These wares are made of a blend of Massachusetts clay mixed with other clays, powdered glass and quartz. You, as a customer, demand consistency and my supplier will test, evaluate and produce a clay that is always suitable for my purposes. Old potteries (and some potters still do) would dig “backyard clay”; coarse clays having 20% sand are for brick-making and smooth clays having less than 10% sand are for potters. I find that at ten percent it is too coarse and abrasive.
The shaped “greenware” pots and bricks have to be fired in the kiln. The heating dries out the clay and begins a melting process of the clay in the kiln. After heating the clay to 850 d.  F,  the kiln interior shows a red heat glow slightly hardening the  pots which would chip very easily when cooled. Continued heating to a bright orange heat glow increases the melt of the ceramic, so when cooled, the pots have a ring to them when struck. If fired into the yellow, hotter heat of stoneware, my earthenware would begin to slump and distort in the kiln. You literally could melt the clay into a puddle of glass if heated high enough.
Red clays differ in the raw and the fired colors. The higher the temperature results in more oxidation of the iron in the clay. Some clays that initially turn orange will become a deeper red-orange or red color and darken into chocolate brown to black as the temperature increases in the kiln. If the clay contains limestone, the color would pale out and turn a salmon-pink color. Different clays are fired at different temperatures that are called the earthenware range, stoneware range and porcelain, increasing from 1500 degrees Fahrenheit to 2500 degrees Fahrenheit.
White clays are used to decorate my Slipwares and powdered metals color the slip. The golden slip over the red clay is an ancient technique.  Some potters today color the white slip with a yellow stain and use a clear glaze to simulate the effect of a lead-glaze on the slip. It was through many experiments that I have succeeded in making a lead-free glaze that turns the white slip yellow with a glaze that has differing shades of amber over the pot’s surface. This is how the old pots look. I won’t use any lead-bearing frits) or any toxic materials.
New Englanders potters were more simplistic with their abstract or daubed patterns. Red and Gold Marbling was done in  New York. Gold on Black slip items were excavated in Boston during the Big Dig, but were brought over from England. Some potteries decorated with black on gold slip. Spangles and other streaking of colors were found in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Feather pattern is based on the plate design made famous in Norwalk Connecticut in the 1820’s. The Dot and Squiggles is another plate design found from Pennsylvania into the Northeast. Pennsylvania potters were elaborate with their fanciful  patterns. Gariné of  Kulina Folk Art specializes in sgraffito and polychrome plates, platters and thrown wares, which  honors the tradition of  these potters.
So, I am making for you what I believe is pottery honest in its historical heritage and made to be safe. Even my antiquing on the bare areas of the pots and plates is a made of food-contact safe, natural ingredients. This surface may darken with oven use.
The Spangled wares are not suitable for the microwave and I have been told that occasionally my other wares have become hot in a microwave oven. You should not remove any of my wares from the refrigerator and place them in a hot oven. Never place them directly on any heat source as they should never touch a hot surface but only be exposed to the hot air in the oven. Don’t put them on a wood-stove, electric coil, gas burner, hot coals or fire.
Redware is porous. If you plan on using it as a vase, a plastic liner should be used to hold the water. Moisture forming between the bottom of the pot and the table will cause ring damage to the furniture.
We thank you for supporting our work. It is a privilege to make it for you.
Rick Hamelin of Pied Potter Hamelin & Gariné Arakelian of Kulina Folk Art