3 minute read
A Natural Path to Pottery
A Natural Path to Pottery
By Joe Motheral
Richard Busch’s home studio is located at historic Glenfiddich Farm near Catoctin Mountain outside Leesburg in a house that was converted from a 200-year-old dairy barn.
“I set up a studio in what had been a horse stable,” he said. “After almost a year of further renovations, I had built a gas kiln, equipped the studio with glazing ingredients and started making pottery.”
As evidenced by the displays in his studio, “I like to make many forms: bowls, mugs, plates, oil jars, vases, bird houses, lidded jars, serving platters, and so forth. I find the entire process meditative.”
According to Busch’s website, he has a love of nature and that, in turn, clearly influences his pottery. He’s enamored with the nearby landscape, he said, “with its lush vegetation, rolling terrain, streams, woods and earthy colors. The natural beauty here offers a constant source of inspiration.”
Clay being a byproduct of earth adds to his attachment with nature. After shaping a pot on the wheel—referred to as throwing--he puts it on a shelf to dry. Once dried, he uses a trimming tool “to remove excess clay and fine tune the shape.” The pot then goes into a kiln, heated to around 1,800 degrees, a process called bisque firing.
“After they cool down,” he said, “I apply glazing that can consist of crushed minerals, clay, oxides, water, etc….Then the pots are fired a second time to roughly 2,500 degrees. It takes about 20 hours for the glazes to melt, coating the pot with beautiful colors and designs.”
His path to making pottery goes back to 1990 when he had a conversation with a neighbor in Vienna, where he lived at the time.
“She was taking pottery classes at a local community center and when she spoke about her experiences,” he said. “I found it fascinating. I decided to give it a try, so I signed up and I was immediately hooked.”
He’s always been a creative individual, who began his career working for Life Magazine. He was a highly-regarded New York-based photographer, with a portfolio that included some iconic images taken when he was shooting at the famous Woodstock music festival in upstate New York in 1967.
He eventually worked as an editor at several publications, and when his neighbor talked to him about her pottery experiences, he was at National Geographic. Not long after that, he was offered early retirement and “this was my chance to pursue pottery.”
He and his wife, Olwen Woodier, moved to Glenfiddich Farm about 20 years ago. It has plenty of history, dating to 1840. More recently, it was owned by the Lehane family of Irish descent, hence the name Glenfiddich, an Irish whiskey.
Richard Busch’s pottery is sold at the Corner Store in Waterford and at Roots 657, a cafe and market in Leesburg. Details: www.glenfarmpottery.com .
