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Arlene Forest Sjöblom
Potter
Arlene Forest Sjöblom grew up in Madison, CT and attended college in Pennsylvania, where she fell in love with ceramics. She moved to the Syracuse, NY area in 1994 and began taking pottery courses and joined the Syracuse Ceramic Guild. She studied ceramics under Margie Hughto at Syracuse University for a number of years before opening her studio, a forest pottery. She and her husband relocated to the Portland, OR area in 2006, where she is a member of the Oregon Potter's Association.
Her high fire stoneware and porcelain pieces are handmade one-of-a-kind creations with a focus on joining function with beauty.
She specializes in functional ware for the kitchen and dining table. "I make pots for use that enhance the daily experiences in life. My pottery is intended as much for the eye as for the hand. The character of the clay and glazes, the markings of the fire, and the modulations in form that give a piece its character are as important as the intended use. People are drawn to how a piece of pottery feels in their hands, and this makes functional pots the most intimate objects of art".
High-Fire Ceramics:
All her pottery is high fire, creating extremely durable pieces. This term distinguishes both the firing temperatures used, as well as the clays and glazes specially formulated for this type of firing.
The finished ceramic piece is carefully dried and then exposed to extreme heat to vitrify
(make solid) the clay and mature the glazes. All stoneware is fired to over 2200 degrees, causing the glazes to melt and flow into beautiful glassy surfaces.
High-fired ware is more dense, because the clay vitrifies more thoroughly than low-fire ceramics. Stoneware is often a better choice for tableware that may get rough or constant handling. Because it is fired to such high temperatures, it is oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe.
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