About the Artist
I make wheel-thrown pottery with the emphasis on functionality, the tactile experience, and the intention of contemplation.
These unique vessels made by my hands should feel right in yours - objects to enjoy while pondering life, the universe, and everything. I take my aesthetic inspiration from organic patterns in nature, the rustic beauty in decay, and the joie de vivre of serendipity. I explore movement and texture through swirling spirals and carved surfaces to invite frequent use and ongoing discovery. My work is heavily influenced by a bittersweet nostalgia, a sensitivity to ephemera, and an appreciation towards unobtrusive beauty.
Ideas and memories, thoughts and dreams – it is my hope to share mine, and inspire yours, through my creations.
Stephen Goss creates functional stoneware pottery in very small batches at his solar powered home studio in Medford, MA. Just him, start to finish, a tiny one-person hobby-business since 2016. (His first pot was made in 1994 and then sporadically for decades.)
Each piece begins as a lump of clay with a daydream which is formed on an electric wheel with two hands, a little water, and a variety of tools. The emphasis is always on quality and character, never quantity or current trends.
Sometimes things are made on a vintage kick wheel or even hand built, and he occasionally participates in reduction, soda, and raku firings with local clay communities, such as Mudflat Pottery Studios in Somerville MA or Raku Maynard. Each piece is unique and one-of-a-kind (with a few “matching” sets now and then) with hopes of being discovered by just the right person to take home and enjoy.All Stephen Goss Pottery wares are mid- to high-temperature glaze-fired stoneware (cone 6-10, about 2200-2300°F) and are non-toxic (lead-free and cadmium-free), microwave-safe, and dishwasher-ready, unless otherwise specified.