Welcome to the Ceramics of Hoyt Corbett

I realize that while I live in a complex and sophisticated world, I have spent a good part of my lifetime trying to learn to create simple pottery that connects us with food, cooking and enjoying those around us we love… pottery that celebrates the earth where we live.  I make both flameware — pottery that can be used as cookware on the stove and in the oven — and more conventional stoneware. Over the years I have been a professional potter, a tenured university professor in ceramics and, more recently, a patented inventor/manufacturer in alternative energy. I’ve created many types of work, but always come back to the realization that nothing makes me happier than to make objects that can be lovingly used.

I have been making flameware since the 1970s, and feel great affinity with the cultures of the Mediterranean, Asia and the Americas, where indigenous traditions of cooking in clay are, sadly, fading. I hope, in my own way, not only to help keep these centuries-old traditions alive, but relevant to how we live today. My hope is that my work refers to and connects us to these indigenous traditions while adding something new. I have a passion for creating functioning works of art, a passion for food, and a desire to live with enhanced visual, social and culinary diversity, all of which, for me, makes for a life more fully lived.

As you explore this website you’ll see that I have included not only my current work, but pages on my earlier ceramics, on other works, on my mentors and influences, and some contextual pages on ceramic cookware that are more anthropological and culinary in nature. Feel free to contact me at hoyt@cookinclay.com