Daniel Johnston was raised on a farm in Randolph County, North Carolina. In his early teens his family moved to Seagrove, the center of a three-century-old pottery tradition. He left high school at 16, worked for local potteries and later completed a four-year apprenticeship with Mark Hewitt. His desire to make large pots led him to Phon Bok, Thailand where he worked intensively with traditional Thai potters absorbing their unique method of making large storage jars. After returning to the US he built his own shop and kilns where he now produces his highly distinctive works using local stoneware clays and natural glaze materials including clay from the ground outside his studio and ashes from the wood stove that warms him as he works.—Anonymous