Ashford Clayworks

Ashford Clayworks My name is Alex and I’m a functional ceramic artist in Anchorage, Alaska.

Happy to see that these mugs arrive safe and sound at their new home! Some close friends of mine picked up some of my pi...
07/31/2026

Happy to see that these mugs arrive safe and sound at their new home!
Some close friends of mine picked up some of my pieces on their recent trip to Alaska. These two mugs were some that I’d kept in my “Library of Pots to Learn From” for the past year. I’m happy to say that these were ready to go out into the world and it’s time for me to compile my ruminations on how to make and improve this design.

I made these mugs late 2025 while exploring handles for a school project. Not many explorations were made on this series, but I sure did practice volume.

These are inspired by the glacial fed braided rivers in south central Alaska. Growing up with them I always loved checking in on them every day. They change so frequently that there was always something new

I also got the opportunity to hike with this mug for a little alpine photoshoot. Happy to take full advantage of the alpine bloom season being extended by our cold winter.

Of course Oliver helped me 😅. He played quality control this trip but normally he’s the branch manager

Alpine lake thawing out in June was perfect for a good moody photo.

Looking back at my work, and the places I grew up, it’s really clear for me to see the impact the local landscape has had one me. I’m going to try to connect it more to my work to keep developing 🙂

07/28/2026

Fruit basket time !

Absolutely loved making these fruit baskets over the past few months. Had lots of fun, and certainly learned a lot.

I can’t wait to get back in the studio to make some more ☺️

Tumblers are a simple form. Ive spent a lot of time using my various volumes tumblers this summer and I have learned the...
07/27/2026

Tumblers are a simple form. Ive spent a lot of time using my various volumes tumblers this summer and I have learned they are just the right volume for an evening 12-16oz adult beverage. I love these because I can still kick Oliver’s ball and not end up with myself soaked. However there’s always room for improvement 😂

Cheers to summer and clearing that sometimes life is simple, and sometimes it’s not. But pulling back to the simple core values will always get you through it. Onwards and upwards

Thankful for my boy to always remind me to take care of my inner child and play for a bit ☺️.

I’m quite partial to the brown tumblers, but let me know what yall think !

07/26/2026

Hooray! I’m finally branching out on socials 🎉🎊

Come follow my adventures on whatever platform works best for you. I’m quite partial to instagram but I now have a threads, page and a TikTok up and running. I’ll be doing my best to cross post on all pages but we all know how life goes.

This exposure therapy thing seems to be going well, so a big big thank you to my friends who push me to do hard things. Love y’all ( you know who you are 🥰)

Instagram: Alex Ashford
Threads: Alex Ashford
Facebook: Ashford Clayworks
TikTok:Alex Ashford

❤️

07/25/2026

Brief ( very) overview of my first raku event. I traveled all the way to Hawaii for this one !

07/25/2026

A few years ago I was invited by Kati Pankow Reed to the Raku Hoʻolauleʻa ( festival ) on north shore of Oahu. This was my first time ( currently only time too) going through the Raku process. The trip itself was too short as always but in March, I’ll do almost anything I can to get sunlight.
Through the studio we worked with there was lots of new materials and processes for me to learn, however the greater weather of this festival was the amazing showing of potters from across the islands. If I’m remembering correctly there were 151 potters firing raku kilns on this beach for theee days ! It was amazing to be in this learning community. Anyways on to the lessons learned:

1. Sometimes simple is better ⚪️
The raku process, glazes and reduction are never the same, simple forms helped me learn what may happen to my pieces as firing and reducing the glazes altered the surface effects.
2. Hot kiln + outside in Hawaii = BUGS 🐛 🐞 🐜
Holy mother of cockroaches. With so many kilns firing and being toasty so close to the ground, these bugs were very happy to come up and run away from the heat. If you’ve ever seen Hawaii”s bugs you know ! I got the heebjeebs real bad. I love that Alaska does not have big bugs
3. Grog matters ! 🪨
I seemed to have more success with heavier grog pieces. The pieces made from finer clays developed crazing very early, that then though the cleanup process were revealed to be cracks through the pot. You can’t win them all though 🤷🏻‍♂️

Let me know if you want to hear more about this adventure !

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Anchorage, AK

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