Clay Body: Miller Clay’s 16 Porcelain and Highwater Clay’s Speckled Brownstone
Firing temperature: Cone 5–6
Atmosphere: Oxidation
Surface treatment: Carved textures and contrasting surfaces
Forming Method: Handbuilding
Favorite tools in your toolbox: It’s a tie between a woodworking speed square for cutting handbuilt parts and Mudtools’ Mudcutter for clean up and cutting organic edges on planters.
Describe the first piece you made in clay that felt like your own style. I had made a few small handbuilt planters and platters but it wasn’t until we got a slab roller and I was able to make large pieces that I
really found my style. The first piece I made with the slab roller was a large pinched, textured porcelain planter with sand-dune inspired slip application and gold luster accents. I mixed my own slip with a pink manganese alumina
mason stain and magnetite sand (a form of iron oxide) I had gathered on the shores of Lake Michigan. After firing the piece I knew my inspiration had made its way onto the planter and I better understood how to translate the feelings
of a place to a piece of art and felt like it was my own.
What is your process for finding/designing new forms? I love creating practical, functional pieces that fill a need I find in the home and that work well with surface design. I started by creating planters for our
many houseplants and succulents, and have since made jars, match holders, coffee filter holders, book ends, lamp shades, and candle sconces. During COVID quarantine, my wife, Rachel, and I wanted to learn cribbage, but rather than
buy a board we decided to make one. Now, the cribbage boards have become a regular seller online.
Best piece of advice you ever received? In an interview on the podcast series “How I Built This” Jim Koch, founder of Boston Brewing and Samuel Adams talked about when he first started brewing beer his
family and friends told him they didn’t think there was a market for a micro-brewery among the big US beer brands. His advice was to make what you like, not what you think others will like. I always come back to this idea
when wondering if people will like what I create.
Describe your studio. When we first moved into our current home we thought we’d be able to build our dream studio, but property and finance issues left us feeling pretty hopeless about our situation. We finally
decided to clean up the dirty old workshop on the property and put up a shed for our kiln. The 12×8 workshop is small but somehow we’ve managed to fit a potter’s wheel, slab roller, cement-board work table,
and extruder in there. The real key to success in a small space is an easy-to-mop floor and lots and lots of shelves!
Best thing about your studio? Our last two studios were connected to our house and I was always concerned about dust and kiln fumes. I’m very grateful to be able to make and fire pots outside of the living space
now. I also love that we are able to make all our work from home, that Rachel doesn’t have to leave the home and our two girls to make a living.
Describe your typical studio production. Since we have two young children at home, I take care of them while Rachel is throwing and decorating. During Rachel’s production weeks I usually get out into the studio
for a few afternoons to make handbuilt planters and cribbage boards. Sometimes Rachel decorates some of my handbuilt pieces and I carve trail designs on some of the pieces she makes. After Rachel and I have made a few weeks of
work, I’ll spend a week glazing, firing, photographing, and listing our pieces online for sale.
To read more about Jamin Bultman’s forming process, in the article "Handbuilt Candle Sconce."
Rachel Bultman
Clay Body: Miller Clay’s 16 Porcelain
Firing temperature: Cone 6
Atmosphere: Oxidation
Surface treatment: Combining painting and carved texture
Forming Method: Wheel throwing
Favorite tools in your toolbox: DiamondCore V-carving tool and a cheap, soft-bristle paintbrush that holds a lot of underglaze.
Describe the first piece you made in clay that you thought had potential/ felt like your own style. It was a little mug that was glazed with a light blue-green glaze on the interior, and on the exterior I painted
an intricate design of a stag in black slip. My first art medium was painting; my father is a painter and I grew up practicing and loving it. I discovered ceramics while pursuing a painting education and it wasn’t until
I realized I could combine the two art forms that I really fell in love with ceramics. My style has evolved a lot over the years but I remember when I made that stag mug I really felt like I had created something that represented
my love for painting in a functional way.
What are you inspired by? I get almost all my inspiration from plants and nature. The beauty found in nature is so endless, it’s a bottomless well of ideas. And I love bringing the natural world onto pieces
that live inside the home.
Who are your mentors? My greatest mentor in ceramics was Ruby Haigh. I worked in her studio for a year and learned from her at the beginning of my ceramics career. But my father, Daniel Coe, has been a lifelong
mentor for me as an artist. I grew up watching him paint beautiful landscapes, he’s the reason I spent my whole life pursuing art and he encouraged me and taught me all along the way.
Favorite piece in your ceramic collection? I have a tall mug with a carved raccoon design on the outside made by Tara of Pitch Pine Pottery. I use it about every other morning and I love it.
Best piece of advice you ever received? I can’t remember where this is from, but I heard once that you shouldn’t build your life around your business but to build a business that supports the life you
want. I love that advice and we always try to approach our business that way.
Best advice you can give to other potters? Explore other art forms! I’ve found that trying out other mediums in my spare time always brings new inspiration to my pottery work and keeps me from getting burnt
out.
Best thing about your studio? The best thing about my studio is that it’s right outside my front door and I can walk into my house and hug my family any time during my day.
Wish list for your studio? I’d love to have more space, a large work table with room around it and a separate area to glaze in. I also dream of a new pugmill, ours is quite old and used, it does the job but
just barely! But, right now what I want the most is a sink, I currently do all my cleaning up in buckets.
Describe your typical studio production. My process is usually a week-long cycle. I typically throw all my pieces and make handles on Monday, the next day I spend half of the day trimming bottoms, the other half
attaching handles, and I spend the rest of the week on surface design.
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Jamin Bultman
Clay Body: Miller Clay’s 16 Porcelain and Highwater Clay’s Speckled Brownstone
Firing temperature: Cone 5–6
Atmosphere: Oxidation
Surface treatment: Carved textures and contrasting surfaces
Forming Method: Handbuilding
Favorite tools in your toolbox: It’s a tie between a woodworking speed square for cutting handbuilt parts and Mudtools’ Mudcutter for clean up and cutting organic edges on planters.
Website and online shop: rbdpottery.com
Social media: Instagram @rbdpottery
Describe the first piece you made in clay that felt like your own style. I had made a few small handbuilt planters and platters but it wasn’t until we got a slab roller and I was able to make large pieces that I really found my style. The first piece I made with the slab roller was a large pinched, textured porcelain planter with sand-dune inspired slip application and gold luster accents. I mixed my own slip with a pink manganese alumina mason stain and magnetite sand (a form of iron oxide) I had gathered on the shores of Lake Michigan. After firing the piece I knew my inspiration had made its way onto the planter and I better understood how to translate the feelings of a place to a piece of art and felt like it was my own.
What is your process for finding/designing new forms? I love creating practical, functional pieces that fill a need I find in the home and that work well with surface design. I started by creating planters for our many houseplants and succulents, and have since made jars, match holders, coffee filter holders, book ends, lamp shades, and candle sconces. During COVID quarantine, my wife, Rachel, and I wanted to learn cribbage, but rather than buy a board we decided to make one. Now, the cribbage boards have become a regular seller online.
Best piece of advice you ever received? In an interview on the podcast series “How I Built This” Jim Koch, founder of Boston Brewing and Samuel Adams talked about when he first started brewing beer his family and friends told him they didn’t think there was a market for a micro-brewery among the big US beer brands. His advice was to make what you like, not what you think others will like. I always come back to this idea when wondering if people will like what I create.
Describe your studio. When we first moved into our current home we thought we’d be able to build our dream studio, but property and finance issues left us feeling pretty hopeless about our situation. We finally decided to clean up the dirty old workshop on the property and put up a shed for our kiln. The 12×8 workshop is small but somehow we’ve managed to fit a potter’s wheel, slab roller, cement-board work table, and extruder in there. The real key to success in a small space is an easy-to-mop floor and lots and lots of shelves!
Best thing about your studio? Our last two studios were connected to our house and I was always concerned about dust and kiln fumes. I’m very grateful to be able to make and fire pots outside of the living space now. I also love that we are able to make all our work from home, that Rachel doesn’t have to leave the home and our two girls to make a living.
Describe your typical studio production. Since we have two young children at home, I take care of them while Rachel is throwing and decorating. During Rachel’s production weeks I usually get out into the studio for a few afternoons to make handbuilt planters and cribbage boards. Sometimes Rachel decorates some of my handbuilt pieces and I carve trail designs on some of the pieces she makes. After Rachel and I have made a few weeks of work, I’ll spend a week glazing, firing, photographing, and listing our pieces online for sale.
To read more about Jamin Bultman’s forming process, in the article "Handbuilt Candle Sconce."
Rachel Bultman
Clay Body: Miller Clay’s 16 Porcelain
Firing temperature: Cone 6
Atmosphere: Oxidation
Surface treatment: Combining painting and carved texture
Forming Method: Wheel throwing
Favorite tools in your toolbox: DiamondCore V-carving tool and a cheap, soft-bristle paintbrush that holds a lot of underglaze.
Website and online shop: rbdpottery.com
Social media: Instagram @rbdpottery
Describe the first piece you made in clay that you thought had potential/ felt like your own style. It was a little mug that was glazed with a light blue-green glaze on the interior, and on the exterior I painted an intricate design of a stag in black slip. My first art medium was painting; my father is a painter and I grew up practicing and loving it. I discovered ceramics while pursuing a painting education and it wasn’t until I realized I could combine the two art forms that I really fell in love with ceramics. My style has evolved a lot over the years but I remember when I made that stag mug I really felt like I had created something that represented my love for painting in a functional way.
What are you inspired by? I get almost all my inspiration from plants and nature. The beauty found in nature is so endless, it’s a bottomless well of ideas. And I love bringing the natural world onto pieces that live inside the home.
Who are your mentors? My greatest mentor in ceramics was Ruby Haigh. I worked in her studio for a year and learned from her at the beginning of my ceramics career. But my father, Daniel Coe, has been a lifelong mentor for me as an artist. I grew up watching him paint beautiful landscapes, he’s the reason I spent my whole life pursuing art and he encouraged me and taught me all along the way.
Favorite piece in your ceramic collection? I have a tall mug with a carved raccoon design on the outside made by Tara of Pitch Pine Pottery. I use it about every other morning and I love it.
Best piece of advice you ever received? I can’t remember where this is from, but I heard once that you shouldn’t build your life around your business but to build a business that supports the life you want. I love that advice and we always try to approach our business that way.
Best advice you can give to other potters? Explore other art forms! I’ve found that trying out other mediums in my spare time always brings new inspiration to my pottery work and keeps me from getting burnt out.
Best thing about your studio? The best thing about my studio is that it’s right outside my front door and I can walk into my house and hug my family any time during my day.
Wish list for your studio? I’d love to have more space, a large work table with room around it and a separate area to glaze in. I also dream of a new pugmill, ours is quite old and used, it does the job but just barely! But, right now what I want the most is a sink, I currently do all my cleaning up in buckets.
Describe your typical studio production. My process is usually a week-long cycle. I typically throw all my pieces and make handles on Monday, the next day I spend half of the day trimming bottoms, the other half attaching handles, and I spend the rest of the week on surface design.
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