A Bit of Whimsy
Bev Haley’s stoneware flips the rational world upside down
What if a cow sold milk? Or a cat — draped in a bonnet and clutching a purse of fish — decided to walk the dog? How can
our world integrate into a fairytale? Bev Haley asks herself those questions when it comes time to create, “I’m not sure how it
happened,” she says. “I started as a traditional potter. When I came back to it many years later, pottery had made leaps and
bounds to a more whimsical interpretation. I created these forest ladies, then the next thing I thought of, a cow could be selling
milk, that would be funny, or a cat walking a dog. These ideas seemed to make sense. Things just progressed and I’m now looking
toward different ways to expand that same idea.”
Haley’s stoneware isn’t
limited to forest ladies or
milk-selling cows. Forest
Bowl, a stoneware pot,
features a traditional form
coated in thick, dripped
glaze. Gold House walks
one into the forest where a
textured birdhouse is built
within the treetops. Inside,
a blue bird sits in its nest.
Haley enjoys straddling
fiction and fact, letting her
creations float within our
world while flirting with a
bit of fantasy.
When not crafting the
otherworldly, she also
creates raku pots influ-enced
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WBM
by Hiroshi. Raku is
a Japanese form of pottery
that includes bisque firing
(fired before glaze) and a
secondary fire that lets the
glaze become liquid. This
method creates crackled
glaze surfaces, metallic
effects, and black smoked
unglazed clay. Haley’s
raku pots maintain a bit
of whimsy with Asian
influences, textural details,
and surface movement that
evoke freedom.
She says Orange Street
Pottery isn’t just about
creation or education.
Haley finds inspiration
and encouragement in
like minds and developing
friendships.
ALLISON POTTER