Artist Bio

Ellen Foster Sedgwick throws pots on her treadle wheel in her studio out back.  She makes functional pots for everyday use. Her pots are strong yet soft and she loves the thick wild surfaces created by wood firing as well as the quieter ones.  She enjoys using brushwork to add other layers for contemplation.

Ellen was born and raised in the Chicago metropolis yet always felt the strength of something primeval around her.  Cultured in her growing up, she sought a ruggedness to balance the lines of conformity she sensed around her.  Pressured by her Ethicist father to do something of meaning, she searched to find what that was, what that meant.  In 1997 Ellen went to college in Bar Harbor and found what she was looking for in wood fired pots and in Maine. “I find the qualities of rough and refined, physical and atmospheric, and process and intuition embodied in wood firing and these things are foremost in how I experience existence .”  Since as young as she can remember, the weight and wonder of these more transcendental questions have consumed her.  Ellen also explores these concepts in Buddhism, meditation, and yoga, which she has studied all over the country and in a few places internationally. 

The time honored technique of wood firing finds its origins in Japan, a country of aesthetic beauty with attention to “ancient ideals that include wabi (transient and stark beauty), sabi (the beauty of natural patina and aging), and yūgen (profound grace and subtlety).”[1   Ellen feels a resonance with these ideals and the Japanese view that they are an integral part of daily life. She has been strongly influenced by potters Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada both by their pots and their philosophies.  

Ellen has studied and fired with some of the most renowned American woodfire potters, including Jody Johnstone, Randy Johnston, Jack Troy, and Kevin Crowe.  She completed two apprenticeships and worked as a studio assistant in her younger days.  She recently designed and built a 12 foot anagama kiln which fires solely with wood for a week reaching temperatures above 2200 degrees. She is so grateful to be living her dream and all the learning that lies ahead. She lives in Surry, Maine with her husband and 3 young children.

Artist Statement

I make pots to find meaning. There is a sense of presence and timelessness that I feel when making and firing my pottery and I believe this is contained within the final piece. In today’s world of stress and constant activity there is a need and a want to slow down and really feel the present moment and I think the pots do that. When you interact with a pot in your life it makes you pause and notice the line, the surface, how it feels in your hand. It makes you notice the food you're eating out of it and it adds a quality to that experience. I am fascinated by the elements of wood and fire and intrigued with the surfaces that are created. To me there is an aliveness held within the pot, that is my passion. My pots are daily pieces. They are sturdy and useful and add beauty to the everyday.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aesthetics#cite_note-stanford-1