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Denise Joyal | Episode 955

Kilnjoy Ceramics is owned and operated by Denise Joyal. Denise is the adjunct Professor of Ceramics at Wilson College and a graduate of Hood College with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Ceramic Arts. Like sunlight passing over the landscape, fire and soda vapor flow across the wares of Denise’s work adding warm colors and permanently illuminating the vessels’ surfaces.

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What does it take to become a good wood-fire potter?

Well, dedication. You don’t need to own a kiln. One thing I learned is you can look into community wood-firings to get in to the space. That can be a good entry to wood-firing without needing to be the one to have to do everything.

Did being around the other wood-fire potters help you develop your own voice and style as a maker?

Absolutely. I feel that being around a community of people who share some similar aesthetic even though we all differ in some way, we all have some similarities, some things that we are looking for from the firing, can be really helpful to inform your work. Also I think a lot of us are interested in spending time with a community of people who have a  shared interest.

How often do you try to have a wood-firing going on at your place?

So my goal would probably be to fire three times a year. I think I am only going to squeak in two this year but we’ll see. It really depends on how much I get done but I am probably going to do at least one a year as a workshop.

How do you determine who is going to fire with you and have a place in the kiln?

So typically I would invite some people who I would like to spend time with, since you are going to be spending time with those folks. Additionally someone who has some experience, but I have two students who are going to be involved in my next firing and that is more of a mentoring thing. There’s a balance there.

When you look at your work do you feel like it is making a statement?

Well there are kind of two considerations in my work, maybe three. There’s the forms themselves and then there’s the surface from the firing, the coloration that I achieve, and then a lot of my work also has Mishima inlaid drawing designs on them and so there are a couple of different layers there. I try not to get too deep in the imagery necessarily. I like flowers, there’s a lot of floral imagery, there’s some fish, there’s some frogs. Occasionally there are some statements but I am more interested in creating a vibrant surface with some decoration.

Do you see a retirement on the horizon?

I don’t. I think I just make pots until I can’t. You know, I fell in love with it in a very early time. And I just feel that as long as I can make pots, I just love it. It opens things up, I think it probably keeps me healthy and happy.

Are you using commercial clay or wild clay?

So I did mix a clay body for my thesis work to prove my theories. But ultimately I primarily use a few different commercial clay bodies for my work, just for ease of use. I don’t have a pug mill. At the end of the day mixing clay takes awhile.  It could all be a manual process and maybe for some people that’s great but my time in clay throughout the week is somewhat limited so I want to make the most of it.

Book

The Secret Life of Trees by Colin Tudge

Contact

kilnjoy.com

Instagram: @kilnjoy