Nathanael Addison has been working with clay since 2005, and formed Tu Kaets Studios in 2012. “Tu Kaets” is the international phonetic alphabet spelling of “two cats” inspired by the original two cats that ‘inspected’ the early pottery. The studio has taken in additional stray cats, so the number is a little higher than two, but the studio is known as “Tu Kaets Studios”.

 

Most of the pieces begin the process on the pottery wheel, followed by various finishing stages, such as trimming and burnishing. Produce bowls and Tillandsia holders go through additional steps like piercing or combining multiple sections into one cohesive piece. Once the clay object is finished, it is glazed and fired to around 2170 degrees Fahrenheit. Each pot is fired from 1 to 3 times, depending on the clay body and glaze.

 

 

Tu Kaets Studios works with awareness of the environment and has practices to reduce waste. Every scrap of clay that doesn’t end up in a finished pot is rehydrated and used to make more pottery. Small amounts and dried bits of glaze are mixed into a base to form new glaze colors and textures. Before firing, the pottery and kiln shelves spend half of a day in the sun to ensure that the clay and glaze are fully dry, and to bring warmth into the kiln to reduce energy consumption.