All fired up: Potter opens ceramics center in BG

Art can be created in the unlikeliest of places, even a Quonset Hut.
Ceramics artist John Thies has opened Manabigama Pottery Center in one of those most utilitarian of
structures at 13270 Bishop Road, Bowling Green.
The building provides the size, location and low rent that the artists, recently relocated from much
smaller space in Maryland, was looking for.
In fact, Thies, who has been in the pottery business for almost four decades, found the space at first
daunting, said Tiffany Hyland Shekut, his partner in the new venture.
But soon the space started to fill up with sacks of clay, cords of wood and finished pots.
Most importantly in a back corner sits a wood-fired kiln of the design that gives the center its name.

The center is hosting a grand opening Saturday and Sunday.
In a 2007 article in Ceramics Monthly, Thies explains the name – "In Japanese, ‘mana’ means
‘educational or learning,’ ‘bi’ means ‘a thing of beauty,’ and ‘gama’ means ‘kiln.’"
The oven developed by himself and noted potter Bill van Gilder, is a contemporary version of the most
ancient Asian kilns where pottery began. And the basics haven’t changed much in 5,000 years, he said.
"Mud, water and fire – those are the elements you’re working with," Thies said.
Thies sells the plans for the kiln, which is a small-scale structure, seven-feet deep, two-feet wide and
40 inches tall on the inside. They are built to be efficient, using half-cord of wood for each firing.
The firings take about two hours to warm the kiln, another nine hours to fire the pots and then 12 hours
to cool down.
He can also arrange through an Atlanta company to have the materials needed to build it shipped to the
buyer, or buyers can acquire their own brick.
Thies estimates about 70 to 80 kilns have been built from designs he has sold over the past three years.

Selling the drawings for the kiln, though, is just one activity planned for the center.
He creates his own work, and other artists, including Cheryl Takata, use the space.
He will sell ceramics by himself and others.
Thies also plans to offer workshops for children and adults, ranging from beginner to advanced.
He also travels to do workshops, sometimes in conjunction with constructing a manabigama kiln.
Last summer he built a kiln at the 577 Foundation in Perrysburg. He met Shekut there and thought this
might be a good place to move his business. Its location at the intersection of major interstate
highways, and the availability of large spaces for inexpensive rent proved a major selling point.
Growing up in southern California, Thies got his start in ceramics at 15 when his high school art teacher
introduced him to clay. Thies said at the time he was "a little bit of a delinquent … I was
searching," he said, and then he discovered ceramics.
"It kept me focused," Thies said. "It enabled me to build things, see things though, and
taught me how to be patient."
After high school he found his way to Pennsylvania where he did an apprenticeship. Over the years, he’s
taught, built kilns, run his own shop and traveled the art fair circuit.
A potter, he said, has to find some way to supplement the income from selling his wares. The kilns have
proved a good source of income.
More than that, they’ve also fed his passion for wood-firing. Unlike electric and gas firing, the results
are not predictable.
Put raw pots in a more modern kiln, gas or electric – as Thies does as well – and the results come out as
predicted.
Wood firing though provides a more serendipitous, distinctly beautiful, result. The clay bears the mark
of the fire.
"Wood firing is quite a mysterious thing," Thies said. Many potters, especially newcomers, are
afraid of the process.
Part of the mission of the Manabigama Center and the kiln kits is to bring the craft to more people.
Wood fired pottery has a special earthiness, he said. The irregularities of its surface mean that each
day a cup or bowl will reveal a nuance not noticed before. "It brings some earth into your
life."