How This Ceramicist Finishes Her Work With Flames

All Fired Up is our Shop’s monthly handmade ceramics drop, curated by Food52 and all made by small and local makers. This month, we’re featuring Pittsburgh-based artist Meghan Burke of Meghan Burke Studio.

At first glance, ceramics and pizza might not seem connected—but when you learn that Meghan’s work is wood-fired, the flames start to tie things together. Her husband handles most of the pizza-making (she calls herself a "silent partner" in that business), but together, they collaborate on firing her pottery the old-school way: using real wood, high heat, and plenty of patience.

Originally from a coastal New Jersey town, Meghan has spent time living and doing residencies in natural gems like Maine, Colorado, and upstate New York—all of which shaped her connection to craft and nature. But it was outside Pittsburgh, at Touchstone Center for Crafts, that she discovered wood firing and has been hooked ever since.

Before chatting with Meghan, I didn’t know much about the process. She explained that it’s one of the most primitive firing methods—dating back to the fifth century—and relies entirely on flame and wood ash to create surface textures and glazes. What’s wild is that no two pieces ever come out exactly the same. The way the fire dances, where the ash lands—it’s all up to chance (and a bit of skill, of course). Even the tiniest detail, like the tip of a butter dish, can turn out completely different than expected.

The process is intense. The kiln runs at over 2,000 degrees and needs to be hand-fed with wood every few hours for two days straight. Meghan typically schedules a few firings a year and gathers a group to keep the fire going around the clock.

The result? Earthy, elegant pieces with subtle textures, deep colors, and finishes that look like sea glass embedded in stone. Her new exclusive drop for Food52 is no exception. It has everything you need to set a dinner party table, including candleholders, a vase, and one of the prettiest butter dishes I’ve ever seen.

Despite the heat and unpredictability of her work, Meghan brings a calm, thoughtful energy to everything she does. We caught up with her to talk about how she got started, why she sticks with wood firing, and what makes this month’s collection so special.

How did you first get into ceramics? Did you immediately love it?

I always dabbled in ceramics when I was younger, but it didn’t really stick until college. I went in thinking I’d focus on drawing and painting, but I took a ceramics class my first semester just for fun and ended up loving it. My professor encouraged me to keep going, so I did. Eventually I was like, “Wait, this is it. This is what I want to do.”

Can you break down what makes wood firing so different?

A lot of people don't understand that it's not like an electric kiln with a glaze where what goes in is what comes out. With wood firing, the pots all interact with each other inside the kiln. So, you can have a handle interacting with another pot and almost get a shadow outline of it.

Most of my work is unglazed, so the different colors are created from the flame and the wood ash hitting the pot and then melting on it.

What does a typical firing weekend look like?

My husband and l go down for the whole weekend. Students or other community members come down. We glaze, we wad, and we load. Then we start the kiln that night.

We all take turns, but somebody's always there adding wood. And it's a whole 48 hour process—a true community effort.

How has nature inspired your work?

I've always been inspired by the natural elements of the world and its repetitive actions. And even when I fire, I'm still driving an hour and a half outside of Pittsburgh.

I get to disappear from city life to go back into the woods. I always think that’s how I refuel myself. And growing up by the beach, I’ll always return to the ocean when I need to reset.

What has working with clay let you explore that other creative outlets haven’t?

What I like the most is thinking about all the people that have my ceramics and use them every day. When someone comes up and says, “I use your bowl every day,” it's one of my favorite parts.

Tell me about the All Fired Up collection.

I’m really excited to be able to showcase my home goods-slash-kitchen lines—and the pie dish is completely new. I had to really figure out how I was going to make this last and use a specific stoneware that's good for thermal shock (so it doesn’t crack).

The butter dishes are completely unglazed, so that color is just from wood ash and flame hitting the pot for 48 hours and melting.