Roger Jamison
Juliette, GA
Roger Jamison grew up on the plains of Kansas and attended the University of Kansas and Bethany College, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Studio Art in 1970. He went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts degree in Ceramics from Indiana University in 1974. That same year, he moved to Macon, Georgia, where he taught ceramics, drawing, and design at Mercer University until his retirement in 2009, when he began working full time in his studio.
Jamison’s interest in wood firing began in the 1970s, when he and his students created burnished forms from local clay and fired them in bonfires. In 1984, he built his first high-fire wood kiln at Mercer, which became a regular part of the curriculum. Two years later, in 1986, he was invited to help Frank Boyden and Tom Coleman fire the East Creek Anagama in Oregon—an experience that proved life-changing and ultimately inspired him to build his own anagama kiln.
In 1988, Jamison and his wife, Sherrie, moved to a new home near Juliette, Georgia, where he built a studio and began firing salt-glazed ware in a small wood-burning kiln. He has operated a wood-fire pottery there ever since. In 2000, he constructed a 250-cubic-foot Japanese-style anagama kiln, which is fired for up to five days with wood alone to create distinctive natural ash glazing effects. He replaced the wood-salt kiln with a larger version in 2010 and added a gas kiln in 2015.