{"id":1475,"date":"2016-02-09T17:12:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T17:12:15","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:42:22","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T16:42:22","slug":"meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Read more about Ben Fiess’s<\/a> creative process below, and don’t forget to read about his time as a farmhand before he moved to his current studio in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

View Ben’s Inesse Ceramic Squat Jar on our site, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ben Fiess.<\/p>\n

The color of your glazes are stunning. How did you become interested in ceramic chemistry? And how often do you come up with new colors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first interaction with clay was when I was 21 years old. I had been studying graphic design and needed to take a ceramics class to fulfill the degree requirements. It was an eye-opening experience that really captured my interest. There is very much a sense of do-it-yourself in ceramic art and handmade pottery. The materials we work with are mined from various regions and much like baking, combining different proportions of materials leads to a variety of results. When I was introduced to ceramic arts I learned by reading books of clay and glaze recipes, trying them, and tweaking them to achieve new surfaces and colors. It requires a lot of testing but the variety of results is nearly unlimited.<\/p>\n

The database came about as a solution to organize my recipes as well as calculate a rough chemical analysis of the recipe. Working directly with the raw materials allows a lot of flexibility in the results and working in a very small production scale as I am, there is a great deal of opportunity work with a variety of colors\/surfaces and to change them frequently. I have a good sized glaze library that I refer to from time to time, and I try to investigate new glazes while I produce work. When I was just starting out in school, an older student recommended always firing some glaze tests in every kiln load and I think it is important to do that.<\/p>\n

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A glimpse into Ben’s studio \u2014 a view of his pottery wheel and tools he uses on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

How did you choose the colors for the Inesse Ceramic Squat Jar<\/a>? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I worked with Shinola to develop this specific colorway. We wanted bright, soft colors that would fit a Valentine’s Day theme. I like to use oranges and pinks in my work and I’m glad these pieces incorporate them. The brightly colored interior is a new visual cue for me and I’m happy with how it turned out. There is color all over these pieces and I really love that.<\/p>\n

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Bright glaze samples are scattered throughout Ben’s studio.<\/p>\n

You worked as part-time farmhand on the farm where your old studio was, do you still do that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m no longer working on the farm outside the Twin Cities. This past year I moved my studio practice to Minneapolis. Prior to that I had been living and working on a friends’ farm where I was able to keep my ceramic studio. My relationship with the farm started after I finished graduate school. I did not have a job lined up so I moved to the small farm where my friend’s parents had just taken over residence. It hadn’t been used in many years and was in need of a lot of attention. The relationship was mutually beneficial \u2013 I had ample space to work on ceramics and I could help out with chores. It isn’t a public place, but the owners have hosted several artists and writers throughout the past three years, providing a place to practice their craft and provide some help on the farm.<\/p>\n

I try to visit when I have time. The experience really gave me a lot of appreciation for farmers and the community of neighbors. Everyone helps everyone because everyone eventually needs help themselves. <\/p>\n

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Ben Fiess’ Inesse Ceramic Squat Jar<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read more about Ben Fiess’s creative process below, and don’t forget to read about his time as a farmhand before he moved to his current studio in Minneapolis.  View Ben’s Inesse Ceramic Squat Jar on our site, here. [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1505″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”540″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”960″}}]] Ben Fiess. The color of your glazes are stunning. How did you become interested in ceramic […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[7,19],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess - Our Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess - Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read more about Ben Fiess’s creative process below, and don’t forget to read about his time as a farmhand before he moved to his current studio in Minneapolis.  View Ben’s Inesse Ceramic Squat Jar on our site, here. 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How did you become interested in ceramic [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-09T17:12:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-03T16:42:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Taylor Rebhan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/\",\"name\":\"Our Stories\",\"description\":\"A journal by Shinola dedicated to THE joy of craft\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/\",\"name\":\"Meet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess - Our Stories\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-09T17:12:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-03T16:42:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#\/schema\/person\/060aa96ae4cfa418688aa72467ed4568\",\"name\":\"Taylor Rebhan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ef281772e6ea80de61c511c2f4d4eef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Taylor Rebhan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/author\/trebhan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess - Our Stories","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/ourstories.shinola.com\/our-stories\/meet-maker-small-batch-pottery-produced-ben-fiess\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet the Maker: Small Batch Pottery produced by Ben Fiess - Our Stories","og_description":"Read more about Ben Fiess’s creative process below, and don’t forget to read about his time as a farmhand before he moved to his current studio in Minneapolis.  View Ben’s Inesse Ceramic Squat Jar on our site, here. 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