Monte Young

Pottery maker Monte Young has no interest in customers admiring his art from afar. Instead, he refers to his “pots” as functional and wants them to be used in people’s daily lives, such as drinking coffee from his mugs, dining on his plates and serving guests with his platters.

“I’m a big fan of utilitarian crafts, regardless of the media,” Monte says. “I try to make sure all customers understand my work is meant to be used in order to truly see its beauty.”

Monte started making pottery in junior high school, and later worked as a production potter in Iowa before getting a “real factory job” to support his family. He continued making his own pottery as a hobby and dreamed of one day firing up his own wood-fired kiln.

That dream became reality in 2013 when Monte and his wife returned to live in Jasper, Ind., to be near children and grandchildren. The move meant Monte could build a 65-cubic-foot, wood-fired kiln on his property and continue making his pots in a basement studio.

“Wood-firing of pottery is a dream I’ve had for the majority of my pottery career,” Monte says. “The community of wood-firing potters in Indiana is fairly small, with less than 10 wood kilns that I’m aware of in the entire state.”

A wood-fired kiln — a brick oven powered by wood — produces ashes from the burning wood, and the substance becomes silica, which turns into glass. That glass sticks to the pottery and melts, self-decorating the pots, which Monte says gives his pots more character.

“I make all my work by hand on either the pottery wheel or with slabs, and when you make pottery this way the authenticity and originality, to a certain extent, come naturally,” he says.