My Story

Bircher Hill Pottery was founded by Joe Tromiczak in 2012 after a 25-year hiatus from ceramics.  Starting out in a small basement studio, a move became inevitable as our business grew, and a year later we found ourselves living in a home built in the 1860s, with an adjacent outbuilding as a pottery studio and gallery. From this new location also came the name Bircher Hill Pottery, named for the steep-hilled street bordering our property, and the family that lived in our house over 150 years ago.  

My odyssey and love of creating works in clay began my first semester in college in Illinois. One rainy Saturday I accompanied my roommate to the ceramics studio, where he was enrolled in a clay class. He wedged me a ball of clay, filled a small bucket with water, handed me a little oblong shaped sponge, and directed me to a kickwheel. I ended up making a flat lid with a thrown knob. I still proudly display this piece in my studio today as a reminder of my humble beginnings.

The next semester I changed my degree to Ceramics with a minor in Photography. After graduation in 1978, I worked in an Art museum, with my principal job photographing the art collection for their archives and exhibition publications. 

In 1982 I met Peter Leach, a rural southern Minnesota potter, at his 20-year retrospective show. I asked if he needed an assistant, and three weeks later I was living at his pottery, sleeping on a second floor platform in his showroom. Through Peter’s guidance and mentoring I was introduced to many other artisans and was fortunate to experience the life and cycles of a full time potter. I worked with Peter for the next four years. 

In 1985 I volunteered at Koinonia, an intentional Christian Community in rural Georgia. There I met my wife, Kris, and we were married later that year. During our time in Georgia, we had two children, Luke and Amy, both who are now actively enjoying budding careers in music and the arts. In 1990, we moved back to Minnesota, where we now reside.

For 25 years I did not do any pottery. For this period in my life I was a househusband, being the principal caregiver for our two children while my wife pursued her career, financially providing for a family of four as a Certified Nurse Midwife. 

As our children grew to more independent ages, I began working for an international event photography company as a photographer, and over the years have worked in various facets of the company's operations.

Watching my children pursue their creative callings as young adults awakened my long sleeping dream to make pottery again. I began my own path a second time when I cleared out a space in the basement, bought an electric kiln and potters wheel and resumed my life as a potter. 

I now reside in South Saint Paul with my wife and our two cats and two dogs. My studio has its own building, and I continue to explore the materials and processes that harnessed my creativity over 40 years ago.