Year of the Show

2011 is the Year of the Show. We have a generous amount planned, and we're looking forward to all of them.

Coming up shortly is the High Point Market: April 2nd through 7th. We will be situated in the Suites at Market Square building. http://www.highpointmarket.org/

May 21st we will be at the Old Salem Pottery Fair. The fair is held in conjunction with the Art in Clay: Masterworks of North Carolina Earthenware exhibition in the Old Salem district. More info can be found here: http://www.oldsalem.org/programs-and-activities

In September, we will be at the Mint Museum's Pottery Invitational in Charlotte. It's happening on saturday, the 11th from 10am to 4 pm. For more info click Here

October is the annual Asheboro Fall Festival sponsored by the Randolph Arts Guild, which we thoroughly enjoy doing, probably because we are setup very near the booth that has waffles and bratwurst: Fall Festival Info

Somewhere in there, we need to take a vacation and also have another kiln opening. It's a full set-list, but I honestly can't imagine it any other way! Love what you do; do what you love.

2nd Kiln Opening Video Preview

Hey Everyone! We're gearing up for this weekend and we wanted to provide a little preview of the beautiful wares that Joseph made this go-around.

Check it out:

Almost There…

The kiln fired beautifully. Everyone put in their all, and we finished on time without a hitch.

Firing a kiln must be similar to sailing a ship: if the captain is not certain of the destination and the means to get there, all will be lost. Thankfully, that didn’t happen and Joseph was the ultimate leader.

We unloaded last weekend and the pots are G...O…R…G…E…O…U…S... gorgeous. Because we cannot wait to share them with you, we are including a bit of a teaser in this blog.

Stay tuned next week for a video preview, up close and personal, of the pots. At this opening, we will also have available some holiday ornaments, ranging in shape from snowmen to stars to little dogs. ALSO…As a special gift, the first six customers in line will receive a mug, the number on the mug corresponding with their place in line. Hope to see you on Dec 4th and 5th!

Last pots of 2010

 

So, this is it.  It’s crunch time.  Joseph’s been in the pottery non-stop the past few weeks just trying to get everything made that is on our laundry list of things we would like to have available at our Holiday Opening (Dec 4th and 5th, don’t forget!). 

This round, Joseph made some really sweet little teapots.  Come check them out, because they are truly adorable.

He also made a couple boards worth of pitchers, and more than a few boards of lidded jars.  Pitchers will come in two sizes, and jars will range in size from small to large.

New this cycle, just for the holidays, we made ornaments.  And, I do really mean we this time (as VP of the pottery, I don’t really get my hands dirty very often).   You will find a range of ornaments for your holiday tree, including camels, reindeer, snowmen, chickens, angels, stars, a lion or two, and schnauzers (seriously!). 

Finally, Joseph wrapped up his production cycle by cranking out a plethora of mugs.  We should have plenty for everyone.  And….for those that show up early on saturday, we have made, especially for you, commemorative mugs for the first 6 customers.  They are playfully decorated with the digits 1 through 6. 

 

 

This weekend, he has been busy cleaning up around the kiln with the help of our good friend Dale Hall.  He has been a devoted laborer here at the pottery and I know that Joseph is grateful for the additional help around the place.  The kiln is clean, shelves and posts have been prepped, and the pots are ready.  The firing schedule is made up, posted up on the fridge.  Loading starts tomorrow and ends on wednesday, with the first sign of flame in the kiln on thursday.  Temperature, and anticipation, will only build from there….

 

Finally, our good friend Daniel Johnston held a very special kiln opening, where he made 100 big pots.  It was incredible to pull up early and see a very substantial line, selling out of pots before we could even pick out one we liked.  Congratulations to Daniel, Kate, and John for a stellar feat!

And it just so happened that a flock of current and previous Mark Hewitt apprentices were at the event. 

Pictured, with date of apprenticeship at Hewitt Pottery: John Vigland, current apprentice for Daniel Johnston; Seth Guzovksy 2010-Present; Brad Lail 2010-Present; Daniel Johnston 1997-2001; Carol Hewitt; Joseph Sand 2006-2009; Alex Matisse 2008-2009; Matt Jones Fall 1999; and Eric Smith 2000-2002.

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!