MICACEOUS CLAY COOKWARE
Pottery is one of the oldest human arts and people have been using clay cookware for millennia. All of the micaceous clay used in these pots is hand-dug with reverence and ceremony in northern New Mexico. The pottery I make is one iteration of a centuries-old tradition from this region. These vessels are hand-built using the coil and scrape technique and polished with a micaceous slip which gives them their distinctive sparkle and shine.
CRAFT & PROCESS
The relationship one forms with place and material is an intimate and essential part of craft. Up until very recently, all human craft was completely informed by local relationships. Potters learned from each other and their local clays how to make pottery. The same is true for the crafting of wood, fiber, metal, stone and others. One of the most profound losses most people have sustained through the industrialization, colonization and globalization of the modern world is a severing of the direct relationships with the places that sustain us. Our food, clothes, building materials, forms of transportation and almost every physical object we encounter has traveled a long way, through many strangers’ hands to reach us.
COOKING IN CLAY
Cooking in clay has been a staple of culinary traditions worldwide and remains an irreplaceable element of dishes in many cuisines. One of my goals as a potter is to reintroduce the magic of cooking in clay to modern kitchens. Micaceous clay cooking pots are durable, lightweight and excellent for both cooking and serving. The unique properties of mica offer excellent heat retention and allow these pots to withstand the thermal shock of direct heat. These earthenware vessels retain a memory for what they have held and will develop a rich patina with use. Micaceous cookware is safe for use in ovens, on gas or electric range tops and over open flames. For electric coil stoves, a heat diffuser is ideal, as it helps to regulate the temperature.
