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potteryrocks

Pottery Rocks

Union City, Michigan
234 Sales

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Announcement    Home of the sassy salt piggies with the spoon tongues and and a variety of other FUNctional pottery. Hand crafted stoneware and raku created in a West Michigan studio. Variety of forms and a unique Asian influenced garden lantern. I love incorporating kanji into my designs. If you have a favorite kanji you'd like to see in a votive or lantern let me know. Follow Pottery Rocks on Facebook to keep up with the latest news and items.

December 2020: I'm am still producing pottery but selling so much custom and local I do not have time to manage Etsy. But if you're looking for something I've had in the past feel free to contact me as I may have it. I am more and more interested in custom work and taking orders so please contact me if you have seen one my designs in the past and would like to put in an order for something. Please remember however that pottery can take several weeks to turn around--creating, drying, bisque, glazing, glaze firing. Additionally my kiln is large so I don't fire for a few pieces so there is additional time to fill the kiln. If you are wanting some for Christmas, the best to hit me up in the summer to get on the list. I usually produce the most pottery late summer & early fall. Other than that I am often distracted by fishing, biking, kayaking, wine make, mushrooming, foraging and civic work.

If you're a last minute holiday shopper, I can usually get items into the shipping stream within 3 days. I ship 2-3 day priority USPS within the US and first class beyond the US but I've also come to learn when it gets right down to Christmas crunch the USPS doesn't do very well on their "2-3 day priority" idea. If you need something faster, let me know!

A note on sustainability in my shipping and my studio. My packing materials (bubble wrap and peanuts) are all recycled from my friends. In my studio, I recycle all glaze and clay waste. I take time to settle out and reuse a fair amount of the water I use to throw and wipe up with. As of 2015 the water utilized in my studio is captured rainwater as well so no energy is utilized pumping water. My studio is 3 season so I don't expend resources on heating or cooling it, When firing I make the most of electrical usage by filling my kiln to the brim and adding additional insulation on the top of the kiln to maximize efficiency. Recently I found a mosaic artist who is thrilled with upcycling all the broken and unusable pieces that accumulated in the back of the studio.

Announcement

Last updated on Dec 13, 2020

Home of the sassy salt piggies with the spoon tongues and and a variety of other FUNctional pottery. Hand crafted stoneware and raku created in a West Michigan studio. Variety of forms and a unique Asian influenced garden lantern. I love incorporating kanji into my designs. If you have a favorite kanji you'd like to see in a votive or lantern let me know. Follow Pottery Rocks on Facebook to keep up with the latest news and items.

December 2020: I'm am still producing pottery but selling so much custom and local I do not have time to manage Etsy. But if you're looking for something I've had in the past feel free to contact me as I may have it. I am more and more interested in custom work and taking orders so please contact me if you have seen one my designs in the past and would like to put in an order for something. Please remember however that pottery can take several weeks to turn around--creating, drying, bisque, glazing, glaze firing. Additionally my kiln is large so I don't fire for a few pieces so there is additional time to fill the kiln. If you are wanting some for Christmas, the best to hit me up in the summer to get on the list. I usually produce the most pottery late summer & early fall. Other than that I am often distracted by fishing, biking, kayaking, wine make, mushrooming, foraging and civic work.

If you're a last minute holiday shopper, I can usually get items into the shipping stream within 3 days. I ship 2-3 day priority USPS within the US and first class beyond the US but I've also come to learn when it gets right down to Christmas crunch the USPS doesn't do very well on their "2-3 day priority" idea. If you need something faster, let me know!

A note on sustainability in my shipping and my studio. My packing materials (bubble wrap and peanuts) are all recycled from my friends. In my studio, I recycle all glaze and clay waste. I take time to settle out and reuse a fair amount of the water I use to throw and wipe up with. As of 2015 the water utilized in my studio is captured rainwater as well so no energy is utilized pumping water. My studio is 3 season so I don't expend resources on heating or cooling it, When firing I make the most of electrical usage by filling my kiln to the brim and adding additional insulation on the top of the kiln to maximize efficiency. Recently I found a mosaic artist who is thrilled with upcycling all the broken and unusable pieces that accumulated in the back of the studio.

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234 Sales
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Val Rossman

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Val Rossman

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About potteryrocks

Sales 234
On Etsy since 2009
  • Placing a piece of redhot raku into a reduction chamber.
  • Raku=pottery pyromania.
  • I live lake front and love fishing for blue gills off the dock in the spring with my fly rod. Love these bluegill plates
  • A hand colored blue gill plate.
  • Coil rim raku bowl.

Pottery Rocks!

I first studied ceramics at Central Michigan University under Jay Shurtliff while earning a BS in Education with a physical education major and art minor. Unfortunately I didn't delve into pottery until my senior year there and it was too late to change my major. During my 27 year teaching career I taught physical education, art and even Japanese for Union City and Battle Creek Public Schools. In 2006, realizing I would retire within a few years, I returned to a long lost love of pottery and ceramics studying with Dallas Shoesmith at the Battle Creek Art Center. Retiring from full time teaching career in 2008 I am finding more time to create useful and beautiful works in clay. Having lived in both Japan and Singapore with great adventures far and wide in Asia there are occasional Asian influences in my forms. I have also dabbled in photography and studied batik in Indonesian studios during my international travels. When I first started firing raku at my studio it drew quite an audience from my Union Lake neighborhood.

Working in ceramics is satisfying on many levels for me. I'm a lifetime competitive athlete and working in clay is physical, I can feel my triceps burn when I'm wedging a big chunk. Hauling around 50 lb boxes of clay is good core work and burns a few calories too. It is practical and I'm a pragmatic person who loves making art than has function in the kitchen and around the house. I thrive on figuring things out and clay lends itself to amazing engineering if you understand it's capabilities to be made into forms and perform a variety of functions. It will take me a lifetime to explore it's engineering envelope. Ceramics can be very technical. Attaching appendages, drying pieces for strength, calculating shrinkage, formulating and testing glazes and firing pieces correctly to nearly 2200 degrees has a high degree of technical knowledge involved and I'm always striving to master more. In the end, who doesn't love the WOW factor. Being set up at a show with friends and strangers coming by with "WOW, YOU make all this stuff?"

When I'm not messing around in the clay, I enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits including kayak touring, downhill skiing, cross country skiing and cycling. I also love to garden organically and cook. Recenly I've started to dabble in winemaking. I'm an extremely inquisitive and active person who loves to zip off on new tangents of learning and exploration.

Shop members

  • Val Rossman

    Owner, Maker, Designer, Add Jack Of All Trades. Creating, Marketing, Shipping!

    What's not exciting about a medium that involves pulling a red hot piece of pottery out and putting it into combustible materials? Raku is pottery pyromania or playing the campfire for artists.

Shop policies

Last updated on May 9, 2022
Welcome to Pottery Rocks! Hand crafted raku and stoneware by Val Rossman.

My stoneware includes a wide variety of utilitarian and fun items for your kitchen from salt pigs to frogs in a mug. All my work is made and stored in a pet and smoke free environment.

Originating in Japan, the raku firing produces unusual and unpredictable results. Pieces are fired to approximately 1800 degrees and removed red hot from the kiln and placed in metal cans filled with combustible materials. The cans are quickly lidded and the fire burns the oxygen out of the atmosphere producing unusual metal flashing in the glazes along with crackle effects. Unglazed clay absorbs the carbon and is turned black. Results can often be difficult to predict or duplicate. Raku is more labor intensive than conventional pottery due to the firing process. Raku should be considered decorative and not utilized for food.

Accepted payment methods

Paypal Visa Mastercard American Express Discover Apple Pay Klarna Giftcard
Accepts Etsy Gift Cards and Etsy Credits
Returns and exchanges
I gladly accept returns and exchanges
Contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back within: 30 days of delivery
I don't accept cancellations
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
The following items can't be returned or exchanged
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
  • Custom or personalized orders
  • Perishable products (like food or flowers)
  • Digital downloads
  • Intimate items (for health/hygiene reasons)
Returns and exchange details
Insurance is optional. If pottery arrives broken please report it to vfrossman [!at] aol.com immediately. Returns are accepted within 30 if piece is in acceptable condition and buyer pays return postage and insurance. Pleae contact me before returning a piece. I guarantee satisfaction with my work. If a piece does not perform up to you expectations please contact me. I will happily accept undamaged pottery back for a full refund. Your only risk is paying shipping from your direction.
Payment
Cancellations of orders will only be accepted if the item has not been shipped.
Shipping
I will ship internationally. See my listings for prices.
Additional policies and FAQs
Each piece of pottery is handcrafted thus unique. The raku fire process in difficult to control and creates interesting metallic flashing variations and crackle effects.