David Hughes

234 Shorewood Road

My work is evenly split between hand built and thrown pieces. Most are intended for use in the kitchen and on the dining room table: mugs, bowls, serving platters, dinnerware and vases. I focus on straightforward forms with surface decoration ranging from traditional glazes to colorful, whimsical designs. My goal with functional ware is to make pieces that work well, are interesting to look at, and perhaps bring a smile to face of the person using them.

Recently, I have been pit firing some of my work. Pit firing is an ancient technique where pottery is simply fired in an open pit under a pile of wood. My fascination with the process comes from the unpredictability of the results. While the process can be influenced by introducing salt, copper, cobalt, seaweed and other combustible materials, the fire itself is in control. The results range from mundane to spectacular, and you don’t know which until you pull your pieces out of the ashes. Making pottery always entails tension between control and surrender, and never more so than with pit firing.