Wood + Soda Firing

Interview with Ceramicist
Julie Naster

By Anne Heart

Anne Heart: Most of your adult career was working as a chemical engineer. Does chemistry connect to your work as a potter? 

Julie Naster: Pottery, for me, is really more about getting to know the process. I use a wood and soda firing technique, which is a process that always comes out different than I think. 

Anne: I imagine there is quite a dance between controlling the firing process as much as you can and letting go of expecting a specific result. Part of the magic of your technique is the part that you are not in control of, right?

Julie: Yeah, it's kind of a spiritual practice - really refining the process but letting go at the same time. Sometimes things come out of the kiln and I’m disappointed the result isn’t what I was trying to do at all. But then I look closer and something in the work starts to draw me in that I didn’t see before.

Anne: What I really enjoy about your work is how the final product still looks like it came from the earth and how the process of the work being fired is evident.

Julie: Yeah, it’s funny. I guess I really like an earthy feel. I live in a rammed earth house, which is basically a big clay pot and work with earth all the time. I like how my finished work shows my process of firing. I can see the directionality of the wood smoke and soda; the history of the making and firing is evident in the final product.

Anne: How does your work connect to the community surrounding you? 

Julie: I am often making things for neighbors and I get excited about specialized pottery. Like the butter crocks I make. If I meet someone at a show who needs something specific or just likes their mug a certain size, I start thinking about how to make that thing... even if I don’t ever see them again. I like making work customized to the needs of individual people.

Anne: What’s your vision for the future of art?

Julie: I hope everyone gets to drink out of and eat from really beautiful pottery. There's so much mass produced dining ware out there that has nothing unique or beautiful about it. I guess I just think that things that are hand made are better.