Andrew Steingass of rural Ada is this month’s featured artist at Gallery 323, Bluffton. Steingass recently began showing pieces at the gallery, located at 323 N. Main St.

EXAMPLES OF HIS CERAMICS IS BELOW -

What follows is a portion of a feature story on Steingass by Monty Siekerman posted last year on Ada Icon.

He talks about grog, slip, and recipes. He burns wood at 2,350 degrees...even in the summer.

That's Andrew (Andy) Steingass, a lifelong resident of Ada, and a ceramicist.

Andrew graduated from Ada High School in 2004, then earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from ONU. He now spends most of his time at the potter's wheel producing a variety of functional pieces.

Andrew has had work accepted in several shows. Andrew works from County Line Studio, which, as the name implies, is on the Hardin-Hancock line (CR 10) just east of SR 235.

The studio is located behind his rural home (yes, chickens peck away in the yard). He built the studio from the ground up with barn timbers on site. The studio contains plenty of room for creating and displaying his work. It has a loft where one day he hopes to teach others the art of sculpting clay.

Out back is the wood-fired kiln, which helps makes his pieces distinctive. Not many potters fire their creations with wood because it takes intense heat for a long period of time, but this process adds beauty to the clay.

A potter using a wood kiln never knows how his work will turn out because each piece is unique depending on the type of wood used and how it burns.

His wife, Melissa, also does some ceramic work when not working as nurse at Blanchard Valley Hospital. She is a graduate of ONU's nursing program.

Want to learn more? Check out his Facebook page (Andy Steingass) or his web site, Andysteingass.com.