Electric vs Gas Kiln Firing: What Changes in the Pot
Electric firing taught me control. Gas taught me humility. A plain comparison from a potter still learning both.
Why I Don’t Make Bright, Colorful Pottery
Bright glazes are impressive, but they never felt like mine. Why I make quiet, earthy, high-fire pots instead.
The Moment I Knew I Needed My Own Salt Kiln
I learned salt firing in borrowed kilns. One mug at one unloading told me I needed my own.
The First Time I Fired a Salt Kiln
Fifty pots, a stalled kiln, canyon wind and fifty pounds of salt: what my first salt firing at Utah State taught me about timing.
What Matters Most Isn’t the Surface
Surface photographs well, but weight, balance and form are what people feel first. Why the glaze can never save a weak pot.
The Pots You’ll Never See
Not every pot that survives the kiln leaves my studio. Why I hold back the almosts, and what letting them go has taught me.
Making Pottery in a Small Mountain Town
What it is really like to make pottery in a small mountain town like Logan, Utah: the isolation, the logistics, and the clarity.
What Kind of Potter I’m Trying to Become
On choosing steadiness over trends: earth tones, high fire, a salt kiln, and refining the same forms instead of reinventing them.
The Real Reason I Fire to Cone 10
Cone 6 is easier. I fire to cone 10 anyway, because high fire glazes mature into the clay instead of sitting on top of it.
What Happens When an Electric Cone 10 Firing Fails
What happens when an electric cone 10 firing fails, how it shows up in the glaze and clay, and what I changed to fire smarter.
Why Logan, Utah Shapes the Way I Make Pots
Long winters, dry air and the colors of Cache Valley: how living in Logan, Utah shapes the way I make pots.
Can You Make Functional Pottery From Utah Wild Clay?
Can you make functional pottery from Utah wild clay? Sometimes. What testing, blending and failing have taught me so far.
Why Handmade Pottery Costs More Than You Think
Wedging, throwing, trimming, firing, losses: why handmade pottery costs more than a store-bought mug, from a Logan potter.
What Makes a Good Mug? (From a Potter’s Perspective)
Weight, rim, handle, surface and foot: what makes a good handmade mug, from a potter who has thrown hundreds of them.
Why I Choose Functional Pottery Over Decorative Work
Why I make cups, bowls, plates and pitchers instead of sculpture, and why function keeps my work honest.
Common Problems With Utah Wild Clay (And What I’m Learning So Far)
Cracking, warping, melting and porosity: the four problems that keep showing up as I test Utah wild clay around Cache Valley.
What It Costs to Build a Salt Kiln in Utah
What it really costs to build and run a salt kiln in Utah, and why I saved for years before stacking a single brick.
Designing My Salt Kiln: Early Decisions and Direction
Size, fuel, flame path, materials and climate: the early decisions behind designing my salt kiln in northern Utah.
Utah Wild Clay: How to Find and Test Local Clay
A detailed guide to Utah wild clay — how to find it, process it, test it, and understand whether it can be used for functional pottery in northern Utah.
What Is Salt Fired Pottery? Salt Firing Explained
What salt firing is, how the kiln glazes the pot, what the surfaces look like, and whether salt fired pottery is food safe.