Andra Dove
I like making useful pots and firing them with wood. I relish the solitude of throwing and hand building pots alone in my studio. And I love gathering with a group, a clutch, a gaggle, a pride - a community of potters, to fire a big wood kiln together.
Talking, planning, preparing, making. Cleaning the kiln, stacking the wood. Then the long and careful loading of the kiln, the thoughtful placement of each pot.
The joy of the firing. The thrill and beauty of the flames! The glorious smell of woodsmoke! So delightful, and so practical. And so deliciously sweaty. So much hard physical work.
And then the pots - the pots! They hold all of that in them. They reflect all that work, all that time, all that effort and concentration and love in their beautiful surfaces. They look exactly like what they are. Clay surrounded by fire. Marked by hands and immersed in flames.
I love holding all of that in my morning mug of tea.
I’m so delighted to be Louise’s guest on the pottery path! She is my original clay mentor, it’s all because of her that I got pulled into the world of clay and wood firing. I took my first pottery class with Louise at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven, just after she finished building her wood kiln in Bethany. I wanted to make pots for daily use. Working with clay felt right from the start, and after my first taste of wood firing I was all in. 23 years and many pots and firings have gone by, and I’m hoping for many more.