Kent potter’s body of work bridges disciplines, cultures

Joy Brown, outside the massive anagama kiln at her studio. Once a year the Kent potter invites artists from the area to load their work in the kiln for a firing that takes more than a week. Photo by Debra A. Aleksinas
KENT — Every 10 minutes, for 40 hours straight, they feed the fiery beast.
Once a year, in alternating shifts, experienced potters, apprentices and friends from the Northwest Corner come together to feed wood into the blazing belly of the sprawling brickanagama at Joy Brown’s South Kent pottery studio. The Japanese-style kiln contains about 200 sculptural and figural pieces of all shapes and sizes painstakingly crafted by Brown and other potters who are participating in the annual Clay Way Studio Tour over Columbus Day weekend.