Ekta Chakraborty

Handmade stoneware is more durable than most people expect. A few simple habits will keep it looking right for years. Washing The question that comes up most often about handmade pottery is whether it's dishwasher safe. For well-fired stoneware — clay that has been taken to high temperature and fully vitrified — the answer is generally yes. The clay body itself is dense and non-porous, and won't absorb water or degrade with regular machine washing. That said, hand washing is kinder to the...

The price gap between a handmade ceramic bowl and a high-street one can be significant. This is an honest explanation of where that difference comes from. The material Matcha Bowls by Studio Ekta I work with stoneware — a dense, high-fired clay body that becomes vitrified in the kiln. It's durable, food-safe when properly glazed, and has a weight and warmth to it that other materials don't replicate. It's also not cheap. Good stoneware clay costs considerably per bag, and for studio potters...

Well - the title is a little misleading. The pottery process is not as straight as the below steps suggest, it involves a lot more! For a studio potter, it will include artistic decisions taken (or avoided or painfully mulled over), testing clay bodies and glazes made, fired, rejected, destroyed, screamed and wept over, wishing every piece going into the kiln "Good luck" and praying feverishly to the kiln Gods! But ignoring the artistry involved, or the science, the glaze chemistry in...