Canton Clay Works

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Canton, CT
Canton Clay Works

Our pottery studio in Canton, CT offers wood firings, memberships, classes, a gallery and more!

05/26/2026

Student work fresh out of the gas kiln! We love seeing how students combine our glazes. FYI, there are a handful of seats left in weekend beginner wheel throwing classes! Class starts May 30!

05/08/2026

Nothing exemplifies the huge variety of finishes out of the wood/sat/soda kiln quite like these beautiful acorns by ! Even amidst the squirrel jokes, you can hear the “oohs” and “aahs” as each one is taken out and passed along. Piling them all up like this makes for an incredible photo too!

There is space available in summer wood/salt/soda firings in July and August. Now’s the time to think ahead!

05/01/2026

Guess what! In collaboration with the , we’re reopening the Creamery Gallery! This is the first time in a few years that this retail space will be open, and we’re incredibly excited to show some wood fired works that haven’t been see before!

We’ll be open 10-4 Saturday and Sunday, 5/2 and 5/3.

04/24/2026

Part 3- an update on teardown!
We’ve dismantled the majority of the part of the kiln we’re renovating. This includes the Bourry Box arch and the vertical walls supporting it, along with the throat arch and the castable coating the firebox floor.

Thankfully, the castable layer protected our floor tile bricks incredibly well- you can see a massive difference between them and the bricks inside the ware chamber, which are coated in molten ash! These we will need to replace.

In this video, Tim talks about how the Bourry Box functions. The power of the kiln’s huge chimney creates such draw, that hot air is pulled downward from the Bourry Box and through the ware chamber, depositing ash on pots along the way. In this kiln, there is very little protecting pots from the heat and v***r, so the pots at the front of the kiln (where those goey floor tiles are) get hammered with ash. This makes for some pretty dramatic results! We’re already anxious to fire this kiln again.

04/15/2026

Update on our Train Kiln Renovation: Tim talks us through removing the first arch, and goes into more detail about why exactly we’re doing this reno now.

The first arch to go is the one inside the ware chamber. It’s subjected to a lot of heat and v***r, which accumulates on the bricks’ surface. It needs a little tlc, but the main reason we removed it is so we can access the real issue: the “throat arch” behind Tim.

The arch form we used today was the original used to build the kiln, so the fit is perfect! Once there’s support under the arch, we can take it apart one brick at a time without worrying about it all crashing down on us 👀

Tomorrow’s plan is to do the same with the Bourry box arch (the highest arch in the main firebox). It’s slightly more complicated using a wider variety of bricks, so we’ll be thoroughly documenting the teardown as we go!

04/10/2026

🎉 We’ve begun the renovation on our Train Kiln - starting with teardown!

After over 50 firings, the wood fired Train Kiln is showing some wear and tear, primarily in the front section where the kiln is hottest. As Tim explains, our main concern is the degeneration of the front arches due to multiple factors: the loss of an important structural element, extreme heat, and time. After a few years of making small improvements to prolong the life of the kiln, it’s time now to start over.

Our plan is to tear down the front ware chamber arch first (closest to the camera), then deconstruct from the top of the “bourry box” (the main firebox) down. Once that’s done, we can inventory brick, order materials, and rebuild!

This process could take over a month to complete. It’s a process not every potter gets to see, so we’re incredibly excited for the opportunity to take you along and show you this in-depth look at the construction (and deconstruction) of a wood kiln!

Comment with any questions, we’ll update again next week ❤️‍🔥

03/26/2026

New dates are up online for late 2026 wood firings! With community wood firings almost monthly, there’s an option for almost any v***r firing enthusiast. If you’re new to wood firing and want to se what it’s all about, shoot us a message and we’ll fit in a few pots free of charge.

AND! we’re revamping up our wood/salt/soda firing program! Due to popular demand, we’re committing BOTH chambers of our Noborigama to wood/salt/soda! This really is the best of both worlds, combining the flashing and ash associated with wood firing with the color and sparkle of salt/soda! We’re so excited to dive into this new venture. Swipe for a few stunners from recent firings to get an idea of what we love about this kiln ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

03/19/2026

We unloaded the gas kiln again yesterday! Picked out a few student pieces to show off on the grid. It’s always so fun to see the new glaze combos they try, we learn something new every time!

Pottery classes start next week - still a few seats left in beginner options!

01/13/2026

In case you didn’t know, next month’s Train Kiln firing will be the last one for a few months.

With a kiln as loved as our train kiln, and fired with the frequency of our firing program, downtime for repair and maintenance is sometimes inevitable. We’ll be tearing down a section of the front of the kiln, at the bourry box, to reconstruct the throat arch. Unfortunately, this can’t be finished until some warmer temps come our way! So Yuki will be stepping up for early spring firings while our Train gets some well-deserved care and attention ❤️‍🔥 No worries though, there’s still space available if you’d like to get some work in!

01/08/2026

Guess who’s excited to be back at the wheel!

After taking a break from instructing beginner classes, Tim will be teaching upcoming Beginner Wheel Throwing class on Wednesday nights!

With 40 years of experience, Tim’s playful yet thorough approach to making, glazing, and firing pottery provides students a fun and uplifting environment to learn and develop a new skill!

Check out details on our website, or through the link in our bio. Class starts January 14!

Address

150 Cherry Brook Road
Canton, CT
06019

Telephone

+18606931000

Website

https://www.cantonclayworks.com/

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