 About
the Potters, Maureen Mills and Steven Zoldak...
We have been creating hand thrown stoneware for over 16 years each.
Steve received his BFA from Arkansas state University in Ceramics
and Graphics in 1986 and has continued to make pottery ever since.
Maureen completed an MFA in Ceramics and Drawing in 1987 at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln after completing a BA in Chemistry
at Knox College in Galesburg, IL.
We moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1987 where we operate an
open studio on the grounds of Strawbery Banke Museum. Museum visitors
as well as the public are welcome to come visit and watch a demonstration
or make a purchase. (If you do not want to visit the museum but
only wish to see the pottery, ask at the ticket booth and they will
give you a Craft Pass to come into our shop.)
Our work is created with the utmost sensitivity to quality as well
as function and aesthetic. As such, we were accepted in 1989 as
juried members of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, one of
the oldest craft organizations in the country.
About the Pottery...
All our pottery is decorated using a variety of traditional and
contemporary techniques. Maureen's expertise is in the traditional
method of slip trailing, which entails drawing freehand with thin
colored clay onto a moist pot using a bottle with a small nozzle or
a brush. The pattern that is created has a slightly raised texture
and invokes the flavor of the 'Old World' with a contemporary
interpretation. Maureen's wax resist work is similarly styled, but
the patterns are drawn on using brushes dipped in hot wax.
Steve has used his expertise in carved and pierced work to develop
some stunning one-of-a-kind pieces. They are extraordinarily labor
intensive, but we will feature work as it becomes available. Every
piece is more beautiful than the last! He has also developed a line
of functional work which is decorated using wooden stamps (hand
carved by Steve) and pressed into the clay while moist, creating an
embossed effect.
The glazes used on our work are mixed in our own workshop and are
non-toxic. Once fired to a temperature of 2350°f in our kiln. Fired
with natural gas, the effects achieved by this reduction firing are
visible on pots, yielding some subtle variations that depend on
placement in the kiln as well as application of the glaze and the
firing time. This unique character of each piece is a testament to
the hand made process.
Please enjoy our site and feel free to contact us with any questions
or comments.
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