Hearts & Flowers Blog

Hearts and Flowers Primitives is happy to carry some of local potter Tasha Biggers tart burners.  These tart burners are a great way to get great scent out of our wax melts.   For more about Tasha keep reading.

I have been a potter for ten years. The summer after I graduated high school, I took private lessons from a local potter, Bob Owens, and the next year, I began classes at North Georgia College & State University, under Mark of the Potter resident Matt Henderson. While at North Georgia, I apprenticed at Hickory Flat Pottery in Clarkesville, with Cindy Angliss.

I am very thankful that I had the ability to take traditional classes while at the same time apprenticing in a working studio and shop. The skills I learned in both environments gave me the tools I needed to open my own studio in 2008.

When I got married, my husband, Heath, and I were in the process of building our home, which we moved into a month later. My studio is located in the basement, but not just any basement – out its windows, I get a panoramic view of Yonah Mountain and the mountains surrounding it.

Our home is located on our family’s cattle farm. It has been in the Biggers family for generations, and we feel blessed to live here on top of our hill. It’s also a great place for an artist to live.

We have a small garden, and try to plant things like tomatoes, peppers and asparagus each year. Now we’re waiting on what looks to be an abundant crop of raspberries. I love to cook with our garden’s bounty, and serve it in my pottery. My pots are stoneware, which means they are quite durable, and they’re oven, dishwasher and microwave safe.

I fire to about 2300 degrees Fahrenheit in a propane-fueled kiln. I reduce the oxygen in the kiln at 1645 degrees to achieve my bright and varied glaze colors, including a deep red. I mix my own glazes from materials like silica, copper and kaolin. Mixing glazes is a lot like baking – a lot of precise measurements. My favorite glaze is “Watercolor Celadon.” It combines a traditional Japanese celadon green glaze with turquoise and red, and the result is very painterly, hence the name. It is very satisfying to create something beautiful that is also functional.

I feel honored when I hear a customer say they use one of my mugs daily, or that a bowl was just the right size for their favorite dish. I sell my pottery at festivals, online and through my gallery, which is located adjacent to the studio on Tom Bell Road in Cleveland, GA. If you’re up in the mountains on the weekends, keep an eye out for my black and white signs. I’m open most Saturdays and Sundays, and if the signs are out, that means you’re welcome to stop by and browse my newest works. For more information, visit my Web site at www.tashabiggerspottery.com. -Tasha Biggers