You step into Kapaa and see color first. Then you notice the control. LightWave Pottery, led by Dean McRaine, builds pattern from the clay itself—slice by slice, layer by layer—so your bowl, platter, or vessel carries image in its body, not painted on the surface. You get high-fired porcelain that holds crisp edges, saturated color, and daily durability, which means you actually use it at home without babying it. This is studio craft with a clear promise: beauty you live with, not store behind glass.
Dean McRaine LightWave Pottery brings color, rhythm, and precision to your table, and you can see it in every porcelain curve and kaleidoscopic pattern. Dean McRaine works from Kapaa, Kauai, turning colored clay into bold, high-fired pieces that look alive in natural light and feel solid in your hands.
Here’s what you need to know. Dean McRaine is a self-taught ceramic artist who built a practice around the “alchemy” of clay and glaze, driven by Kauai’s tropical light and landscape. You see it in the saturated palettes and millefiori-like patterning that run through bowls, platters, and vessels. He doesn’t paint those patterns on. He builds them with colored clay itself, then fires the work to a durable porcelain finish. You get art that you can use every day. It’s food safe, dishwasher safe, and microwave safe.
You also feel intent behind the craft. Dean McRaine frames the studio as a place for joy and uplift, and he treats making as play with purpose. That mindset shows in his long, patient development of techniques, glazes, and firing processes that he calls original and unique. After 35 years in clay—15 focused on colored clay—he has the control to push color without muddying it, and to hold crisp edges inside complex pattern fields. That’s why the work reads as clear, not chaotic, even at full chroma.
If you care about process, you’ll appreciate the discipline. McRaine forms and finishes everything in his central Kapaa studio and fires to a stable, high-fired porcelain that keeps color bright and structure tight. The result: pieces that stand up to kitchen life and still look like gallery work under a window. You can tour the workshop, ask questions, and see how he builds pattern from the inside out, slice by slice, layer by layer. You don’t watch surface decoration—you watch structure become image.
You also meet a small team that keeps the studio running and the ethos intact. Renée Parker Johnston brings decades in clay and a parallel practice in colored clay jewelry, extending the material language into wearable forms. Rondi Harringer adds wheel throwing, hand building, and roots-style ceremonial art, connecting form to gesture. Sharon Vogel supports the online and operational backbone from the mainland. Together they keep LightWave focused and nimble so the studio can make, share, and ship without losing that handmade pace.
Your experience as a collector stays simple. You can find work in the studio showroom on Kauai, or follow announcements for online sales through the mailing list. When a series drops, you know it’s built by hand in Kapaa and finished to the same standard you’d expect from exhibition ware. You don’t need to protect it like glass—use it, wash it, put it back on the shelf, and let the color do its job in your space.
If you follow the Instagram feed, you’ll see works-in-progress and finished pieces that show why this studio has a strong pull across the pottery community. The reels and posts highlight the psychedelic precision of the colored-clay builds, the kiln-open moments, and the way Hawaiian light saturates the palette. You get context for the patterns you’re drawn to, and you see how the clay carries the image, not paint. That difference matters if you collect ceramics with an eye for method.
For visitors headed to Kapaa, plan a stop. The studio sits in central Kapaa, and McRaine welcomes you to look closely, ask about technique, and handle the pieces. You’ll understand the weight, the balance on the foot ring, the way edges taper without losing strength, and why colored clay—done at this level—feels alive. This is contemporary craft with a clear voice and a practical promise: beauty that you live with, not just look at.
LightWave Pottery is moving and noted a transition period in 2025, so check the latest updates before visiting or ordering. When the studio reopens after a move, it does so with the same material language, the same color logic, and the same focus on work that earns its place on your table. Follow the feed and mailing list for current hours and release timing.
Dean McRaine : Website | Instagram | Facebook
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