All Playful Pottery pieces are handcrafted in Jules’ studio near Burlington, Vermont.  Most pieces begin on the wheel, then are taken off the wheel and altered through various techniques, with hand-built finishing touches. It is this combination of wheel-thrown and hand-built processes which has allowed Jules to imbue all of her pieces with a distinctive personality.  

Once completed, each piece is prepared for the Salt Kiln. 

Salt firing's effects are similar to wood firing, both of which are considered ‘atmospheric firing processes’. In a salt kiln, the ware is fired with natural gas or propane as the primary fuel source. 
When the kiln temperature rises above 2000 degrees, Jules adds rock salt into the kiln in "burrito" form via an angle iron, and drops these "salt bombs" into a trough designed to catch the salt while allowing the flames to dissolve it into vapor form.
The kiln is then fired to temperature, around 2200 degrees, is shut down, and cools for 48 hours before unloading.  
As the rock salt mixes with the high temperature and flame inside the kiln, it turns into a vapor. This vapor travels throughout the kiln in a circular pattern, being pushed ahead by the flames from the heat source. As the vapor dances across the surface of the pots it leaves a unique trail on each piece, ensuring that no two pots are ever identical.   
When salt vapor touches bare clay, it creates a gloss, which can build up into an ‘orange peel’ effect:
When salt vapor touches glaze, it can cause shimmering and color distortion on the glaze surface:
And on special glazes, can even cause the glaze to shift in color:
When salt vapor touches some slips, it can cause the slip to ‘flash’ and produce warm orange, yellow, pink and brown tones with variation:
The process of salt firing ensures that each pot in the kiln is truly unique. This variation creates a beauty which is unpredictable and uncontrollable. Jules feels that the final process of soda firing gives an energy to her pots in a way that makes them vibrant and alive.  
Enjoy!