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Paul & Sheila Ray
The goal of husband and wife team Paul and Sheila
Ray is “to enhance the celebration of daily life and
enrich its simple joys.” There is an intimate
connection between human hands when we use
pots, Paul says, a shared moment that often seems
increasingly absent in our lives.
The Rays either throw the clay on a potters' wheel,
extrude it or slab build. They fire the pieces in a
propane kiln to 2350 degrees Fahrenheit, and apply
glazes by dipping and spraying.
Some of the stoneware glazes they use are:
- Ash Glaze - Known for subtle color and
mottled surface effects, ash glazes are the
first glazes to be formulated by Chinese
potters. The Rays use pine and oak ashes,
collected from a wood burning kiln.
- Copper Red - Copper red is achieved by
adding a small amount of copper carbonate
(usually .25% to .5%) along with tin oxide to a
glaze and then firing it in a reducing
atmosphere. Copper reds were first
developed by Chinese potters over 1,000
years ago and were commonly referred to as
“oxblood.”
The Rays live and work in Seagrove, North Carolina.
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