Shaun's Pottery

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All stoneware pottery listed on this site is dishwasher, microwave, oven and freezer safe and does not have any toxic glazes.  Because this pottery is fired at extreme temperatures, it is particularly strong in comparison to glass or other pottery wares.  As such, all work listed on this site is stoneware, as opposed to the more fragile earthenware or non-functional raku wares.

The primary glaze listed on this site, the earthtone combined with the blue has been in production by my mom, Marlene, for at least 15 years.  That glaze has been consistently popular and as such is a testament to the longevity to that colour combination.  It has the appeal to supersede passing fads in styles and appearances.  Many individuals have been purchasing pottery of a similar glaze style from Marlene for well over a decade and from myself for over five years.  Because we are consistent in our glazing (as is possible given the nature of handmade pottery), it is possible to purchase a piece one year and add on to a collection with another piece the next year.  As I am just getting started in the trade, there is little doubt that this pottery will be available for decades to come.

All pottery is handcrafted in my studio in Woodmore Manitoba using simple tools.  This pottery is made through the slab process, that is, I use slabs of clay to build the wares instead of the more common wheel throwing technique.  I roll the slabs using a large 5.5 lbs rolling pin on an old kitchen table.  The slabs are then placed on fabric and left to dry in the open air for a number of hours, depending on how wet or dry I want the clay to be, for the next day's work.  Old dry-cleaner plastic is used to cover the slabs, once dried, to lock in the remaining moisture.

The following day, the slabs are cut using cardboard forms or a square as a guide, to create the sides of the piece being made.  The clay cut away is thrown into a heavy plastic bag and saved for later recycling.  The cut out sides are made ready to be pieced together by scoring the edges that will be connected using a simple scratching tool.  Slip, or heavily watered down clay (to the consistency of mayonnaise), is applied  to the scored edges and the sides are pushed together.  The excess slip that oozed from between the connected sides is mopped up and used to add another layer of strength between the connected sides.  Once all sides are up, the piece is left for a short while to allow the new connections to strengthen.  Then once strong enough to handle pressure, in the case of a bowl, for example, I roll by hand a coil of clay to place into the corners.  The coil is first pushed into the corner, then smoothed out by hand and finally finished using a wet sponge to remove finger tracks left in the clay.  The piece is then left to dry for a while.  Once dry but still malleable, the rough edges are scraped down to give the piece a sharp square look.  Those edges then are smoothed down with a sponge to make the piece comfortable and stronger once finished. 

Once I have finished making the bowl it is left for about a week to dry.  One can tell a piece is dry by its temperature.  If any moisture is left in the piece, it will feel cool to the touch.  The process of making pottery requires a degree of patience, as any attempt to hurry a piece along will cause the piece to warp (through too rapid drying) or to explode in the kiln (because of moisture remaining in the piece).

The dried bowl is then sanded with a scouring pad to remove sharp edges, bumps and to ensure the bottom of the piece is level.

The bowl is then placed into the electric kiln and fired to cone 07 for approximately 12 hours. 

Once fired, the bowl must first be waxed at the base to prevent glaze from getting on the bottom of the piece.  Any glaze that might touch the kiln shelf in the next firing will melt onto the shelf, destroying both the bowl and the shelf.  For this glaze combination, a total of four different glazes are applied to the piece to give it its colour combination.

Any residual spots of glaze are wiped off the bottom and the bowl is ready for its final firing.

The bowl is placed into the gas kiln and the kiln is fired up.  The complete firing process takes approximately 30 hours from heating up to cooled down as the kiln reaches over 2500 degrees fahrenheit.Once the kiln and all its wares have cooled, the bowl is removed and sanded a final time.  The bowl is now finished.

If anybody would like to try their hand at slabbing and would like some questions answered, or whatever, feel free to write.