New artwork uploaded.... This distinctive set of whisky cups is handmade. The stoneware cups were wheel thrown and fired in a wood fueled kiln to 2400 degrees F for about 32 hours. They feature a Shino glaze and the surface exhibits areas of carbon trapping and fly ash, common with the wood fired process. The glazes are...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware oval baking dish has a 64-ounce capacity and was wheel thrown and then altered. The dish has textured lug handles for easy pick-up with oven mitts. Finished with a crawling ash glaze on the interior and a salt-glazed Shino surface on the exterior, the piece was fired to 2400...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware oil cruet was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours. The blue-green glaze exhibits areas of fly ash on the exterior, characteristic of the wood fired process. Glaze is non-toxic and lead free. Features wood block stamped design at the lower handle...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware bowl was wheel thrown. It is finished on the interior with a crawling ash glaze. The piece was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours and a salt-soda mixture added near the end of the firing. The exterior is unglazed but exhibits areas of colorful orange...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware bowl was wheel thrown. It is finished on the interior with a crawling ash glaze. The piece was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours. The exterior is un-glazed. Interior and exterior surfaces exhibit some areas of irregularity resulting from inclusions...
New artwork uploaded.... This pair of porcelain-like stoneware chili/chowder bowls were wheel thrown and fired in a wood fueled kiln to 2400 degrees F for about 32 hours. They feature textured handles and a Shino glaze on the exterior. Interior ash glaze exhibits areas of fly ash, common in the wood fired process. The...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware serving bowl was wheel thrown. Finished with a caramel colored liner glaze and unglazed on the exterior, the piece was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours. Exterior exhibits areas of fly ash on the unglazed surface. Inclusions in the clay body have...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware bowl was wheel thrown. It is finished on the interior with a mottled blue-black glaze. The piece was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours. The exterior is unglazed but exhibits areas of colorful orange flashing resulting from the flame licking the...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware bowl was wheel thrown. It is finished on the interior with a combination of an orange Shino and a brown Tenmoku glaze. The piece was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours and a salt-soda mixture added near the end of the firing. The exterior exhibits the...
New artwork uploaded.... This stoneware bowl was wheel thrown and then altered. It is finished on the interior with a mottled brown ash glaze. The piece was fired to 2400 degrees F in a wood fueled kiln for about 32 hours. The exterior is unglazed but exhibits areas of ash glaze resulting from fly ash settling on the...
FOIGHIDINN - The Scots Gaelic word for "patience" captures my journey through life and from the practice of architecture to the making of pottery. I am Canadian born and lived in Scotland as a youth. My family settled in New Jersey where I was raised from the age of 5. I earned a degree in architecture and practiced that noble profession for some 37 years, living and working in New Jersey; Savannah, Georgia and Winchester, VA. I eventually discovered pottery and retired from architecture, settling first in Berkeley Springs, WV and now in Hillsborough, NC.
I enjoy experimenting with form, texture and color. I mix my own glazes from raw materials and use a variety of application methods to include dipping, pouring and spraying. I work almost exclusively with stoneware and create texture by imprinting and excising the clay with a variety of tools. Texture on the clay body provides a wonderful "canvas" for applied glazes, particularly when they flow across the irregular surfaces and settle in crevices. The resulting variations in glaze thickness create visible differences in appearance.
Like many potters, I fire my wares within the relatively controlled environment of a gas kiln, but my passion is the wild and wooly process of wood firing which often renders the serendipitous results achievable only via that ancient process. Pottery that's been wood fired exhibits a depth of surface resulting from the continued layering of wood ash over the 32 hour (in the case of my wood kiln) length of the firing that's incomparable in any other method of firing pottery. Additionally, the flame leaves its mark on the exterior surfaces of the pottery through the use of flashing slips.
I have designed and constructed two wood kilns, the most recent of which - Cothrom Eile (Second Chance) - was located outside my home studio in Berkeley Springs and was fired twice a year in the autumn and spring. Each firing lasted approximately 32 hours and consumeds 2 1/2 to 3 cords of wood.
I enjoy supporting my community in concert with my fellow artisans by donating work to support causes such as the "empty bowls" initiative. I have come to cherish FOIGHIDINN as well as the fellowship with brothers and sisters in clay. Additional information on my work can be found at www.ThistleGlenPottery.com.