Bear Hills Pottery

Bear Hills Pottery Bear Hills Pottery is made by potter Don Kopyscinski in Newtown, CT I make stoneware pottery.

I make things like mugs, bowls, pitchers, baking dishes, vases, plates, and other similar items.

My studio will be open this coming Mother’s Day weekend from 11-6 Saturday & Sunday. If you need a gift for Mom, or if y...
05/11/2023

My studio will be open this coming Mother’s Day weekend from 11-6 Saturday & Sunday. If you need a gift for Mom, or if you would like to pick something up for yourself, please stop by.

My address is:
5 Lori Lynn Circle
Newtown, CT

We are the last house on the left. Our house and barn are light tan. Please come up the driveway and come in the “Enter Here” sign on the side of the barn.

I look forward to seeing you here. I have posted some pictures of items that I have in stock.

Wow! This is amazing. What spectacular pictures.
02/13/2023

Wow! This is amazing. What spectacular pictures.

A case of false advertising
02/13/2023

A case of false advertising

This is the picture of all the pots that came out of the last firing.They will be available at my open house the next tw...
12/07/2022

This is the picture of all the pots that came out of the last firing.
They will be available at my open house the next two weekends.

I’ve got more pots coming out of the kiln. As you will see, there is a huge difference in the pots after the firing. The...
12/02/2022

I’ve got more pots coming out of the kiln. As you will see, there is a huge difference in the pots after the firing. The colors that go in the kiln are nothing like the finished pots that come out.

I never know exactly how they will come out until the kiln has cooled for nearly a day after the kiln gets shut down at its peak temperature.

Here is a loaded kiln ready to be fired.

It’s temperature rising on it’s way up.

Then, after the kiln has cooled back down, comes the reveal.

What a difference 2,300° makes.

I will be having an open house at my studio the weekend of the 10th and the weekend of the 17th. Please stop by if you get the chance. I would love to see you.

I have not been very active here on Facebook. I intend on posting more in the future. If you like my work, please “like”...
11/07/2022

I have not been very active here on Facebook. I intend on posting more in the future.
If you like my work, please “like”my site. I will be adding some more posts and news about upcoming events.

10/09/2022

I just came across this on my iPad. I thought that I would like to share here.

This year’s Eastern States Exposition, (The Big E”) is well under way. I submitted three pieces to be judged. I am plea...
09/29/2021

This year’s Eastern States Exposition, (The Big E”) is well under way. I submitted three pieces to be judged. I am pleased to say that I received 3 Blue Ribbons for excellence as well as receiving the designation of “Best in Category”.

06/15/2021

Hi everyone,
This last week in Connecticut there was a report of 3 people who contracted lead poisoning from using a piece of pottery.

Let me start by assuring everyone that my pottery has never, and will never use lead in any way shape or form.

Over the years, I have met hundreds of potters and have not known a single one to be using lead in their pottery.

What such news articles often fail to mention, is that in cases like this, the offending piece of pottery has been made outside of the US and has been imported.

I have seen pictures of the baking dish that contained lead in the most recent case.

I have contacted the Connecticut Department of Health to release and announce the “Country of Origin” of the baking dish. They have not, as of yet responded to my request.

Without confirmation of the country of origin the piece is question assembles some ware made in Mexico. There are a few other countries that it may have come from, and without sufficient data, this is an educated guess.
The baking dish appears to be rather crudely made. It also appears to have made from “terra cotta” which is a clay that is fired at a relatively low temperature.

Why would anyone use it in the first place? It causes glazes to melt at lower temperatures than most traditional pottery. This saves dramatically on kiln fuel costs because the kiln does not need to get as hot as is usually the case.
Also, some of this type of pottery is fired under rather primitive conditions with very little if any quality control.

I digress…

My main point is such instances of lead poisoning are most exclusively imported from foreign countries.

The most important fact that I want to convey is that, Bear Hills Pottery does not, nor has it ever used lead in the making of our pottery or the glazes that are applied to it.

These types of news stories frustrate me because a great part of the back story is omitted. The headlines tell of lead poisoning gotten from “a piece of pottery”..I have never seen one that leads with the fact that the offending piece has been imported. In addition, the “Country of Origin” is generally omitted.

So, fear not, there is NO LEAD used in the production of my pottery.

Don Kopyscinski
The potter at Bear Hills Pottery

01/22/2021

This is a slide showing how I make a bowl on the potters wheel. I’ve been experimenting with photo filters. I like the effect that I got on this one.

Enjoy

Address

5 Lori Lynn Cir
Newtown, CT
06470

Opening Hours

Monday 12pm - 6pm
Tuesday 12pm - 6pm
Wednesday 12pm - 6pm
Thursday 12pm - 6pm
Friday 12pm - 6pm
Saturday 12pm - 6pm
Sunday 12pm - 6pm

Telephone

+12034268602

Website

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