About > Studio Process

The Studio Process

Tyler creates all of his work in a 380 square foot studio space in a former bank building.
Each piece has an incredibly journey and is handled around 20 times to complete the process. 
Every item is carefully thought out, created, and inspected for you.

Fun fact: Tyler's studio was formerly the bank employees' break room,
and prior to that it housed a dentist's office.

Clay:
The Beginning

Tyler goes through about 2000 pounds of stoneware clay every six months. The clay is cut with a wire and weighed to a specific amount.

Potter's Wheel:
The Spinning

Each vessel is handmade on an electric potter's wheel. This is also known as being wheel-thrown.

Slab Table:
The Rolling

Tile and oval items are hard to make on the potter's wheel, so Tyler uses a hand-cranked slab roller to create handmade tiles for signs, plaques, and oval platters.

Greenware:
The Drying

After a piece is made, it will dry over a period of time from the top down.
Bottom Picture: Notice that the rim is lighter in color than the bottom.
The clay will be very wet,
then leather hard (top picture),
and finally it will be bone dry.
Each piece is watched
throughout each day.

Not so fun fact:
If the piece dries too fast, it will crack.

Kiln:
The Bisque Firing

After the pieces have dried,
Tyler carefully loads as many greenware pieces into
the kiln as possible.
He uses shelves and posts
to stack the kiln tightly.
Then fires the kiln to 1800F.
The heat of the kiln changes the pieces from greenware into bisqueware.

Fun fact:
Pieces in this kiln can touch each other, which helps the kiln be loaded tightly.

Glazing:
The Color

When the kiln cools, Tyler will carefully unload each piece and sort them into what glaze color groups are needed. Each piece will be glazed one at a time using a variety of techniques.

Fun fact:
Glaze,  in a basic form, is made up of three basic ingredients: glass former, flux, and a stabilizer.

Kiln:
The Stoneware Firing

After enough pieces are glazed,
Tyler will load and fire the kiln
again, this time to around 22ooF.

Not so fun fact:
Pieces in the glaze firing cannot touch each other, which results in the kiln holding fewer pieces than the bisque firing. 

Stoneware Pottery:
The Results

Once the kiln has cooled, the transformation is revealed. The glaze has melted to glass and the clay has become stone.

Fun fact:
When the kiln has completely cooled and Tyler unloads the kiln, each piece makes a tinging noise. This tinging noise is the glaze still shrinking.

Gallery:
The Display

After every vessel is checked for flaws, they are moved to the gallery.
 The pottery in the gallery is very liquid. We are constantly making and selling our pottery to people all over the country.

Fun Fact:
As of December 2015, we had sold to every state except Alaska
and New Hampshire.
One overseas sale to London, England.
Thank you everyone!

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Various Studio Pictures