Clay artist Richard Busch is the owner of Glenfiddich Farm Pottery, located in a converted 160-year-old former dairy barn on Catoctin Mountain, just west of Leesburg, Virginia.
The farm is still in
use, with a small herd of cattle grazing the property's 20 acres.
Glenfiddich (pronounced glen-FIDD-ick) -- also the name of a
well-known Scotch whisky --
is the Celtic word for "valley of the
deer," which is appropriate since deer are frequently seen here.
Pots are stamped with a deer symbol.
This view of converted dairy barn (above) was taken from the back meadow, looking northwest. The studio (below) is in the lower level, in a space that was formerly occupied by the stables.
A former magazine editor, writer, and photographer, Richard has been a potter since the 1980s. Though he sells his work primarily from his studio by appointment, his pottery is also available to collectors through various galleries and juried exhibitions around the country. He also holds two annual studio sales, in June and December.
Richard has studied and/or taken workshops with a number of master potters, including Sybil West, Phil Rogers, Michael Simon, Byron Temple, Cynthia Bringle, Malcolm Davis, Mackenzie Smith, Ruthanne Tudball, Seth Cardew, and Paul Soldner, among others. He cites as his strongest influences the work of the English potter Bernard Leach and particularly the Japanese potters Ogata Kenzan and Shoji Hamada. Long an admirer of the Japanese esthetic, he has traveled to Japan to research and write about Japanese pottery.
Richard's pottery -- a variety of items including vases, bottles, bowls, plates, teapots, covered jars, planters, sake sets, and others -- is fired in a 30-cubic-foot propane-fueled salt kiln that he built in 2000. (See "About Salt Firing") He fires the kiln about every three weeks, or roughly 16 times per year.
Member:
- American Crafts Council (ACC)
- National Council for the Education of Ceramic Arts (NCECA)
- Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association (LCVA)
- Loudoun Arts Council
