Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Mcllhargey grew up in Yellow Springs, his father from Toledo and his mother from Iran. The two met while Mcllhargey’s father was stationed in England.
“My father was a pianist and composer. My stepfather was a builder and woodworker. I was never bored — if I ever had free time, if I wasn’t playing sports, I was always doing art.
“Yellow Springs attracts artistic people. Antioch College had a very strong pottery program in the ’60s, ’70s and into the ’80s. There were a lot of potters because of that.
“Growing up in Yellow Springs in high school they had a program called ‘Community Experience.’ The students worked with people in the community and got credit. I got placed with a pottery couple. All four years I worked with them. That taught me the basic skills — how to work with clay and on the wheel.
“When I went to Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana I was lucky to take a pottery class my first year. My professor, Mike Thiedeman, was very influential and taught a lot of kids that went on to be potters.”
Inspired by his teacher, Mcllhargey pursued apprenticeships based in the Mingei movement. Originating in Japan, the approach emphasizes the beauty of everyday functional objects. This led Mcllhargey to his two mentors — Todd Piker and Cary Hulin.
“Studio pottery was introduced as a reaction to industrialization. Mingei is basically the unknown craftsperson that makes beautiful objects for daily use, and doesn’t need to be or want to be known. Apprenticeships were the common link that kept the tradition going, and I was lucky enough to work with two wood-fired potters who are part of this tradition.
“Learning how to be a production potter is to learn how to make a lot of pots but also how to build and fire a wood kiln.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
A kiln is a special kind of oven that reaches extremely high temperatures to process clay into pottery. The most common kind of kiln is electric. Wood-fired kilns are built outside and reach temperatures of over 2000 degrees.
“It is also learning the philosophical element of why — why is it important to educate my customers about living with beauty and functional pottery? What makes a beautiful piece of pottery? Why does a teapot or pitcher need a particular shape? We look to the Far East because they’ve been doing it for hundreds and hundreds of years and they understand beauty and how it’s incorporated into daily function.”
Mcllhargey, 49, lives with his wife, Jalana Lazar, a midwife who teaches nursing school students, their children Emil (13) and Elyse (10), cats Orio and Midnight, and a Goldendoodle named Abby who can be spotted running around outside with the neighbor’s pony. The couple are also close with their foster daughter, Bli, who Jalana met 26 years ago while in the Peace Corps in Madagascar. Now 30, Bli is studying International Relations and Economic Development in Germany.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
COFFEE & TOAST
“I wake up at 7, pack the kids lunch and rush them out. I drive them to school in the morning.”
He makes Jalana tea, and himself a French press of coffee, selecting their mugs from the many hanging on hooks from the kitchen ceiling. Their children have been using pottery since they were babies and are always welcome to spend time in the next door studio.
“I’ve recently become obsessed with this baker in town who makes incredible bread, so I have toast every morning.”
The bread comes from Blue House Bakery, which is just as it sounds — a Yellow Springer named Helena bakes it out of her blue house.
A brass tray coffee table sits in the middle of the family room where Mcllhargey makes a fire in a wood burning stove. He keeps his coffee warm on the stove while checking email.
LIVING ART
The family lives in a “National Home”, similar to a Sears catalog house. It is full of pottery from around the world. Persian-inspired pieces line the dining room wall along with other artists’ work including a painting by local artist Andrea Starkey. A hand-painted tile mural in the kitchen depicting the property’s dahlia field was a collaboration with local artist Jennifer Rosengarten.
Mcllhargey is in the process of a “huge” commissioned tile mural for the new WYSO headquarters building in Yellow Springs.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
PREPPING CLAY
At 9 a.m. he makes his way over to the studio. He usually works alone, but these days has an assistant named Josh who reached out for an apprenticeship.
“We weigh out balls of clay. We talk about what pot we’re going to make for that day considering the theme.
“I used to make my own clay. I didn’t love that labor intensive part of the process, so when Emil was born and I didn’t have as much time, I started having clay brought to me. I don’t wedge because it’s not good for your body.”
Wedging in the process of kneading and slamming down clay by hand to remove air bubbles before throwing it on a wheel.
“As a production potter, you want to eliminate repetitive processes that are not good for you. We recycle clay in a machine called a deairing pugmill. It extrudes it and takes the air out.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
HUMBLING PROCESS
Every two years Miami Valley Pottery has a show at the Winds Cafe. A display in the studio is full of postcards from all the collections over the years. Setting up and taking the picture for each new release is a ritual and can be a big production with friends stepping in to assist. In one instance, Mcllhargey laid out thousands of pots in a dragon formation and had a drone take an overhead photo.
“Today I’m working on teapots. That process is trimming the lid, putting the knob on the lid, putting the spout and handle on. Later today I will work on the inlaid part of it. I pick themes that I don’t know anything about. There’s an opportunity to learn and grow.
“The nature of wood firing is that a flame can mark a pot. There’s a lot of risk involved. Over the years I’ve learned to be very detached. I’ll spend 10 hours decorating one pot. If I ever think in my head or verbally say out loud that I love it, it’ll go down in the firing. It’s the humbling nature of this process.”
THE KILN
“If a new customer comes, even if my hands are wet with clay, I will stop whatever I’m doing and talk to them, show them the process. I’ll take them out to the kiln and educate them in why it’s important for there to be a potter in their life. We invest in explaining the process to our customers so that they get excited and have the language and understanding of why it may become important to them.”
The wood-burning firing process at Miami Valley Pottery takes place just twice a year, with thousands of pieces made in the meantime. Mcllhargey built the kiln with his stepfather, David, who he says has been essential to the business. It took a whole year to build, and is the largest wood kiln in Ohio, with 450 cubic feet of stacking space. The wood used to fire it is sourced from sawmill waste product, which Mcllhargey cuts from slabs.
He takes two weeks to load the kiln, enjoying the process of nestling the pieces in like a “three dimensional puzzle”. The oven builds to a temperature of 2500 degrees. The wood ash flies through the kiln and melts onto the pots, creating unique, and unpredictable, formations of color.
Around 30 people come out to help with the firing, including his childhood best friend, engineers, and firefighters who are interested in the process. The ritual is to let children of friends and family use torches to light the kiln. Then there are five days of firing, with Mcllhargey continuously feeding in wood. It cools for five additional days.
“I get stressed out during the firing. I normally am very relaxed and chill, but when it comes to firing the kiln I get very worried, even though we’ve fired the kiln 35 times and the crew is unbelievable.”
After the kiln cools, the pieces are taken into the studio which is transformed into a showroom.
FEAST WITH FRIENDS
“Jalana picks the kids up from school so I can keep working. The goal is to spend as much time as possible in the studio. Some nights I go back out and work.”
In the kitchen sits a stack of plates specifically for dinner parties, and another for nightly family meals. Outside the house are two pavilions that Mcllhargey’s stepfather helped build. There is a pizza oven and a large table that can fit 30. In summer and fall homegrown flowers fill ceramic vases on the outdoor table. The pottery is central to the gatherings.
“I love to cook. It’s therapeutic for me. We do a lot of entertaining and dinners with friends and there will always be a component of Persian food. It’s my comfort food. We cook a feast and set the big table. The pottery is central to the daily ritual of being a potter.”
MORE DETAILS
Miami Valley Pottery is located at 145 E. Hyde Road in Yellow Springs. Call or email to arrange an appointment: (937) 767-7517; naysan@mvpottery.com.
Miami Valley Pottery’s next kiln opening sale will happen at the beginning of June 2025. Follow mvpottery.com for more info. If the “Open” sign is out on the road, you’re welcome to stop by.
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