John Thies

I have been producing wood-fired pottery and building wood fired kilns since 1976. Prior to this, I spent several years as an apprentice working for various potteries across the U.S.

I ended up in Thurmont, Maryland, where I started my own small studio pottery, situated on the banks of the Monocacy River.  Almost from the beginning, my choice was to fire with wood. From that point on, I never looked back and I continue to build kilns and fire this way.

I have built a variety of wood fired kilns over the years which include single chambers, multi -chambers and tube kilns of various designs. Currently, I am working with a large 3 chamber Noboragama at my studio as well as a small scale tube kiln used as an introduction to wood firing for students.

The work that I am producing is domestic wood fired stoneware using two types of clay along with minimal glazes, letting the wood firing's natural ash deposits and flame flash patterns help finish the pieces. The labor involved with wood firing on a large scale is a very humbling experience and has taught me to appreciate every pot from every firing - good or bad.

Each pot tells a story of hard work and passion. I would like to feel that my pots can stand on there own. I get inspired by a nice pot or an empty kiln. My pottery influences are worldwide from British, Japanese, and Korean as well as early American crock pottery. From historical to contemporary, I am attracted to pottery that has a folk art look and feel.

Monocacy Pottery

The process, the work, the artist

The unique variety of warm earth tones and ash deposits and flame patterns which you see on this pottery are a result of the wood-firing process by which this work was produced.  This traditional, labor intensive firing process begins by loading work into a large three-chamber wood kiln.  Once the kiln is loaded, wood is then fed into a firebox, which is stoked every 10 minutes for 24 hours until it reaches a temperature of 2,400° F.

John Thies has been producing wood-fired pottery since 1976.  Prior to this, he spent several years working in production potteries across the country.  Shortly after moving to Maryland, he and his wife started Monocacy Pottery and built a large 3-chamber wood kiln.  This kiln and the way in which it is fired, produces unique one-of-a-kind pottery.  This, along with the different glazes and slips which John uses bring out the natural beauty in this wood-fired work.

Monocacy Pottery is open by appointment only by calling (301) 898-3128, or by e-mailing at monocacypottery@comcast.net.  Situated north of Frederick Maryland along the scenic Monocacy River, the rustic yet inviting gallery is filled with functional, one-of-a-kind wood-fired pottery at reasonable prices.

John & Marsha Thies
11801 Hunt Club Road
Thurmont, MD  21788
(301) 898-3128 Studio
(301) 471-0296 Cell
monocacypottery@comcast.net