About the Materials

photo credit Wylie Earp

Digging clay from a an exposed seam along the Mohawk Trail in Western Massachusetts

Both the clay body and the glazes are enhanced by the inclusion of local clay into the mix. Glazes adhere better to the clay body, and a deeper richness of color results.

photo credit Wylie Earp

Burning hay for ashes in Conway, Massachusetts

Certain types of ashes provide an excellent source of silica, one of the main ingredients in glazes. Other types of ashes offer vibrant coloring agents. The ashen remains of plants constitute a unique matrix of minerals impossible to duplicate in any other fashion.

photo credit Wylie Earp

Throwing

The home-made treadle wheel on which I work. Treadle wheels, powered by foot action cranking a treadle arm, were used by redware potters for hundreds of years before the advent of motorized equipment.

photo credit Wylie Earp

Decorating plates in the “sgraffito” style of incised decoration

Rather than bending the style to meet my own aesthetic demands, I try to “listen” to the ware, and allow patterns to emerge.

photo credit Wylie Earp

Glazing

Most contemporary pottery is pre-fired, or “bisqued,” before glazing. Early redware potters, as a matter of practicality (to save time and fuel) applied glaze directly onto unfired pottery. This is known as “raw glazing” and is practiced at Stephen Earp Redware. I’ve found that applying glazes to raw pots profoundly affects the finish; the interaction of glaze and clay surface is intimate, resulting in deeper, richer colors.