I’ve been a potter for over 40 years.
My first kiln was a pile of sandstone and mud in the back yard of a duplex in Las Vegas. I progressed to firing with gas, oil, and wood, but currently work with electric kilns in my studio in Florida. My first wheel was made from a truck rim filled with concrete and a pipe, but recently I bought my first power wheel, after 40 years of using a kick wheel exclusively. Progress!
My work isn’t limited to pipes; I make lots of other stuff, which you can see in my Etsy shop.
But I have to admit that as an artist I find making pipes to be very exciting. There are only a few studio potters making pipes by hand to a high standard. As a consequence, almost every pipe I make has rarely (if ever) been made before. This is true despite the thousands of years folks have been making pipes from clay. As an example, the one-piece effigy water pipes I make are, as far as I can tell, without any counterparts in modern art or ancient craft. This is, if you’ll forgive the pun, heady stuff for an artist. Artists are happiest breaking new trails, and there are very few modern footprints on this one.
I have to get back to work, but I’ll be reporting regularly on my progress in this ancient art form.
Thanks for visiting!
Ray Aldridge