Cleland Pottery

I have always been creative, from my earliest childhood memories. I fell in love with clay when I was fourteen years old. Until that time I expected I would become an illustrator or painter. And so I suppose it was only natural that as I developed as a potter I began to paint on the raw clay. I love animals and natural things and draw inspiration from nature. I use a fine stoneware clay and throw it like porcelain - very smooth and thrown thin. The natural color of the clay body is a perfect canvas for the engobes and stains I use for painting. I decorate the pot when it is “leather hard”, and incise before it dries to add greater detail and depth to the design - it truly becomes part of the pot in the final firing. I prefer to create functional pottery that is a joy to use every day. y high fired stoneware is formed by hand on the potter's wheel in the age-old tradition of the potter. It is then trimmed and dried leather-hard before I decorate with freehand drawings using oxides or colored clay slips.

My drawings are a mix of nature, wildlife, and fantasy creatures, and allow me to combine two of my favorite art forms - two dimensional drawing and three dimensional clay sculpture. The first firing, to the bisque stage, allows the pot to be handled for glazing, and produces a porous surface so that the glazes and stains will form a bond with the clay when they are applied. The final kiln firing, which exceeds 2000 F, matures the clay to the stoneware stage. All of my glaze formulations are lead free, and every pot is oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe. I intend for my pottery to be useful, as well as a joy to look at and touch. Each piece is a unique and individual creation.