An unpredictable art
Pariseau creates distinctive, wood-fired pottery
By Amy Kyllo
STAFF WRITER
LANESBORO — For Sue Pariseau, it is her wood-fired kiln named Gertie that creates the distinctive effects on her pottery. Her unpredictable, earthy-toned, one-of-a-kind creations include the rare “kiln booger” and fire-induced, colored-changed clay and glaze.
“(Each piece) tells the story,” Pariseau said. “It shows the path of that fire going through the kiln.”
Pariseau has been doing pottery since about 1999 when she took her first community ed class. Her craft has grown from participating in community studios to making pottery inside a pink foam insulation box with a space heater, and now to her full-time rural Lanesboro studio of today.
Most of Pariseau’s pieces are utilitarian such as mugs, bowls and trays, but she also makes vases, trinket holders, pendants and decor.
“Pottery is different,” Pariseau said. “It doesn’t just hang on your wall where you can look at it, but it’s something that you can use and experience.”
Regular utilization of her pieces is important to her.
“My hope is that (customers) do use it — that you have your hands on it, and that it brings a greater joy to whatever that experience is,” Pariseau said.
What makes Pariseau’s pottery different is the use of a wood-fired kiln. The fire travels through the kiln and pulls out oxygen, which changes the color of the clay and applied glaze and deposits an additional partial glass glaze of shiny ash. This means each piece shows through its color and texture which side was closest to the fire.
Pariseau cannot predict how a piece will look. This is different from pottery fired in gas or electric kilns, which deliver consistent pieces that look exactly the same.
“It’s a different aesthetic,” Pariseau said. “It’s very earthy. Most of it is brown in some way.”
With a wood-fired kiln, a few pieces also get what she calls “kiln boogers.” These are drops of ash from a shelf above that melts and hardens on a piece. She said she likes these markings — though, for some people, they might remind them of bird poop.
“I know what it is, I know how it got there,” Pariseau said. “I know that it’s not that common, that it’s more of a rarity.”
Built specifically for her by a friend, Pariseau’s wood-fired kiln holds about 150-175 regular-sized pieces plus countless small trinkets.
Pariseau fires four times a year, twice in the spring and twice in the fall. Each firing is a week-long process.
Pariseau spends the months leading up to a firing making pieces. She uses throwing, slab work and thrown and altered techniques. Her pieces are bisque-fired in a top-load electric kiln. Before final firing, she spends a week or more glazing. She always has more pieces glazed than space in the kiln. Sometimes, a piece can sit for a year or more before final firing.
Once the kiln is started, it must be fed wood for 24 hours. Initially, the kiln needs an armload of wood every 15 minutes, but, by the end of the time, it must be fed every five minutes. Pariseau takes the first 16-hour shift. Then, her husband, Kevin, takes a four-hour shift before she comes back for the final hours.
After heating to 2,350 degrees, the kiln takes five days to cool down for unpacking.
Pariseau makes a lot of mugs. She said these are good surfaces for decorating and an entry point for those who have not owned handmade items before.
For Pariseau, a good mug for her morning coffee routine is important.
“It’s about being quiet and feeling the warmth of the mug and just collecting my thoughts for the day,” Pariseau said. “Having a mug that also feels good in my hand really just makes it that much better.”
Pariseau encourages customers to look beyond the aesthetic of the mug to its tactile features.
“How does this one feel in your hand?” she said. “Does this feel like something you want to use every day? … If it doesn’t, don’t buy it.”
Pariseau avoids doing custom work, although she will occasionally do it, especially for charitable organizations.
“There’s a weird sense of pressure that no longer makes it feel like a fun art-y career,” Pariseau said.
Pariseau sells her products on her online shop, which she restocks quarterly. She also has her work in several local galleries and sells her pieces at her four rural studio events each year.
Pariseau helps coordinate the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour and also participates in the Lanesboro Area Arts Trail.
“When (guests) are here, they get to see the full body of work and just experience making a connection with the artist and the art,” Pariseau said. “That gives them more meaning to whatever they’re buying.”
In the past, while she was still working full time, Pariseau did art festivals and vendor events. However, this meant sometimes working seven days a week. Pariseau also said customers did not experience her art as well in this setting. They only saw a portion of her work and were in an overwhelmingly stimulating environment.
She said she gets better feedback on her work during her studio events such as her kiln opening party during the Bluff Country Studio Arts Tour. Guests eat pizza and help remove items from the kiln. Whoever carries the item out of the kiln has first dibs on buying it.
“When people are helping you unload the kiln, you totally get (feedback),” Pariseau said. “There are ‘oohs,’ there are ‘ahhs.’”
Pariseau is unsure of what her future holds. She is in her sixties, and the wood-fired technique is hard on her body.
“I really love what I do now,” Pariseau said. “It’s really difficult for me to explore what I would do differently because I like what the end products are, and I like the visual aesthetic of what I’m doing.”
By Amy Kyllo
STAFF WRITER
LANESBORO — For Sue Pariseau, it is her wood-fired kiln named Gertie that creates the distinctive effects on her pottery. Her unpredictable, earthy-toned, one-of-a-kind creations include the rare “kiln booger” and fire-induced, colored-changed clay and glaze.
“(Each piece) tells the story,” Pariseau said. “It shows the path of that fire going through the kiln.”
Pariseau has been doing pottery since about 1999 when she took her first community ed class. Her craft has grown from participating in community studios to making pottery inside a pink foam insulation box with a space heater, and now to her full-time rural Lanesboro studio of today.
Most of Pariseau’s pieces are utilitarian such as mugs, bowls and trays, but she also makes vases, trinket holders, pendants and decor.
“Pottery is different,” Pariseau said. “It doesn’t just hang on your wall where you can look at it, but it’s something that you can use and experience.”
Regular utilization of her pieces is important to her.
“My hope is that (customers) do use it — that you have your hands on it, and that it brings a greater joy to whatever that experience is,” Pariseau said.
What makes Pariseau’s pottery different is the use of a wood-fired kiln. The fire travels through the kiln and pulls out oxygen, which changes the color of the clay and applied glaze and deposits an additional partial glass glaze of shiny ash. This means each piece shows through its color and texture which side was closest to the fire.
Pariseau cannot predict how a piece will look. This is different from pottery fired in gas or electric kilns, which deliver consistent pieces that look exactly the same.
“It’s a different aesthetic,” Pariseau said. “It’s very earthy. Most of it is brown in some way.”
With a wood-fired kiln, a few pieces also get what she calls “kiln boogers.” These are drops of ash from a shelf above that melts and hardens on a piece. She said she likes these markings — though, for some people, they might remind them of bird poop.
“I know what it is, I know how it got there,” Pariseau said. “I know that it’s not that common, that it’s more of a rarity.”
Built specifically for her by a friend, Pariseau’s wood-fired kiln holds about 150-175 regular-sized pieces plus countless small trinkets.
Pariseau fires four times a year, twice in the spring and twice in the fall. Each firing is a week-long process.
Pariseau spends the months leading up to a firing making pieces. She uses throwing, slab work and thrown and altered techniques. Her pieces are bisque-fired in a top-load electric kiln. Before final firing, she spends a week or more glazing. She always has more pieces glazed than space in the kiln. Sometimes, a piece can sit for a year or more before final firing.
Once the kiln is started, it must be fed wood for 24 hours. Initially, the kiln needs an armload of wood every 15 minutes, but, by the end of the time, it must be fed every five minutes. Pariseau takes the first 16-hour shift. Then, her husband, Kevin, takes a four-hour shift before she comes back for the final hours.
After heating to 2,350 degrees, the kiln takes five days to cool down for unpacking.
Pariseau makes a lot of mugs. She said these are good surfaces for decorating and an entry point for those who have not owned handmade items before.
For Pariseau, a good mug for her morning coffee routine is important.
“It’s about being quiet and feeling the warmth of the mug and just collecting my thoughts for the day,” Pariseau said. “Having a mug that also feels good in my hand really just makes it that much better.”
Pariseau encourages customers to look beyond the aesthetic of the mug to its tactile features.
“How does this one feel in your hand?” she said. “Does this feel like something you want to use every day? … If it doesn’t, don’t buy it.”
Pariseau avoids doing custom work, although she will occasionally do it, especially for charitable organizations.
“There’s a weird sense of pressure that no longer makes it feel like a fun art-y career,” Pariseau said.
Pariseau sells her products on her online shop, which she restocks quarterly. She also has her work in several local galleries and sells her pieces at her four rural studio events each year.
Pariseau helps coordinate the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour and also participates in the Lanesboro Area Arts Trail.
“When (guests) are here, they get to see the full body of work and just experience making a connection with the artist and the art,” Pariseau said. “That gives them more meaning to whatever they’re buying.”
In the past, while she was still working full time, Pariseau did art festivals and vendor events. However, this meant sometimes working seven days a week. Pariseau also said customers did not experience her art as well in this setting. They only saw a portion of her work and were in an overwhelmingly stimulating environment.
She said she gets better feedback on her work during her studio events such as her kiln opening party during the Bluff Country Studio Arts Tour. Guests eat pizza and help remove items from the kiln. Whoever carries the item out of the kiln has first dibs on buying it.
“When people are helping you unload the kiln, you totally get (feedback),” Pariseau said. “There are ‘oohs,’ there are ‘ahhs.’”
Pariseau is unsure of what her future holds. She is in her sixties, and the wood-fired technique is hard on her body.
“I really love what I do now,” Pariseau said. “It’s really difficult for me to explore what I would do differently because I like what the end products are, and I like the visual aesthetic of what I’m doing.”
