Turning clay into gold
Pottery is akin to the creation of the Philosopher’s stone. Antiquity has it that the Alchemists of old were able to transmute base metals into gold. For a potter the base metals are simply the mud, clay, or wet dirt the artist has to work with. Rather, in the eyes of the potter, it is transformed into an object of beauty, something more valuable than gold.
Wedgehog Studio produces Artistic and Functional Pottery
Our artists design pottery that is functional that have artistic elements. The piece shown, though functional, exhibits an artistic element in the glazing process.
S
Stephen Madachik
Ceramist
Tom Madachik
Ceramist
The Artists
We are a father and son team. We have a unique relationship in that we collaborate on Production processes and design elements. The results are shown in our products which are ever changing in design and quality of workmanship. We are always looking for ways to improve and innovate.
Our Studio
The one word that comes to mind that describes our studio is “Crowded.” We don’t view this as a negative, rather it requires us to be creative in forging our work flow. We are not limited in our production quality or quantity by the size of our studio, however, when we are glazing pieces, to an outsider, I’m sure it would be humorous to watch.
Two Artists-two ways of artistic expression
Stephen contributed a unique glaze he calls “Ethereal Midnight”. It shows as a effervescent wine coloration with a shimmering floating blue over a black glaze.
He produces both Artistic and functional pots as well as figurines when the right inspiration strikes.
Tom produces our own glazes with the help of DigitalFire insight software. . He also produces a full range of Artistic and functional pottery and recently innovated the use of leather on some pieces to enhance its finished appearance.
Our Main Studio Equipment
Speedball Throwing Wheel This is the workhorse of the studio. It is rugged and precise and is used to throw all pieces.
Olympic Electric Kiln Medallion Artist Series with a Bartlett Controller. This kiln is capable of firing to Cone 10 but we use it to fire our stoneware almost exclusively to Cone 6. The controls are precise and flexible.
Our Accessories
We have a myriad of accessories for shaping, inscribing, and altering design elements as we wish. There are too many to describe, in fact I think we have more than we need.
Our mascot and his story
The legend of Wedgehog: It was a cold early morning when I entered the Studio. We had no name at the time. Anyhow, the task of wedging clay was heavy on my mind and though I had my first cup of coffee I had no desire to wedge clay for the days work. I turned up the thermostat to 65 degrees for it was 45 degrees in the studio. While the studio was warming up I thought the exercise of wedging would warm me up. I was about to open a 25 pound box of clay when I noticed under the wedging table a small hedgehog. To my amazement the little creature was wedging small quantities of clay and putting them on the wedging table ready for use. Apparently he had been at work all night for there was well over 25 pounds of clay wedged properly and ready for use. So to thank this little fellow, I got him a healthy breakfast of eggs and toast and a hot cup of coffee. He indicated to me that he would do the wedging every day if I would provide him breakfast. I agreed. I also told my new friend that in honor of him I would name our studio Wedgehog Studio after him. He smiled and ate his breakfast, sipped his coffee and then disappeared until the next morning.