About
Troy Bungart
Three Rivers, Michigan
a Michiana-area Potter
BFA Northern Kentucky University
Instagram is my go-to “About Me” platform. Find recent Instagram posts and a link @troybungart
in the footer (black area) at the bottom of the page.
Hi. Thanks for stopping by. Let me tell you about my Studios.
I have three studios I use to create the product lines I sell: A Pottery Studio, a Woodshop for my Pottery Tools, and a Mixed Media studio for my handmade paintbrushes (which is actually a number of spread-out work stations).
Work in progress in Troy Bungart’s pottery studio.
My Pottery Studio is a converted 3-car garage where I keep my electric kilns, wheel, slab roller and works-in-progress. My gas reduction kiln is in a shed across the drive.
I do soda firing and wood firing with other regional potters. Stoking a wood-fueled kiln requires constant, around-the-clock monitoring for several days. Our group works in shifts to fill and fire these kilns. The extra effort is worth it. While we’re tending the kiln we get to visit together and share ideas.
I especially like wood fired pottery because each wood kiln - even each firing - imparts a unique quality to the finished pottery. I can look at a piece I’ve made and tell you what kiln it came out of.
I have a restless type of energy that always wants to be doing something, making something. I experiment a lot and like variety in my work. I’m interested in everything to do with ceramics: materials, methods and the community of makers.
I respect how pottery captures and carries the story of itself. It speaks volumes.
I hope my pottery conveys to you, my collector, the same delight I have enjoyed in making it for you.
My Woodshop is where I individually shape and contour handmade Pottery Tools from a selection of attractive hard woods.
My market niche on high quality pottery tools exists because I don’t treat them as a manufactured commodity. I inadvertently raised the bar well above utility because, though balanced and functional, my tools are as carefully considered, crafted and finished as my other artwork.
Most pottery tools are either make-do, mass produced or imported, which is why I started making handcrafted tools my fellow artists could appreciate. My hope is that potters will be encouraged and inspired by these fine tools to do their best work.
I don’t have a photo of me in my woodshop, so here I am in Bali demonstrating how I contour my pottery tools by hand.
As I settled into making high quality pottery tools, I asked myself what more I could do for my fellow potters. As a result I got a small laser engraver and a small CNC router that I use to make chop marks, stamps and paddles.
Some potter friends ask me to make quantities of their favorite tools they can sell at workshops and on their websites. I’m proud to create quality tools for the people they inspire.
I make wood knives and Sunshine Sticks for Sunshine Cobb.
I make attachment tools and paddles for Didem Mert.
My most unusual studio is my brushmaking studio. Because my Brushes are mixed media works, I end up setting up work spaces in different locations. From my pottery studio to my wood shop to my desk (and even my dining room table, as shown).
People are surprised to hear I grow my own bamboo in Michigan. I started my grove decades ago with several winter-hardy varieties. I’ve learned to manage their growth and harvest for attractive brush handles.
When I started focusing on aesthetics in toolmaking, it was natural to explore brushmaking in a new light. My goal is to create high quality brushes that can be displayed as artistic objects in their own right. Again, it’s fun to shake up people’s aesthetic concepts with “beautiful tools.”
I spend most of my brushmaking time making bamboo handled brushes or teaching workshops in person and online. I try to set aside a few weeks each year to create fancy brushes with pottery ferrules and turned wood handles. I often collaborate with other artists during this time to stimulate my creativity and expand my vision.
Is there anything else you’d like to know about me and my work or my ideas?
Contact me and ask me questions.
Who knows?
Maybe you’ll spark a blog post, a new type of product,
or a Q&A section here on the About Me page.