Jason Braham

Salt Glazed and Wood-Fired Stoneware Pottery 

I established my studio in Radnorshire five years ago. My work is inspired by the traditions of salt glaze and slipware, which I combine in pots to be used. My salt kiln has a packing space of 24 cubic feet and is fired with a combination of wood and oil. There is no preliminary bisque firing, so decoration is applied as the pots are thrown or at leather hard stage. A firing takes up to twenty-four hours. Interior glazes are based on a combination of wood ash, clay and feldspar, while on the exteriors slips of various clays are transformed into glazes by the fluxing effect of sodium vapour as salt is thrown into the fireboxes in the later stages of the firing. The pots that please me most look as if they have always been here but at the same time look as fresh as if they have just been thrown. By spring 2012 I should complete the building of a 60 cubic feet Svres type wood-fired kiln for unsalted ware.