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
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.
Items

All Items
Reviews
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JJ on Jan 17, 2018
5 out of 5 starsThis piece was for my hubster. He is displaying it proudly on our counter and we all love it. Thank you, Val! We love your work.
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JJ on Jan 17, 2018
5 out of 5 starsI love Val and her awesome pottery. This piece I bought for a canoe-loving friend and he has always wanted one of her pieces. He adores it! Simply the best!
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esulrich on Dec 26, 2017
5 out of 5 starsVery beautiful piece, and works perfectly for our homemade soap. Wonderful and friendly communication from the shop! Would definitely buy again!
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bollsamanda on Dec 24, 2017
5 out of 5 starsI absolutely love this salt pig! It's a Christmas gift for my husband and I expected it to be delayed due to my last minute shopping. Val saved the day and I received the salt pig in time for Christmas! Great seller and great product! Highly recommend!
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Reviewed by Inactive on Dec 14, 2017
5 out of 5 starsThis soap dish is the coolest. Well made and great design! Can't wait to give it to my husband for Christmas!
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Margaux on Dec 6, 2017
5 out of 5 starsAbsolutely gorgeous! My mother will LOVE entertaining with this piece!
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Dusty on Dec 1, 2017
5 out of 5 starsAmazing salt pig! He's adorable. And very functional...we cook a lot and I was worried his mouth would be too narrow to easily get at the salt. Extremely fast and easy shipping. Thank you!
About potteryrocks
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Placing a piece of redhot raku into a reduction chamber.
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Raku=pottery pyromania.
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I live lake front and love fishing for blue gills off the dock in the spring with my fly rod. Love these bluegill plates
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A hand colored blue gill plate.
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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
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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
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
Returns and exchanges
I gladly accept returns and exchanges
I don't accept cancellations
The following items can't be returned or exchanged
- Custom or personalized orders
- Perishable products (like food or flowers)
- Digital downloads
- Intimate items (for health/hygiene reasons)