Washburn, WI ARTIST STATEMENT My name is Jonathan Walburg of Lake Superior Pottery and my work is about place. About loving a place and enjoying it every day. Most of my work is a porcelain base with Lake Superior red clays and beach sands covered with a melted Maple and Oak Tree ash glaze. Some of my pottery is pitch black from the Lake’s shoreline iron rocks. These are simple ingredients, food safe and with a flavor of the Great Lakes area.Another portion of my work is made purely from Lake Superior stone. Crushed, it provides a high-fire, food safe blonde clay body. The clay quality is short and so intriguing and exciting to me. A labor of love to showcase nature’s beauty. Everything is influenced by my apprenticeship at St. John’s Pottery MN (2004-06) under Richard Bresnahan, continued studies in Karatsu, Japan (2006-10) and in Ulsan, Korea (2010). I’ve seen many historic and culturally treasured areas famous for their pottery. Each region is aesthetically distinct from each other as geology changes creating unique pottery specific to that area. With the pottery I purchased there, I felt I was bringing home a little piece of that place. It was this idea I loved and wanted to share in my own pottery: the idea of loving a place and being able to take it home with you to enjoy every day.