FAQ

Is it food safe?

Yes! I fire my pottery to around 2200F (mid-range, ^6) and am responsible for all of the firings. I formulate and mix all of my own glazes so that I know exactly what's in them. I use fancy charts and graphs (Stull!) to make sure my formulas are as good as they can be.

You can use the microwave, dishwasher and oven.

Do not put a cold pot in an already hot oven.
If pouring hot water for tea, make sure you let the water cool slightly from boiling before pouring in a cold mug. Your mug will appreciate it and your tea will taste better.

Do you make sets?

Yes! Sets of all kinds. Sets are always a custom order situation, I rarely have them on hand. Contact me directly for details and quotes. You can choose any number of place settings and a variety of sizes of bowls, plates, cups, tumblers etc. I can be a little pokey working sets into my schedule so expect a 2-3 month lead time.

Where do you make your pottery?

Do you have your own kilns?

I have a home studio in Moscow, Idaho where I create all of my pots! My kilns currently live at the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown, WA where they also serve the students and members of the MudBog Studio.I have a couple of kilns at home and am working toward making and building space to get them plugged in.

Do you have a store?

Nope! If I rented space for a real store my body would fall apart. I'd have to make and sell a gazillion pots per month just to pay the rent.

May - October you can visit my Saturday Shop on the corner of 6th & Main at Moscow at Farmer's Market

In the Market off-season you can visit Artisans at the Dahmen Barn for a small selection of my wares

I do a couple Winter Markets at the 1912 Center- check my Insta for updates.

Do you ship?

Do you have an Etsy?

I CAN ship but I don't love to. It's really expensive for you - $15 shipping on a $35 mug not including time in packing, cost of materials, and photographing/listing time seems crazy! But if you really love my work I'd be happy to chat and work something out. I want to keep my work accessible.

Tangent on Etsy: they take all the artist's money. It's expensive to list, they take a big cut and the algorithms are catered toward mass-producing and favor vendors with low costs free shipping. It's extraordinarily time consuming to manage a "profitable" Etsy shop. When possible, you should always order directly from an artist, off their personal website, or in person.

How long does it take to make pottery?

Eight years of formal education, and non-stop consistent practice since 2016. But that's not really the answer you want. My process is a rigid 2 weeks start to finish. That's creating, trimming, adding handles, drying, loading and firing, unloading, waxing, glazing, loading and firing again, unloading, sanding bottoms, washing, tagging, and finally selling.

What if I have a problem pot?

Do you do returns?

If you experience anything weird, PLEASE let me know. I do the best quality control I can numerous times throughout the process but sometimes I miss things. For example, if your pot cracks when you fill it with boiling hot water, let me know. This could be a flaw on my part that I can adjust for and fix in the next batch and I'll replace it for you. If you whack it on the the counter and it breaks, that's normal, but I can't replace it. You'll have to buy a new one.

Returns: this is a case by case basis. More often I will do an exchange and/or give pot-credit.

Pottery, clay, ceramics, porcelain?

Whats the difference?!

Pottery generally refers to functional objects created with clay. If it's decorative or sculptural versus functional, it can be referred for as Ceramic sculpture.
I'm both a potter and ceramist; an artist who uses clay as the primary medium.

Clay is the raw or un-fired material.

Porcelain is clay. It's just all nice and pure and isn't full of other cool junk like stonewares or earthenwares. I prefer stoneware but will mix and use porcelain on occasion.

Ceramics is an umbrella term that usually refers to fired clay, but can be used in a variety of ways.

Do you dig your own clay?

I certainly have! It's extremely labor and time intensive (but reaaaalllyy fun!) and I'd have charge a million bucks if that's what I used for your ware. I have found that the native clays in the Palouse region are best used as additives or decorating slips rather than independent clay bodies.

I MIX my own clay bodies, using pyrochemical geologic witchcraft. The dry materials are mined all over the country and I use chemistry to formulate them into a recipe that does what I want- in wet plastic forming, drying, firing and finished product durability.

Contact ME