Wild Acres Pottery Barn owner Cheryl Herndon shows off some wares infused with horsehair in her studio. Although usually using pottery, Herndon experimented with using the hair on miniature horses like the one pictured, though the process ended up being more effort than worth it with the majority of the pieces breaking.
Wild Acres Pottery Barn owner Cheryl Herndon places horsehair on a heated piece of pottery, with the resulting carbon burn leaving patterns on the ware.
A collection of horsehair pottery is on display in Wild Acres Pottery Barn owner Cheryl Herndon’s studio.
For those looking for a memorial of a particularly loved horse, a novel opportunity for a tribute is available through one Clark County artist.
Cheryl Herndon, a county resident on the edge of Brush Prairie, runs Wild Acres pottery Barn, which along with numerous pieces of painted artwork also produces pottery infused with horse hair. Apart from the unpredictable designs Herndon’s process produces, the pieces also can serve as a memento of a beloved animal.
For the horsehair pottery, Herndon uses the raku ware technique. Based off of traditional Japanese pottery used in tea ceremonies, the unique process of making the wares is made even more novel given the addition of horse hair.
Herndon gave a rundown of her process. After forming the piece it is left to dry, sometimes for a few weeks if required, she said. For “regular” raku without hair, after an initial firing in the kiln the pot is coated with glaze and fired again to a specific temperature after which it is brought out with tongs and dropped into a container filled with some sort of combustible material such as shredded newspaper or wood shavings. When the hot pottery at a temperature at least 1,800 degrees hits the material, it catches fire, producing a new design from the smoke and flames.
For the pots infused with horse hair, during the second firing the piece is pulled out and set on a preheated plate. At the right temperature, Herndon adds strands of hair to the hot pot, leaving a carbon mark on the piece.
“The horse hair curls and dances all around the pot, and lands where it wants to,” Herndon said. She said that the design that comes with the process has been a hit with patrons due in part to a little imagination.
“They’ll look at their horsehair vase and they will say, ‘oh my gosh, I see my horse in there,’” Herndon said. “It takes on a shape and a design all its own.”
Herndon said her artistic pursuit began in childhood, having a long line of artists in her family. After taking time to raise her family, her work began to ramp up when a bad hip made her give up horseback riding. That, along with her husband Mike buying her a pottery wheel and kiln, made the perfect opportunity to pursue art more aggressively.
With some education in pottery thanks to the internet, Herndon began to experiment in the medium, eventually picking up the idea to incorporate horsehair into the process.
Apart from horse hair, Herndon said she has done similar work with goat and dog hair. Last year she experimented with hair from her deceased mother-in-law to make ornaments for the rest of the family, adding humans to the list of species who have been a part of the projects.
Though she’s branching out in terms of hair sources, horsehair works the best, Herndon said, due to its coarse texture and its length, making the process of applying the hair to a heated pot less of an occupational hazard.
Herndon said she already has orders ready for summer when the climate allows for optimal firing. Being local, Herndon said her pieces are cheaper than the competition, where horsehair raku vases can get into quadruple digits. Herndon’s connection with the horse community in Clark County makes her inclined to keep it affordable, as she mentioned she is generally able to give a good rate for the work under $50.
