Fairhope, Alabama
HISTORY SERIES CONTINUES
Fairhope potter Zach Sierke talked about "the story of clay" and ceramics along the Eastern Shore during this month's history series presentation at the library.
The French were the first potters in the area in the early 1770's he said; his 2g grandfather Homer Howard, a Union soldier from Indiana during the Blakely Campaign in 1865, found clay deposits near Fish River at Clay City and returned after the war (ca. 1870) to start his own pottery business there where he specialized in making brown jugs.
Sierke himself was born in Mobile (Fowl River) and moved with his family to Baldwin County when he was two. He said he "became obsessed" with pottery later when he took ceramics classes during college in Florida (Eckerd College).
After searching out his ancestors kiln in the woods on Cowpen Creek, he subsequently built his own wood-fired one on his parents property in Battles Wharf and harvested (dug) his own clay for a while from various sites around the bay.
He calls it a "transformational experience" when he fires his creations twice-yearly there now with the help of friends and relatives, using the wood-ash itself for glaze.
The firing process takes about six days, he said.
Sireke also teaches ceramics at the Eastern Shore Art Center and gives workshops throughout the region.
A video of the process is posted on You Tube (click).
 |
| Homer Howard pictured on screen. |
HISTORY SERIES CONTINUES
Fairhope potter Zach Sierke talked about "the story of clay" and ceramics along the Eastern Shore during this month's history series presentation at the library.
The French were the first potters in the area in the early 1770's he said; his 2g grandfather Homer Howard, a Union soldier from Indiana during the Blakely Campaign in 1865, found clay deposits near Fish River at Clay City and returned after the war (ca. 1870) to start his own pottery business there where he specialized in making brown jugs.
Sierke himself was born in Mobile (Fowl River) and moved with his family to Baldwin County when he was two. He said he "became obsessed" with pottery later when he took ceramics classes during college in Florida (Eckerd College).
After searching out his ancestors kiln in the woods on Cowpen Creek, he subsequently built his own wood-fired one on his parents property in Battles Wharf and harvested (dug) his own clay for a while from various sites around the bay.
He calls it a "transformational experience" when he fires his creations twice-yearly there now with the help of friends and relatives, using the wood-ash itself for glaze.
The firing process takes about six days, he said.
Sireke also teaches ceramics at the Eastern Shore Art Center and gives workshops throughout the region.
A video of the process is posted on You Tube (click).
 |
| Potter Zach Sierke |
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