ABOUT BRANDBEORN POTTERY CELTIC STONEWARE Brandbeorn Pottery is primarily wheel thrown, hand decorated stoneware made by me, Kyle Crutcher. My shapes are influenced by both Medieval British and modern folk pottery. You may recognize the designs I use as Celtic knotwork. I have long been interested in this beautiful style of art which reached its zenith in the 7th and 8th century illuminated manuscripts of Ireland, Scotland, Northern England and Wales. Though my inspiration is mainly Celtic in origin I have allowed some Anglo-Saxon and Viking influences to creep in as well. Each piece goes through at least ten steps from raw clay to finished item. These steps include weighing, wedging, throwing, trimming, decorating, as well as two firings. All of my glazes are lead and barium free. My stoneware pieces are crafted to give years of service and are oven safe, dishwasher safe, and microwaveable. CELTIC RAKU I have recently began producing one of a kind Raku fired pieces with Celtic motifs. Because the Raku process uses a relatively low temperature firing the clay body remains somewhat porous and the pieces can not hold liquids. SCI-FI Another recent addition to Brandbeorn Pottery is a line inspired by my love of science fiction. I have created a series of stoneware spaceships, which are also jars and bottles, and a variety of alien creatures. WHAT’S IN A NAME ? I’m often asked what “Brandbeorn” means or stands for, so in brief here is the story of how “Brandbeorn” Pottery came to be. During the mid-80s I began to get serious about my art and started to look into ways of getting my wares noticed (and hopefully, bought). About this same time I became involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism, an educational Medieval re-creation organization. Part of the fun of the SCA, besides the medieval feasts and tournaments is creating a persona. Due to my interest in early Medieval Britain, I created an Anglo-Saxon persona. I chose Wulfgar (“wolf-spear” in modern english) as a first name and came up with Brandbeorn to differentiate myself from all the other Wulfgars in the society. I was working as a firefighter at this time and wanted my name to reflect that somehow. After a lot of research into Old English I found that “Brand” (sounds like brahnd) was a word that meant torch or was used poetically to mean “fire”. “Beorn” (sounds like bay-ern) is the Old English word for warrior or fighter, so together they form “firefighter”. I thought this would also be a good name for my pottery business, especially since many of my first customers were SCA members. The name has now survived some twenty years despite the trouble people have with spelling it.