Jeannine Calcagno — Stoneware Pottery, with flowering branch artwork

The Artist

Jeannine Calcagno seated outdoors with her stoneware pottery

The year I was born my father built a new house amid his tomato and alfalfa fields in the Central California delta. He surrounded it with almost an acre of lawn and then planted several varieties of trees, creating the feel of a park. The garden was my mother’s purview and included beds of iris and tulips, a wisteria arbor, borders of annuals, flaming red ice plant and many, many rose bushes. A regular Giverny minus the pond. There was also the big sandbox!

I left all this to study art at San Jose State University in 1968. It was there where I was introduced to Art Nouveau (reinforcing my floral tendencies) and ceramics (my inner mud pie). The ceramics courses at this time were steeped in the Japanese folk craft tradition. The department head, Herbert Sanders, had strong ties to the potters that had revived Japan’s Mingei movement.

In 1972 I received my BA in Art and went on to complete a Secondary Teaching Credential in 1973. I taught for a couple of years, married, and then moved to Santa Cruz and set up my first permanent clay studio.

Jeannine decorating a vase at her studio workbench

A few years into my new career a customer commented that my work reminded him of “Rookwood,” the finest of the American Art Pottery that had employed Japanese designers. A few books later on the subject, I realized how I had been following in a decorative tradition I had never been formally exposed to, but had come to on my own. Since then I have taken four trips with fellow potters to Japan and visited the ancient kiln sites, important pottery centers and many, many studios of contemporary potters. The clay work from that country sings to me.

I have been a producing studio potter for over 50 years and still love it. It is a tradition the can be traced throughout history and gives me a connection to the cultures of the world. And since I have a compulsion to makes things, and what better way than with clay? My work is sold almost exclusively at juried Fine Arts shows throughout central California and also directly from my studio. I really enjoy meeting the people who buy and use my pieces. I invite you to call and visit my studio.

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In the Studio

All of my work is hand-thrown on a potter’s wheel using stoneware claybodies of various colors. The raised decoration is achieved by using a porcelain clay slip (liquid clay) the consistency of thick cream. I use natural powdered oxides and commercial stains for color and apply the slip using brushes and squeeze bottles. This is done while the piece is still damp or “leather hard.” In this way the decoration becomes one with the pot. My shelves are usually full of many forms covered in plastic, waiting for decoration. The trick is keeping them damp enough. My spray bottle is my friend!

After pieces are decorated and completely dry they are “bisque fired” (partially fired) so the surface is still porous but the pot can be handled without breaking. I carefully brush a liquid wax on all areas NOT to be glazed and immerse the pot into a vat of clear glaze. The wax will burn away, leaving the stoneware exposed, and the glaze will allow the colors of the decoration to show through.

Since having trouble a few years ago firing my gas kiln, I switched over to doing both the bisque and glaze firings using an electric kiln. The firing temperature is lower, but I am still using stoneware clay of various colors…the black one being my favorite.

All pieces are still water tight and food safe, even on unglazed areas. They are also safe for the dishwasher and microwave.