Fired up over pottery
Story and photos by
Gale Horton Gay
gale@dekalbchamp.com
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MudFire on Laredo Drive, which was once a stained glass sudio, is now one of thr premiere places for pottery.
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Eva Kucerova uses a delicate touch to mold her clay bowl into shape.
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Pottery lines the shelves and cabinets at MudFire.
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MudFire owners Erik Haagensen and Luba Sharapan quit their day jobs to open the Decatur pottery studio. |
On a bright and airy studio in Decatur, within a few feet of railroad tracks that carry heavily laden freight cars, creative minds block out the rumblings of trains—focused on something more imaginative.
Hands dip into a water bowl then resume working the gray/brown clay that whirls on the potter’s wheel.
Near one of the windows, a former executive guides the clay he is manipulating into a small tray. In the back of the studio, a woman applies a solution she hopes will bring a desired visual effect when the piece is fired for 24 to 36 hours.
Elsewhere, clay is being formed via a variety of techniques and prepared for drying and firing. Around the studio, functional and decorative pottery and sculpture rest in stages of completion.
Welcome to MudFire, a studio that offers communal space for artistic adventurers to work, learn and explore with like-minded souls. Located on Laredo Drive—just a stone’s throw from Avondale Estates– Mudfire is a former stained glass studio where the curious and the committed now come to work on clay pieces for fun, experimentation, therapy and even the serious business of refining their skills.
On this Tueday afternoon in mid-August, nine men and women are working independently on a variety of projects.
Eva Kucerova is at one of the many potter’s wheels shaping a bowl. Dow Redcorn of East Atlanta is working coils of clay into a tray. Marsi Simpkins of Clarkston, a potter for 20 years, is shaping reddish brown clay into the beginnings of a bowl.
Redcorn is among the most recent to join the MudFire community, having paid for a membership in July. He explained that he’s in the midst of a career transition after two decades as a vice president of a family-run consulting firm.
Before he moves on to something new, he’s taking time to do some of the things he never had time for previously. "I decided to try something really different," said Redcorn, who dabbles in painting at home. The tray he’s working on is the fifth piece he has created, coming to the studio every third day or so. "I love being here. It’s a great environment," he said. "You can ask anybody, and they will help you."
Simpkins, who makes square pots and labors in slab work, said she is "just playing around," exploring artistic directions that she’s been curious about. And at age 75, she describes her time at MudFire as her "last fling."
MudFire is no small operation. The studio space has 16 potter’s wheels and room for artists to "throw" clay as well as sculpt, hand build and glaze their pieces.
Out back there are10 kilns (gas and electric) and a fire pit for transforming the air-dried clay forms into pottery with various sheens, textures and finishes. Workshops also are offered by nationally and internationally known artists such as porcelain specialist Annette Gates from Athens and image transfer expert Paul Andrew Wandless from Philadelphia.
In the front of the building is the MudFire Gallery where pottery work from artists nationwide is exhibited monthly. Altogether it’s 7,500 square feet of studio, workshop and gallery space.
Potters Erik Haagensen and Luba Sharapan are the husband and wife owners of MudFire. He shapes clay to resemble stones, and she crafts porcelain sqraffito pots. Both were corporate types who tired of the demanding pace of their lives.
Sharapan recalls the difficulty taking pottery classes but missing most of them due to out-of-town business travel. They decided to quit their jobs and open the studio.
Haagensen and Sharapan explained that the studio is unique in that memberships are offered on a monthly or annual basis, and potters and those who want to explore come and go as they please.
Novices are encouraged to drop in, and experienced potters will stop what they’re doing to explain, instruct, demonstrate and answer questions. Members can spend as much or as little time in the studio as they want, and bringing snacks for sharing is also encouraged.
The couple established MudFire six years ago, originally operating in Brookhaven but moved to Decatur three and a half years ago.
For more information, visit MudFire online or call (404) 377-8033.
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