From Clay to Kitchen: The Full Journey of a Handmade Pottery Piece

Every mug, salt pig, and diffuser in the Natasha Swan Ceramics collection starts as a lump of raw clay. The journey from that lump to your shelf involves skill, patience, and a healthy respect for the kiln. Here's what actually happens.

1. Choosing and preparing the clay

Different clays suit different pieces. Stoneware is the workhorse of functional pottery: durable, food-safe, and beautiful when fired. Before throwing begins, the clay is wedged — a process of kneading that removes air bubbles and creates an even consistency throughout. An air bubble in the clay can cause a piece to crack or even explode in the kiln.

2. Throwing on the wheel

This is the meditative heart of the process. A centred lump of clay is opened with the thumbs and pulled upward into a form — a cylinder, a bowl, a mug. Each piece takes minutes to throw, but years of practice to throw well. Centring alone — getting the clay perfectly balanced on the spinning wheel — is a skill that takes months to develop.

3. Trimming and refining

Once the piece has dried to a leather-hard state (firm but not fully dry), it's returned to the wheel for trimming. A loop tool removes excess clay from the base and refines the foot ring — the ring of clay the piece sits on. This is also when handles are attached to mugs.

4. Drying slowly

Rushing this stage causes cracking. Pieces dry for days, sometimes weeks, depending on their thickness and the humidity in the studio. Northern Ireland has plenty of humidity, which actually helps — slower drying means fewer cracks.

5. Bisque firing

The first kiln firing takes the piece to around 1000°C. This burns off any remaining organic matter and hardens the clay into bisqueware — porous, chalky, and ready to accept glaze. At this stage, the piece is fragile and must be handled carefully.

6. Glazing

Glaze is applied by dipping, pouring, or brushing — sometimes a combination of all three. This is where colour and texture decisions are made. Glaze chemistry is its own science: the same glaze can look completely different depending on the firing temperature, the clay body beneath it, and how thickly it's applied.

7. Glaze firing

The second firing reaches up to 1280°C for stoneware. At this temperature, the glaze melts into glass and the clay body vitrifies — becoming dense, waterproof, and food-safe. The kiln takes many hours to reach temperature and many more to cool down safely. Opening a kiln is always a moment of anticipation.

8. Inspection and finishing

Every piece is checked carefully. Seconds — pieces with minor imperfections that don't affect function — are sold at a discount. Anything that doesn't meet the standard doesn't leave the studio. The pieces that do make it through are the ones you'll find in the collection: our Salt Pig, our Meadow Mug, and everything else made with the same care from start to finish.

Now that you know what goes into each piece — shop the collection and find yours.