WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Uncommon kiln

Bristol, Vermont - August 20, 2010

At Robert Compton's studio in Bristol, the bowls, lamps, and vases have glassy surfaces. They are smooth and cool, but to get the finishes that way, it takes intense heat from Compton's noborigama. "It's good for the head," Compton said of the peaceful feeling he gets from pottery.

Noborigama means "multi-chambered kiln." Compton heaves wood into a brick-framed kiln, then the air flow draws the heat into neighboring rooms to set the glazes on the potter's work. "I can think of four or five potters who fire this way," Compton said.

Compton says the process is gaining in popularity because it's greener than burning gas or using electricity as more common kilns do. "You can work with your hands -- you can work outside," he said.

Compton went to the University of Vermont to study forestry, but admits he struggled in science classes. "My friend said you don't want to flunk out of college-- take an art class, you'll probably get an A!" Compton recalled.

Finding a better fit in art, Compton studied under another Vermont potter and for 20 years and focused on making hanging aquariums and then water sculptures; several of which he says even ended up in the home of the late Beatles guitarist George Harrison. "I'll be doing this forever, I'm sure," he said.

He now focuses on smaller pieces. Some are decorative and others are utilitarian. Most sell to tourists, with sales peaking in the coming fall foliage season. "Then it's like someone shuts the door, and the number of people just drops right off," he said.

Compton spends his downtime in the winter shaping unfinished clay pots which he only fires twice a year. His kiln system holds 1,000-1,500 pots at a time, and the potter says it is one of the largest setups of its kind on the East Coast. He calls on friends and neighbors to stoke the flames around the clock for two days, even inviting people to watch them work in that short window of time. It'll take five days for the pots to cool and reveal their finish. Because of ash from the wood, no two are the same.

It's hot work, but it's Robert Compton's calling. Hundreds of pieces of pottery fired at a time-- each one of them "Made in Vermont."

Jack Thurston - WCAX News - Made in Vermont