Laura Nichols

I started making pots a long time ago. Pig Pen Pottery is located on my family farm where we currently have goats, chickens, guinea fowl, dogs, foxes, herons, pileated woodpeckers and ladybugs. I make functional pottery for everyday use.  The functional pottery is food safe, lead free, dishwasher and microwave safe. It is intended to be used. I make baking dishes, mugs, bowls, pitchers and so on. I paint what I see. Each piece is hand-painted and fired to about 2300 degrees in a reduction kiln, which I built, and can be seen at the studio. I am ever striving to simplify my paintings to capture the essence of the animal I am thinking of. In addition to the functional stoneware, I make decorative pots. I enjoy the immediacy of alternative firing methods, Raku, Saggar, Pit-fire, Obvara, horsehair, and naked raku. When you make pots, you enter into a partnership with fire. This is particularly true of the alternative fired ware.

At Pig Pen Pottery you will see all the aspects of making pottery, firing it, decorating it, and using it. I will try to answer your questions should you be interested in taking up pottery or setting up your own studio. You will see several types of kilns, the electric kilns, the reduction kiln and the raku kiln. On Sunday, you are invited to try your hand at the wheel from 12 pm to 3 pm.