Jan Rowen

Click images to see artist's work.

Jan Rowen grew up in Southern Indiana and received a Bachelor of Arts from Hope College in Michigan in 1967. She earned a Master of Arts in visual arts at the University of Northern Colorado in 1998. After retiring from a lengthy career as a public high school art teacher in Colorado, she embarked on a new direction as a clay artist. Jan works primarily with the raku process, enjoying the spontaneity and element of surprise often involved with this firing technique.

"Born several centuries late into a culture and society which often try my soul, I find the creative process a way of connecting to a more real world. It's hard being a 'shepherd' in an urban setting in the twenty-first century.

"Progressive is not part of my personal description. There is beauty in the imperfect, the impermanent, the unpretentious. Simplicity, evidence of the natural process, and earthiness are some qualities I highly value.

"We shape our beings as we shape our art. Having a shepherd's heart, I frequently find myself creating serviceable items for the shepherd...objects which provide protection and information necessary for the shepherd's survival and growth."

Jan loves the raku process! She loves the involvement...the interaction...the adventure...the discovery...of creating the piece, firing it, pulling it from the kiln with tongs when it is red hot, and plunging it into the large can filled with straw and the experimental substance of the day...then waiting...filled with anticipation to see what one of a kind treasure will come out of the ashes today!

What does this petite lady wear to protect herself from the heat of the open kiln? You should see her! Her oversized, fire proof silver pants are held up by red suspenders. Her bulky overcoat is also silver. Then she puts on her hood. She was using a welder's mask, but it was melting, so her husband bought her a new one looking like something from a space movie.

Recently, she was the envy of the neighborhood teenage girls who saw her in the alley. "WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE PANTS???"

These pieces stand apart from other interior design accents because they are raku; and they stand apart from other raku because they come from the creativity of Jan Rowen. They also stand apart because they are one of a kind, unique, creative pieces...not mass produced interior decorating products. And to top it off, they stand apart, because they are very affordable, and that rarely goes with unique, high quality, fine art pieces.

Many of Jan's jars and vases have very classical shapes with that final touch of her special ginko leaf here, a curl there, or a squigley design and stamp on the side. Her glazes are varied and outstanding. You really know you have a one of a kind treasure when you have a Rowen Raku!

One joy of owning a hand thrown piece is that you can actually see the touch of the master...the small grip of the tongs on this jar, or the thumb line of the potter on another. There will never be another just like this one. It's marvelous when you can see evidence of the process in the final product. For me, for pottery to be "perfect" means it was stamped out in mass production. Each of Jan's pieces is hand created...unique!


"The Japanese raku tradition was developed in the 16th century, and the process was almost exclusively used for creating ware for the tea ceremony. Pots were fired once in the usual way. The second firing involved heating the ware quickly, removing the red hot pot from the kiln with tongs, and allowing the ware to be cooled quickly. While practicing this same firing process today, I also incorporate a 'westernized' technique of post firing reduction. As the red hot pieces are removed from the kiln, they are sealed in a container of combustible material such as newspaper or straw. The reduction of the oxygen in the sealed container creates exciting color changes and patterns in the glazes. Raku ware is decorative and not intended to be used as functional pottery. It is fine for dried flowers, but should be lined with glass or plastic if used with cut flowers. Please avoid placing the raku pieces in direct sunlight."