Mark Skudlarek

Mark Skudlarek was first introduced to pottery while attending Saint John's University in central Minnesota. He was originally interested in painting, but after taking a ceramics class, Skudlarek was drawn to clay. It simply felt right. In 1981, he had the opportunity to travel to central France and work in the historic pottery village of La Borne. It was there he had his first experience firing wood-burning kilns. Skudlarek was immediately seduced by the process and the results from the kilns. Returning home in 1983, he sought a four-year apprenticeship with Todd Piker at the Cornwall Bridge Pottery in Connecticut and in 1988, he moved to Wisconsin, where Skudlarek and his wife Gaea, founded Cambridge Wood-fired Pottery. Cambridge Wood-fired Pottery was established with one simple purpose in mind: to make functional wood-fired pots inspired by English, French, and Asian traditions. Each pot begins by processing the clay, then turning each piece on the potter's wheel, and finally firing the pots in a large wood-burning kiln. This way of making pots pays respect to ancient traditions and produces pottery that is functional and connects us to our daily surroundings.