POTTERY

Christy Wetzig is a potter working in the Frederic area, where she maintains a household including one husband, two young children, four ducks, a garden, an orchard and a newly-built wood-fueled kiln. She earned a B.A. in art and writing from Bethel College in 2001 and soon after established a clay studio in her home. Her pots are inspired by natural forms; they are made with the belief that life is richer and more human when it is accompanied by handmade vessels, crafted for the eye and the hand. She has brought her pots to show and sell at galleries, street fairs, and farmer’s markets throughout the upper Midwest.

Christy is excited to explore the effects of the wood ash, which, when it melts onto the porcelain pots, yields subtle flesh tones and reveals the path of the flame through the kiln. Stoking a kiln with wood completes the circle of hand-made pots, which are then hand-fired, and, hopefully, used by another hand.  She hopes her pots bring richness, grace, and joy to everyday life.

Featured Artist September 2023

To help our customers understand more about the artists behind the work, we asked Christy a few questions:

What keeps drawing you to clay?  

I'm still learning both how to fire the pots in my wood kiln and how to tailor the firing, the glazes, and slips to my liking. Every firing I learn something new and have more ideas for surfaces in the next firing. Also, choosing to limit myself to the arena of functional clay keeps inspiring me with new ways to solve the old problems of usefulness.

What are you most excited about making?

Right now, I'm especially enjoying making multiple-chambered bowls whose form mimics natural shapes like fish eggs or human cells. They're super fun to make, and beautiful too, but I hope they move far enough away from their original inspiration that they don't gross people out!

If you had to choose another art medium to work in, what would it be?

If I had to choose another art medium it would likely be intaglio (printmaking). Sometimes I use similar techniques to decorate my pots and I'm always disappointed that they don't turn out looking more like prints!