The Warwick Pottery Studio Newsletter - October 2026
October is here, and we're officially one month out from our November Annual Show and Sale! Our potters have been busy bees, finalizing their gorgeous work, and we can't wait to share what we've been up to all year! - Marilyn
REMINDER: Warwick Pottery Studio's Annual Show & Sale is coming up!
This year, our Annual Pottery Show & Sale will be held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving - the perfect time to gather, shop, and celebrate handmade work! 2026 Annual Pottery Show Details When: Sunday, November 22, 2026 Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Where: Warwick Valley Community Center @ 11 Hamilton Ave., Warwick, NY 10990
If you are interested in volunteering, please click here.
A Little Nudge From the Kiln Room
That wonderful, slightly panicked feeling in the studio? That means the deadline is getting close.
If you have pieces you want to have ready for our show, please read below:
The morning of November 1st is our last call for getting work into the kiln. After that, I cannot promise I will have room to squeeze in anything extra. I will absolutely still be firing until the show (you know I live by the kilns this time of year), but those firings are already planned, and the shelves are filling fast.
Please don't count on anything being fired past November 1st, and please don't put yourself in the position of watching your favorite piece still sitting damp on the last day!
If you have work that needs to get fired, bring it in bone-dry, trimmed, and ready to go, with your name clearly on the bottom. If you're not sure if it will be dry in time, bring it in early, and we will find a warm, safe spot for it.
From the Studio: Test Before You Sell
One of my favorite moments in the studio is watching a student carry a piece to the sale table for the first time. You're proud. You should be. It's beautiful work. And that's exactly why we need to talk about testing.
When a pot goes out on our table for sale, we are telling a customer: "I made this. It is safe to use in your home" Which is a serious promise! A beautiful glaze is not enough. It has to be sound, it needs to be food-safe, and it has to be tested by you before it ever leaves this studio.
Testing your pots protects our customers, you, and the reputation of Warwick Pottery.
Our Studio Standard for Functional Ware:
This applies to anything intended for food or drink, like mugs, cups, bowls, plates, pitchers, and casseroles.
1. The Boiling Water Test — Is the pot sound?
For every functional piece, you must do this:
Fill it completely with boiling water and let it sit for at least a full minute. Watch it. Listen to it and look for:
Hairline cracks that didn't show when it was dry
A slow leak or weeping at the foot
A sharp tick sound, that's crazing happening!
If it leaks, pings, cracks, or weeps, it is not sound and cannot be sold as functional ware.
2. The Ice Test — Did the glaze fit?
After the boiling water test, let the pot cool completely. Then fill it with ice cubes and cold water.
This thermal shock will show you if the glaze is under stress. If you see a network of fine lines appear after the ice, that is crazing. A crazed glaze is not food-safe. Bacteria can get in those cracks, and it will eventually stain and fail. A truly food-safe, well-fitted glaze should be glossy, smooth, and stable, with no crazing, no crawling that leaves bare clay, no sharp pinholes, and no soft or powdery feel.
Only use glazes we have approved as food-safe, fired to the correct cone.
No lead or barium glazes for food surfaces. If you are not 100% sure, ask Marilyn.
The inside must be fully glazed. Bare clay inside a functional pot is not acceptable.
3. If It Doesn't Pass, Mark It Clearly
We all make pieces that don't pass. That's part of learning. If a piece is not food-safe, do not put it on the functional table hoping someone will "just use it for keys." Please mark it immediately and indelibly on the back or bottom of the pot with a permanent marker: NOT FOOD SAFE - FOR DECORATIVE USE ONLY or: NOT FOR FOOD
That one minute with a marker can prevent someone from getting hurt and prevent a serious liability issue for you. I would rather see ten beautiful decorative pieces marked honestly than one questionable mug sold as safe.
So for our next sale: Test it. Boiling water. Ice water after. Check your glaze fit.
If there's any doubt, mark it!
A Love Note: Glazing & Sticky Bottoms
We have been making such beautiful work lately... but we have also been getting way too many pieces that stick to the kiln shelf! This causes staff to have to grind and scrape, and our least favorite sound in the world: hearing a glaze pop and take a chunk of a kiln shelf with it.
So it's time for us to help each other with a new studio habit.
Going forward, we're asking everyone to please bring a cookie to fire your piece on.
Your cookie is just a small, flat slab of clay. If the glaze runs, it runs onto your cookie, not onto our kiln shelf. It saves your piece, and it saves our kiln.
A few guidelines to make this work for everyone:
Your cookie should be no wider than the widest part of your piece. That way we can fit everyone in the kiln. If your pot is 4 inches wide, your cookie should be 4 inches wide or slightly less.
Bisque your cookie first before you use it in the glaze kiln. A raw cookie in a glaze firing doesn't protect anything; it just makes a mess. You can make a few at a time and keep them in your cubby.
Keep your glaze off the bottom. This is the most important part! Please do not allow glaze to be on the very bottom of your piece, and leave the bottom 1/4 inch completely clean with no glaze at all. Wipe it really well, and run your finger around that foot, making sure you can feel bare clay.
If you are layering glazes, which can be so tempting because the colors are gorgeous, leave even more room! Those layers are extra runny. When layering, glaze only the top two-thirds of the piece, leaving the bottom third clear.
A clean foot is a happy foot. It is the difference between a piece that comes out beautifully and a piece that comes out permanently attached to something else!
With love, Marilyn