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Gil Stengel has equated productive ceramic work with Zen meditation. Developing personal standards and aesthetics is important, as is proper instruction. Clay and glaze recipes and advice for kiln firing are presented.

Most data shows that the technique of salt glazing is not an environmental or health hazard as previously suggested. Ceramic art pottery kilns do not produce the concentrations of chlorine gas or hydrochloric acids in dangerous proportions.

A potter obtained a permit from the EPA so that he could operate his kiln. The kiln's 12 hr stoking operation produces a plume of dense black smoke that clears in about 90 sec. The man found that people at the EPA were very understanding. Some of the rules under the Clean Air Act are discussed.

The article features ceramic artist Byron Temple and his work. Born on a farm in Centerville, Indiana, Temple pursued undergraduate training in ceramics at Ball State University in Muncie. He moved to New York, spent some time in the army and eventually made his way to the Leach Pottery in Saint Ives, England. He began a production pottery on Swann Street in Lambertville, New Jersey after returning to the U.S. It is noted that the focus of his work changed when he moved to Louisville, Kentucky, but he and his devotion to clay and pots remained the same.

The article features artist Ron Kovatch and his work. Kovatch's 1999 exhibition at the Quincy Art Centre gallery in Quincy, Illinois consisted of a 10-year retrospective of his work, completed while he was a faculty member at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. According to the article, his prints and drawings are testament to the search that he undergoes to express the images and symbols in his life and art. On paper Kovatch works out further issues of his expression using materials not available in the clay world.

The author presents a personal narrative that details his experiences as a studio potter dealing with topics including his interest on the microorganisms in clay, how he first became involved in the practice of beekeeping and how beekeeping relates to his artistic practice.

The article discusses the case for safety in sodium vapour glazing, also known as salt firing. It focuses on the technical issues concerning vapour glazing technique available to ceramic artists. It also highlights the misconceptions regarding salt firing technique and the impact of these ideas on ceramic industries. The author and Gavin Stairs, a Canadian engineer who specializes in salt firing, provided charted data and illustrations on their observations on kiln chemistry along with Peter Meanley and Wil Shynkaruk. Results derived from their observations are also presented.