about me

This is the personal website of Mike Evans. Like most people I'm many things. Professionally I studied to be an Electronics and Electrical Engineer, but I've spent most of my working career developing software or managing others to do so.

I like three dimensional art, ceramics in particular and I have a small studio at home. I also love to dance: salsa, jive and ballroom. I do try to keep in good shape. I currently practice a strenuous and flowing form of yoga, augmented by sessions in the gym and pool.

Thanks for visiting - please have a wander around.

pottery

I'm by no means a professional potter, but it's quite a serious hobby. I think I like making something solid that everyone can appreciate because I have spent so much time writing software which is so abstract. Particularly with domestic ware there are some of the same principles of ease of use and practicality, being fit for purpose but also pleasing to use or look at.

There is something special about making a piece which will be used in everyday living. I enjoy the thought that it pleases the user not only in the way it looks empty, but that it will be touched and handled, brought to the lip to sip or filled with a pie and coming hot from the oven.

mid-range firing

Ceramic fired to 1000°C to 1150°C is classed as Earthenware. Stoneware covers anything fired above 1250°C, and in practice it usually means quite a bit higher. Mid-range firing covers the middle ground and centres around 1200°C.

I fire my kiln to 1200°C for a number of reasons. It means that I get most of the density, durability and water-tightness of stoneware. That is to say that any domestic ware I make is oven, freezer and dishwasher safe. Firing the kiln the extra 80 or so degrees to get to stoneware (and many potters fire even higher than that) requries disproportionatly higher energy and places a much greater stress on the kiln fabric and elements.

I'm no expert on glazing, but I do take a real interest in what goes on in the kiln, and I'm not afraid to experiment. I would certainly rather make up my own glazes to a recipe rather than rely on something 'out of a bottle' which I cannot reproduce if the supplier decides to discontinue it.