Elfring Pottery

Gary Elfring throws carved porcelain, raku, horse hair, and stoneware ceramic pots.
Porcelain Porcelain is a special white clay that can be both light and translucent. This smooth clay can be carved while it is still damp, producing beautiful effects when you use transparent glazes. I create all of my own Celadon glazes which use iron to create part of their vibrant color. I fire my porcelain at 2,350 degrees in a gas reduction kiln.	Raku Special glazes are used to produce vibrant metallic colors. Each pot is quickly heated to 1,800 degrees in an outdoor kiln. The pottery is then pulled from the kiln with long tongs and placed in a sealed container along with flamable materials. After 15 minutes the raku pot is removed from the container and quenched in water to preserve its unique colors.	Horse Hair Each pot is created using a smooth raku clay and covered with special colorants that we have developed. The pottery is quickly heated to 1,800 degrees in an outdoor kiln. Next the pot is pulled from the kiln and placed on a fire proof rotating table. As the pot cools, horse hair and/or feathers are burned into its surface to create the unique horse hair markings.	Stoneware Stoneware is made from very strong clay. Each pot is hand thrown and then bisque fired. The pottery is then glazed and loaded into a gas reduction kiln where it takes about 24 hours to reach a final temperature of 2,300 degrees. Once the stoneware reaches that temperature the kiln is turned off, sealed, and allowed to cool slowly for two more days.

Elfring Pottery
2020 Dean St, Unit N
St Charles, IL 60174

Phone: 630-377-3520
Studio Hours:
9 - 5 M/F, 10 - 2 Saturday

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