About Marianne Marie Pottery Artist

 Yes, everything is handmade. I either wheel throw my work, use hand-building techniques and have recently added mold making as well. 

 Not at this time as I currently work out of my home. However, if you are local and need to complete a senior project, I am willing to mentor as long as you pay for your own supplies.  

 No, however, there are a couple of places around town that are public and offer these services.

From start to finish and to complete enough work to fill a kiln it takes about a month. First, I throw on wheel or hand-build. This is usually done within a couple of days depending on how complicated the piece is. The items need to dry overnight to a leather-hard consistency to trim pieces or clean up any hand-built piece. Next, they must dry completely, which with humidity around here usually takes a week to two weeks depending on how large the piece is. This is a very important step that if rushed will result in pieces exploding in the kiln. Next, these pieces are bisque fired which puts them into a stoneware state and takes twelve hours to fire and another day to cool enough to unload the kiln. I then apply glazes, depending on how intricate the design this can take up to a few days to complete everything bisque fired. Then, the pieces are glaze fired at a higher temp taking another thirteen hours to fire and another twenty-four hours to cool. If a piece has gold on It, it is fired an additional 8 hours and cooled another day to cool. As you can see, there are many steps involved in this art-making process. 

 All of my pieces are made of low-fired to mid-fired stoneware. It is dishwasher, microwave, and oven-safe. Although, handwashing items is highly recommended to avoid chipping. The bottoms of most pieces are not glazed to avoid sticking to the kiln shelf, because of this, soaking in dishwater is not recommended. Clay is a highly conductive material, so please use caution when removing it from the oven or microwave, as it will be very hot to the touch. Avoid thermal shock (going from the refrigerator to a hot oven) as this will cause the piece to crack (much like glass). If you use the piece in the oven, place the piece in there during pre-heat as to gradually raise the heat on the piece.

 Yes, unless otherwise stated, I typically use food-safe materials on all of my pieces. If the piece is listed as “decorative only” it is due to the type of glaze used, the glass used, or a texturized piece that would not allow for proper cleaning and lead to food-borne illness. For this reason, I clearly label any piece that would cause any such issue. 

 I am unable to repair your pottery. Repairing pottery is a very different skill set outside of what I do.

 I do not have a shop in which customers can visit. However, all of my current products are available online at www.mariannemariepottery.com I will also post any upcoming shows or in-person opportunities at this site. 

 Yes, these are my prices. No, I will not adjust my price. If you do not like the price, you are not required to purchase my work. I am sorry for any inconvenience, but as you can see from the above-outlined process, I put in a lot of work for each and every piece I make. I do however have many sales opportunities which are listed on Facebook and Instagram.