General Information

Our Pottery:

All of our pottery pieces are fired to Cone 6 (2260 F) thus making them food and dishwasher safe.

Although many of the pieces displayed on our site are similar, no two are exactly alike. This is because each piece is individually hand thrown or hand built. A glossary of pottery terms explaining hand thrown and hand built (among other terms) is included in this section of the website.

The length of time it takes to make a piece of pottery varies based on size, type of pottery, glazes used, decorations, and sometimes the weather. Yes, weather. To be fired, pottery must be bone dry and atmospheric humidity alone can increase drying time significantly.

Also, we do not fire pottery every day. We only fire pottery when we have a full kiln load because it is costly firing a kiln.

 Glossary of Pottery Terms

In this section we will explain the pottery terms that will be used throughout our website. We’ll try to get them all, but being human, we may miss one or two. If we do, just send us an email and we’ll add it to this section. We’ll even try to keep it in alphabetical order.

1. Agateware - This is when two or more different colors are wedged up and thrown together.

2. Break - This is when a glaze changes color during firing. Usually this happens when the glaze goes across an edge.

3. Colors - When we list a piece as being “White with Aqua Ice”, it means that the piece was first dipped in a one color of glaze and then dipped in a different glaze on top of the first glaze. The second glaze may crawl or not but it does lead to some nice effects. When we say that a piece is Red/Blue it means that the piece has been dipped in two separate glazes but not on top of each other.

4. Crawling - This is when a glaze moves or runs on a piece during the firing process. It can create some neat effects.

5. Firing - The process of baking a dry clay pot to the point of crystallization in order to harden the clay and make it waterproof. Firing takes place in two stages. The first is the bisque stage and the second is the glaze stage.

6. Glazing - The process of coating a bisqued piece of pottery in a compound of powdered glass and chemicals. This is done in order to add color(s) to the piece and cover the fired clay in a smooth, hard non-porous coat to protect the piece.

7. Hand Built - The process of making an object out of preshaped clay (flat sheet, flat ribbon, round coil etc.). It’s a little like assembling a ginger bread house from pieces of ginger bread.

8. Hand Thrown - The process of taking a lump of clay and shaping it on a potter’s wheel to whatever the potter has in mind. Could be a bowl, a cup, a vase or a bottle to hold any stray Djinns (genies).

9. Press Platter - A platter formed by placing a slab of clay on a foam backing and then pressing down in the center with a homemade form. This creates some interesting edges and effects.

10. Slip - Clay that has been diluted with water to the point that it can be painted or sprayed onto a piece. It is also used as a glue when joining two pieces of clay together, such as a handle to a cup.

11. Under Glaze - This is a pigment that may be painted or sprayed onto a piece for the purpose of decoration, usually after it has been bisqued.

12. Wedging - The process of preparing clay for throwing or hand building. Clay is folded and compressed (similar to kneading bread dough) until all of the air is forced out of the clay. This is necessary to prevent the piece form exploding when it is being fired.

 Shipping

We will endeavor to ship each order no later than the next business day. Life being what it is, we may not be able to achieve this goal. For example, if we are at a multi-day dog show, any ordered items will be shipped when we return home.

All orders will be shipped with a tracking number and will be insured. When a piece is shipped, we will send the tracking number to your email or other contact point specified by you.

Shipping is based on weight and size of the box and shipping to US addresses only via UPS as well as the United States Postal Service (USPS). For other carriers and international orders, send us an email to determine shipping rates.

 Taxes

Currently the only sales taxes we will be collecting are for orders inside the state of Oklahoma where we are based. Sales taxes outside the state of OK are not collected until the threshold (nexus) of orders for the individual state is reached. Usually this is either based on the number of items being sold and shipped to the state or the total monetary value of items sold into the state. Confusing isn’t it. We hope our accountants can keep us out of trouble.

 Custom Orders

In the world of hand thrown/ built pottery, custom orders are difficult, not impossible just difficult. ANY custom orders must be discussed with and priced by the potter directly via email or phone. An up-front, non-refundable deposit of 50% of the agreed upon price will be charged for custom orders. This is in part due to the length of time it takes to make a piece of pottery, the size of the piece, the decorations required and the complexity of the piece. Please Note, it is not possible to receive and fill a custom order in a short period of time as it takes a minimum of four weeks and probably much longer. The reason for the “much longer” time frame is that we do not fire a single individual piece. It costs a fair amount to fire a kiln twice (bisque and then glaze), therefore we wait until we have a kiln full before firing. If you absolutely must have a piece within a month, and are willing to pay for firing an individual piece, then it is possible. If we already have pieces that need to be fired, then a firing charge will not be necessary.