Mary Ann Nailos grew up in a small town in the rolling hills of upstate New York. Vacations were spent in the Adirondack Mountains, one of the most beautiful places in the country. “For as long as I can remember, the beauty in nature has had a big influence on me. I love the colors of fall, the textures of stone and wood, the beauty of flowers and the shapes of shells.” Throughout high school she had taken math and science courses.  When she was a senior she opted out of taking physics and enrolled in art class instead. After that, every spare moment was spent in the art room exploring painting, ceramics and textiles. At Nazareth College, a liberal arts college in Rochester, NY, she double majored in art and biology before deciding on science as her career choice. She still took studio art courses as electives every chance she got, concentrating on textiles.

Although she loved working with textiles, Mary Ann was also drawn to clay. After years of collecting other people’s pots, she decided to take wheel throwing lessons. While she learned technique and glazing, she did not find the throwing process to her liking. It was after she took a hand building class that Mary Ann found her voice in clay. “I found that the decision making process in pinching, slab and coil building more suited to my nature. With wheel throwing I felt like I had to know where I was going before I started.”

She started to do raku firing after taking classes in Austin and a workshop with raku guru Steven Branfman. She was drawn to the drama of pulling hot pots out of the kiln, the fire that erupts as the pots are lowered into the reduction bin and the immediacy of the final results. After seeing the smoke fired work of David Roberts and Jane Perryman, she became interested in slip and glaze naked raku techniques and saggar firing. These techniques leave their marks on unglazed surfaces, like tattoos. She attended hands on workshops with naked raku artist Wally Asselberghs of Belgium and Alternative firing with Charlie and Linda Riggs from North Carolina.

She has adapted the techniques she has learned to the raku kilns at the shared studio of ceramic sculptor Richard Hess. She continues to explore other alternative firings, including paper bag saggar, smoke firing in a barrel, and pit firing. She still produces some raku ware with glaze and post fire reduction. “I have some influence on the final surface by the choices I make, but ultimately it is the unpredictability of the firing process that excites me and keeps me interested in exploring these techniques.”