Celtic Pottery

Elegant Designs & Unique Glazes About Our Pottery

Gorgeous crystals are grown inside the glaze during a complicated firing schedule. The entire 10-step process can take up to 30 hours for a single piece. Even with great care the failure rate is high. Therefore only a few potters have accepted the challenges of crystalline pottery.

Crystal glazes require an intricate long cooling schedule. The zinc based glazes run off the pot and need special containers to collect the melted glaze. It is impossible to repeat the design on any piece; therefore each pot is very unique. The crystals actually form in the glaze in a chemical reaction during cooling and grow from small nuclei created during the melting process when silica and zinc come together to form zinc-silicate.

The crystal glazed ware is fired to approximately 2340℉, and then held in the kiln for cooling between 2000℉ and 1830℉ for 3 to 5 hours depending on the glaze. When finished, the piece is removed with a chisel and mallet from its base and grinded smooth. Each piece is created using high fire fine porcelain.

Owner & Artisan Janet Gaddy

Janet Gaddy is a former professor at Greensboro College where she served as the coordinator of Art Education as well as an instructor of Ceramics, Women's Art History, Design, and Computer Graphics. She graduated with an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction and a BA in Art at age 18 from Averett University, where she studied under the instruction of renowned artist Maude Gatewood.

She began her teaching career at Chatham Hall, a private girl's preparatory school in Virginia. For 30 years she taught students from kindergarten to college while continually practicing her art, which extends from graphic art to ceramics and sculpture. While teaching at Greensboro College, she was selected for the Virginia Clarke Gray award which is awarded for excellence in teaching, civility and concern for students and colleagues, commitment to value-centered education, and service to students.

In the summer of 2006 she participated in a study abroad program with The University of Georgia in Cortona, Italy where her concentration was in Ceramics and Sculpture. After returning she earned her Master Pottery Certification in North Carolina.

Owner & Artisan Tim Moran

Timothy Moran is a graduate of the University of Georgia. Upon graduation he pursued a career in broadcasting, becoming the owner-operator of a small market chain of radio and TV stations. His introduction to pottery came eighteen years ago as a form of therapy after his life-changing triple bypass surgery and early retirement.

For the first two years, pottery was a growing interest and an occasional past time, but for the past sixteen years it has become a full-time passion. Earning a Master Potter Certification in North Carolina, Tim has become a skillful potter developing a unique and creative style influenced by his life-long collection of antique European art glass.

In 2011 Tim's ring-gong vase was featured in the Lark book 500 Raku. He has studied under many of the well-known Masters, including Cynthia Bringle, Stephen Hill, John Britt, Bill Van Guilder, Ben Owen, and Bill Powell. He patterns many of his works after British Master Potter Robin Hopper.

Raku Artisan Jeremy Lea

Jeremy graduated in 2003 from the New England Institute of Art. Over the last several years he has begun working to marry his love of drawing and painting with the clay. The techniques that he has developed over the years are unique, using a multistep media process that impresses his original images onto clay. His pieces vary in surface treatment from traditional glazes, oxides, colored slips, and his treatment of choice: Raku.

Raku is the 400-year-old Japanese firing process that uses both fire and smoke to create unique patterns and colors. When sealed in a reduction chamber, various metals are pulled to the surface of the glaze to create intricate blends of color. His work has been featured in the book 500 Raku, which highlights the best contemporary work in Raku.