Wheel-thrown stoneware · Fired in Chico, CA
Martian Mudworks makes small-batch stoneware — mugs, bowls, and vessels — thrown on the wheel, glazed, and built for daily use.
How a piece is made
01
Stoneware clay is wedged to remove air, then centered on the wheel head.
02
The form is opened and pulled up by hand, one steady rise at a time.
03
Bisque-fired pieces are dipped and brushed with glaze, then set aside to dry.
04
A final firing to cone 6 vitrifies the clay — food-safe, dishwasher-safe, done.
Recent work
More pieces added as new work comes out of the kiln.
The studio
Martian Mudworks started as a way to slow down — a wheel, a block of stoneware, and the strange satisfaction of pulling a wall of clay up from nothing. Every piece is thrown, trimmed, glazed, and fired by hand, which means no two mugs come out quite the same.
The name comes from the glaze: an iron-rich rust that fires to the color of red earth — the kind you'd expect to find somewhere far from here.