2010 Holiday Kiln Opening

Here we are at another kiln opening.  We can’t believe how quickly this time has come upon us.  It feels like we just fired the kiln.  It is a vicious, glorious cycle; one that is thoroughly enjoyable and worth every minute.  It is not for the faint of heart. Joseph works long hours in the pottery, moving countless pounds of clay, followed by a few hours of splitting wood before coming in at dark. 

The last kiln opening taught us so many things: about sales and marketing, how to throw a party, time management, and a lot about ourselves individually and how we function as a team.  This next opening should be smooth sailing now that we have our first one under our belts, right? 

Please come and join us for our…

 

First Holiday Opening

December 4th, 2010

9am to 5pm

&

December 5th, 2010

Noon to 5pm

For more information and directions, please visit our website: www.jsspottery.com

P.S. Stay tuned for a special sneak peak of the pots coming soon to this very blog…

Much Needed Vacation

Joseph and I are exhausted.  We were told that a vacation is a requirement in the business of self-employment; take care of your well-being first, your family’s second, and your business last.  Wise words from a wise man, Mark Hewitt.  We decided to take him up on that and made a trek to the glorious mountains in their fall splendor.  It has been so desperately dry this year across the state that the colors, even though they were changing, were seeming a bit dull and crunchy.  But, nevertheless, it was a vacation!

We made a stop to visit our friend, Alex Matisse.  He recently finished the construction of his kiln and had a get-together to celebrate.  It included a pig pickin’ (a southern tradition that I had never been privy to until now) and some other fine delicacies.  He has a beautiful place up in Mars Hill, NC, just outside of Asheville.  Check him out when you get a chance, he writes a fantastic blog and makes beautiful, functional wares.

Alex needed to borrow some muscle, so Joseph was eager to help.

Alex raised this pig on his own property, so we knew we were eatin’ good that night!  Congrats Alex and all the best in your endeavors!

Back at it again…

Well, as many of you know, we had a fantastic turnout at our kiln opening, proceeding to completely sell out of pots.  What a bummer, right?!?!  We had plan B and plan C all ready in the wing to take up the extra inventory we assumed we would have.  So, when the Asheboro Fall Festival rolled around, we were a little unsure of what to do.  Finally, we decided it would be most important for us to be present at the event, but what to do about pots?  We had to dig up all the pots we had set aside for ourselves to keep (include a few that the family members from Minnesota had purchased), packed them VERY carefully, and drove to the festival.

 

The large pots were delivered the night previous, with the help of our neighbor’s pickup truck.  Ours was on the mend at the time, with a stubby tire (i.e. standard) substitute for the rear wheel, since the tires one-by-one had the treads literally explode off of them while driving.  The tires on the truck are those super-duty all-terrain kind that tell passers-by that this is a “serious work truck.”  Just the day previous, I had to go and rescue Joseph in Seagrove because this very thing had just happened.  He had just stopped at STARworks to pick up some clay and other materials and made it about 10 miles before disaster ensued.  Luckily, I was available so I popped down to help him replace the tire, moving about 300 pounds of clay into the trunk of our diesel VW Jetta. 

Needless to say, we made it here to downtown Asheboro with no problems.  The event turned out really well and we had a great response from those that visited our booth.  We did a giveaway of one of our pots we had set aside, which was really fun.  A lot of people signed up for that one. 

Joseph has been busy in the workshop and around the pottery lately.  We only have about a month to finish up pots before the firing.  It’s coming up fast, but we’ll be more ready for this one, having experienced one firing and kiln opening already.

When Joseph wraps up making and glazing in the workshop, he heads out to one of his many wood piles around the place to get some chainsaw action.  Nothing like good work to help you fall asleep quickly at night!