If you have the chance to visit potter Dian Magie in the summer, it’s easy to become enchanted. Begonias in varying shades of pink fill the flower beds and line the garden pathway to her studio. Her home, shared with her sister, fiber artist Lorraine Cathey, is embraced by two streams, and the setting is abundant with cardinals, blue birds, trillium and hostas.
But regardless of the time of year you visit, you’ll find much of her artwork resplendent with nature’s bounty. Dian crafts pottery using a sgrafitto method to create decorative images of the many native plants on her property. It is a process that demands detail and predictable results so the ceramic is bisque-fired, glazed, and fired again in an electric kiln.
For her other pottery, Dian employs one of the greatest forces of nature – wood fire. Unique to the site is a wood-fire kiln that can hold over 300 pots. It is fired four times a year with an enthusiastic crew. You may even be invited to return to watch a firing where flames rise over 10 feet out of the chimney after each stoke in the later hours.
Dian’s studio is open by appointment only.
