750F over a heating cycle of about 12 hours, and then finish fired (second firing) in the wood fueled noborigama to about 2400F in about a 38 hour total heating cycle. The cooling cycle takes about as long as the heating cycle. Occasional pieces are accented with low fire overglaze enamels which are fired onto the glazed pieces in a third firing to about 1500F, usually done in an electric kiln.

John does not use the heavy production methods of slip casting, hydraulic pressing, or jiggering to form any of his wares, he does not utilize off-shore or domestic contract manufacturing, nor does he purchase any "stock" pre-made forms from pottery supply companies.

What is truly "handmade" claywork?

© 2000 J. Baymore all rights reserved

Studio visits are welcome. Call 603-654-2752 to make sure I'm there.

This page last updated:

02/25/2002 03:40 PM