Joseph Sands

About Joseph

Joseph lives on 16 acres near Randleman where he and his family established a pottery. Joseph combines the styles of traditional Southern alkaline glaze ware and East Asian design, among others. Using two wood-fired kilns, he produces both salt and ash-glazed wares, ranging in size from very large sculptural vases to planters and a variety of beautiful functional tableware. In 2015, he expanded his creative range to include large, hand-built sculptural ceramics.

Joseph built brick-by-brick, a 40 foot long, 8-foot-wide kiln, which he fires using pine slab offcuts from a local sawmill. Joseph based his kiln off of the anagama kilns, a type of kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th Century. He was able to build the kiln thanks to a loan from a friend, crowdsourcing funds, and receiving the Ella Fountain Emerging Artist Award from the Durham Arts and Council.