Humble Houses

Humble Houses were originally made as centerpieces for Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley’s 2018 annual fundraising event. Since then, each fall I devote a month to making these quirky little houses for our annual auction to raise awareness for the need to build affordable homes and help those in our community who dream of owning their own place. Each of the houses come from my imagination, depicting memories of dilapidated smoke houses, barns and whimsical representations of dwellings. The pieces are fired in an electric kiln, painted with glazes, stains and oxides and fired outside in a make shift kiln to 1800 degrees. Glowing red hot, each piece is carefully transferred to a metal container of combustible materials and “smoked” until cooled. This reduction in oxygen produces chemical reactions which result in crackled glazes, metallic finishes and earthy smokey hues.