An article on Jody Johnstone, 38, of Swanville, whose earth-toned pottery has th

An article on Jody Johnstone, 38, of Swanville, whose earth-toned pottery has the look and authority of museum-quality antiquities, albeit with a modern sensibility. Ten years ago, she apprenticed herself to a master potter in Japan, and she applies the techniques she learned to American and utilitarian forms. She uses a 24-foot-long tunnel kiln, modeled on the type of wood-fired kilns used in Bizen, Japan, where she studied. She fires the kiln only twice a year, in May and October, for eight days straight. The kiln requires round-the-clock stoking with about six cords of wood, and Johnstone invites three other potters to fire with her and share the labor. The kiln holds about 800 pots, two-thirds of them Johnstone\u27s. At least 10 percent of the pots are lost during firing