Andrea Brown
Fire Garden Pottery
Canton, Massachusetts
Website
www.firegardenpottery.com
Email
firegardenpottery@hotmail.com
Artist Statement
Watching an overalled, ponytailed potter at a craft fair when I was 9 led me to making pots in junior and high school. A BFA led to 20 years as a sculptor. I bring my love of abstraction to my work, focusing on form
and function, surface and color.
Studio Description
In 2019, I got back to my own studio, in an old New England mill building. Lots of brick, high ceilings, wood floors, big west-facing windows and lots of light. Everything is situated for an orderly work flow from
clay processing to finished pots.
What type of clay do you use?
I’m a brown stoneware girl all the way!
What temperature do you fire to?
Cone 10 reduction
What is your primary forming method?
I start nearly everything on the wheel. Lately, 2020–21, I’ve begun to alter pots a lot more.
What is your favorite surface treatment?
You’ll see marks in my altered work that are convex and concave, very loosely akin to bas relief.
Do you make any of your own tools?
Yes.
What one word would you use to describe your art?
Distinct
What is your favorite thing about your studio?
That I have it! I lost my sculpture studio in 2006, due to a fire. 14 years later I’m back in one.
What is the one thing in your studio you can’t live without?
My Pug Mill.
What are your top three studio wishes?
1. A gas or wood-fired kiln on site
2. I’d love to have a live/work studio, like my prior studio, but I’m grateful for any studio.
3. More time!
What’s on your current reading list?
Lots of readings for a glaze chemistry class with Matt Katz of the Ceramic Materials Workshop.
How do you save money on materials and supplies?
Buying in bulk, buying with others, building my tables, shelving etc., clay recycling of course.
How do you recharge creatively?
Nature. Looking at art and craft. Conversations with fellow craftspeople and customers, challenging myself.
Do you have any DIY tips for studio efficiency?
Dedicated places for everything is a good one. Plenty of shelving. A wheel for throwing, a wheel for trimming.
What challenges have you given yourself to overcome?
Building a pottery business when most people are looking toward retirement. Not sure if I gave that one to myself but here I am.
What did your first piece look like?
A doorstop, LOL! My brother still has it, bless his heart. It was a weed pot, 5-ish” wide, 3″ high. Satin brown glaze, rutile spots.
What ceramic superpower would you have and why?
I would just like to have more time. 48 hours for every 24 would be a good start. So many threads to pursue, not enough time.
Who is your ceramic art mentor and why?
Pacific Northwest sculptor Ray Jensen. His humble yet profound choice of subject and style.
What is your studio playlist?
I like to listen to audiobooks, listen to WMBR.org, Democracy Now or NPR.
Why do you create art?
It’s who I am. I found that out after losing my studio and spending the years after in disruption.
What is your best studio tip?
Do your best but keep moving. Give yourself time to evolve and don’t put too many expectations on one piece or one body of work.
If you could change one property of clay, what would it be?
This is a trick question..? Clay changes you, teaches patience, how to work well with a partner.
