DALMAN POTTERY - MAKER OF WOODFIRED HOUSEWARES
Process:
My pottery is turned and altered on the potter’s wheel. Slips and glazes are applied with different techniques before the pot is fully dried. After the pots have fully dried, more decorating is brushed on and then the pieces are ready to be fired. The making process is approximately two months for each kiln load. When enough pieces have accu
mulated (200-500) they are transported and loaded into the wood kiln. The "Millennium Falcon" is a Noborigama or climbing kiln. It is a variation of an ancient Korean design found at sites nearly 2000 years old. This kiln was built over the summer of 2000 and first fired the following February. The process of firing is demanding. Wood is hand-stoked every 3-5 minutes for between 23-35 hours. The firers have to constantly monitor flame quality, amount of wood, and temperature rise in addition to stoking. At least three people other than myself are employed six times per year to help fire the kiln. Three or four days after 2,300 degrees was reached, the pottery is cool enough to unload. The pottery is removed from the kiln, assessed, sanded, and packed for sales or sent to customers. Individuality of work and person:
The short answer. Uniqueness is constant in art due to the individual’s environment and point of view. From raw materials to the finished product the artist’s individuality dictates his/her production process and philosophical intent. The long answer starts with me and ends with you. As a potter and individual I am interested in living with our natural environment. More than that, interested in reintroducing people to the joys of local hand made goods in a world of global corporate mass production. Nature produces elements seldom exactly the same. I strive to produce wares that are similar in shape but never exact. Taking this stance provides a group of individuals instead of a stagnant set. Working this way allows me more freedom to experiment and provides consumers constant variety. Pottery and wood firing provides the ability to use no electricity and fewer fossil fuels. Wood is a renewable fuel source. The wood used in our home and to fire pottery is a by-product of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan's logging industry. We salvage tree tops from the woods for our home heating and cooking needs. The fuel for the kiln is scrap from the hard wood mill in a nearby town. Burning and gathering wood is a major part of my life. The kiln burns more than, two cords of wood per firing. Imagine a stack of fire wood four feet deep, four feet tall, and sixteen feet long. That is two cords. That IS a lot of wood! However, the yield of product and infrequency of firing remediate this amount. My family and friends make every effort to avoid mass produced corporate goods. We make a lot of the extra items we need and trade for other items. This community of friends is the firing crew. I am lucky to have this group of like-minded individuals. Pottery is one of the old trades. Blacksmithing, carpentry, glass blowing, and farming are some other trades that helped America become great. Each town had at least one of each crafts person because there was an obvious need for their goods. As a result this made each place unique. Today these trades have been taken by industry. Industry creates more homogenized versions of the craft person's product. This leads to a lack in diversity, and dulled impression of a community as a whole. The same phenomenon is being experienced in American homes, dulling our creative senses. The town potter of Big Bay, Michigan is who I strive to be. I hope my pottery is fun to use, view, and display. Subconsciously each piece reflects the woods, duck hunting in the fall, watching the imaginations of my children, and patterns my wife knits, as well as simply amusing myself in the studio with goofy ideas of line and color. Wood firing adds another layer. Random patterns of ash and firework touch each pot differently, permanently. These effects are purely natural and are as hard to exactly reproduce as a snow flake. You are the final step in the process. You bring pots home to give it use and life. Inspiration and goals:
My goal is to make a living creating the best product I can and continue to grow as a potter. My family is the catalyst for working so hard to be a jack of the old school life and provide them a safe home in nature. They are the reason for creating a homestead in the north woods I hope they can enjoy this place for the rest of their lives and their children too. Thank you for your interest and support of Dalman Pottery.
