PELHAM - "This is potters' heaven," said Francine T. Ozereko, referring to an area in Western Massachusetts that is home to a cluster of 36 clay artists who are the Asparagus Valley Potters Guild. The name of the group, founded in 1976 by Michael Cohen and six others, recalls the area's once famous crop.
"We're all pals doing the same thing," said Ozereko, who remained here after earning a master's degree in ceramics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1981.
Visitors can view their works next weekend during the 5th annual Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail Studio Tour and Sale. The self-guided tour features 10 members' studios tucked away on back roads and in historic villages from Northfield to Amherst. Over the weekend, the potters sell their work, demonstrate techniques, and encourage questions about their clays, wheels, glazes, and kilns.
"Five of us started the trail to let people know we're here. We want them to come and see what we do so there's more recognition for the work," said Ozereko. She and her husband, Frank, a UMass-Amherst ceramics professor, converted a two-car garage behind their home into a studio.
Ozereko creates playful birds and floral designs in black-on-white porcelain vases, mugs, trays, platters, wall pieces, and sculptures. She covers wheel-thrown or slab-rolled pieces with a clay slip, then carves it away, a process called sgraffito, to form each figure. In the electric kiln, the slip turns black, and the background stays white.
Cohen's studio is up the road from the Ozerekos. He has been here since 1973, yet it's his first time participating in the tour. His 2,000-square-foot studio accommodates all facets of pottery making. The 100-cubic-foot, gas-fired car kiln dominates the main room. "The kiln took three months to build," he said. "Its catenary arch is held up by gravity. Fired for 24 hours, it takes two days to cool down."
Twelve years ago Cohen switched from tableware to producing royal blue square tiles that function as hot plates and wall art. He hand-carves stamps for the tiles' center designs. Son Josh, who joined the enterprise a decade ago, added spoon rests and sponge holders to their line.
In North Amherst, Angela Fina throws porcelain casseroles, soup tureens, tableware, and vases in gorgeous glazes from her own formulas. "I never fire the kiln without a test glaze," she said on a visit to her basement studio. When Fina taught college ceramics she specialized in glaze chemistry. She built her gas-reduction kiln so she could stand in it and fashioned the door from light-weight space-age material so she could open it without help.
READER COMMENTS »
View reader comments » Comment on this story »