Little Mahoning Creek Pottery
Nancy Smeltzer
87 Clarion St.
Smicksburg, PA 16256

 

1. 954 North-6 miles to Smicksburg
2. Turn right on Clarion street
3.Studio on left--behind 87 Clarion St.

 

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The Little Mahoning Creek Pottery studio sits behind her house in the popular village of Smicksburg. (mouse over the picture to see the front of the house) Nancy Smeltzer is also constantly improving her house, studio and kilns. The studio is functionally rustic and is full of ideas, bird figures, reminders of nature and wonderful pottery.

Kyle Houser will be a guest potter in the studio for this tour.

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Nancy Smeltzer:

Bio:

Nancy has a background in food, including an apprenticeship with Paul Prudhomme in New Orleans and a degree in Food and Nutrition form IUP. When her full time job at IRMC led her away from creating things with her hands she turned to clay. From 1992 to 1996 she studied ceramics with Donn Hedman. Workshops with Kevin Crowe (single fire process) , Ron Myers, Suze Lindsay, have been important in her informal learning process. She has been a member of the Pittsburgh Craftsman Guild since 2000 and has been teaching beginning and intermediate pottery for the Continuing Education Department at IUP since 1996.

In the past five years Nancy has built three kilns: A 50 cu. ft. bourry box wood kiln, a 18 cu. ft. gas kiln and a train kiln. Wood is used from local Amish sawmils. Soda ,soda ash and whiting are used in the wood kiln to produce flashing and salt in the smaller kiln to produce a glazing.

In 2008 Nancy took a sabbatical from teaching continuing education ceramics at IUP to take a work shop with Kevin Crowe and Jack Troy and fire the two chambered Naboragama.

 

Artist's Statement:

1999-2009 Celebrating 10 years this month in Smicksburg and Little Mahoning Creek Pottery
I have been called a wood - aholic and I confess that I do get very excited at picking up a load of wood at the sawmill cut just to the right length for the kiln, bringing it home and stacking it. The anticipation for the next fire grows with each truck load I haul home. Some pine/hemlock, some oak.cherry ash and hickory . Smicksburg and the area around with all the Amish sawmills is a haven for the wood fire potter!
We (it is a community thing) have fired the train kiln 3 times and we are still trying to figure it out.We have gotten some fabulous results and some re-fires .
We have raised the chimney one and a half feet (no easy thing balancing a step ladder on a slanted roof) and squeezed the walls in toward the chimney for this next firing.
Come visit us at the studio the week end of Oct 17th and 18th to see how the ware turned out. Nanc

 

 

See below for some a sample of Nancy's work or click here. You can click on the photos below and open a larger view of the pot.