Pig Pen Pottery

At Pig Pen Pottery, we specialize in creating functional stoneware pieces for your kitchen and table, as well as unique stoneware lamps, fountains, and masks. Our stoneware is fired in a reduction gas kiln, and we also work seasonally with Raku, pit firing, saggar firing, and alcohol reduction.

The Complexity of a Mug

A mug may seem like a simple piece of pottery, but at Pig Pen Pottery, we believe it's far from it. When creating a mug, we consider how our customers hold and use it. Do they prefer a thin rim or a generous one? A small mug or a large one? The answers to these questions help us create a mug that is not only visually pleasing but also functional and comfortable to use. We also take into account the surface decoration, making sure it complements the mug's purpose and the person using it.

About Laura

I am Laura Laylin, the potter behind Pig Pen Pottery. I work in my home studio, located on my family's farm, Hidden Springs Farm, in Great Falls, Virginia. I create functional stoneware pieces for the kitchen and table, stoneware lamps, fountains, and masks. I fire my stoneware in a reduction gas kiln and work seasonally with Raku, pit firing, saggar firing, and alcohol reduction. My goal is to make pots that are pleasing to the eye, the hands, and the purpose for which they are intended. I find it rewarding when I hear that someone uses my mugs specifically for hot chocolate or my bowls for ice cream.

Hidden Springs Farm

I am fortunate to live on the farm where I grew up, raised my children, and saw my grandchildren grow. I share the farm with 4 goats, chickens, guinea fowl, 2 dogs, foxes, raccoons, coyotes, owls, my husband, Charlie, and my children Shep, Tote, and Jenny, my daughters-in-law, Tara and Kathy, my son-in-law, David, and grandchildren, Morgan, Nate, Autumn, Tobey, Laura, Charlie, and Josephine. The animals and nature that surround me often become decorations on my pots. I have been making pots for over 40 years, and I am self-taught. I have learned that being a potter requires optimism and the subtle art of persuasion. Every pot and every firing teaches me to observe and appreciate the laws that dictate the behavior of the clay and the fire.

Formal Education

My formal education is in Anthropological Linguistics, and I hold a PhD from The American University (1988). My dissertation, "The Prefix in Isletan Tiwa" (Laylin, 1988), has to do with the way language structure determines what we can and cannot say in our language, which is a product of the cultural environment in which it is spoken.

Hidden Springs Farm - A Brief History

The land that now carries the name Hidden Springs Farm was first patented to a Vestryman from Truro Parish (now Alexandria) named Edward Emms, in 1731. From then until 1851, it was owned by local families who farmed the land as subsistence farmers primarily with a cash crop of tobacco on the side. The farm was called Mount Pleasant until the Revolutionary War years when its name was changed to Montpelier, no doubt following the Francophile mood sweeping the states and James Madison's lead. During the Civil War, this area was ravaged as first one army and then the other passed through, taking what they needed. The men were mostly off at war, and the women pledged allegiance to whichever army was camped in the backfield at the time. James Harvey Sherman lived at Montpelier during the war years. He was a farmer, and it is said that he was responsible for rebuilding the farm after the war.