How it Started
On July 27, 2005, we headed off to a date night of pizza and pottery. Now a year later, we are elbows deep in this new hobby, and likely a bucket of reclaim clay - is it really supposed to smell that bad? Or are we doing it wrong?
We probably are, but we're glad you're here for it!
We both love our full time jobs, but wanted to create this venture to open doors for new opportunities, experiences, and friends. Chris' life-long dream has been always been to own his own business and he is taking small steps to maybe get there one day. He would love to open a small studio one day focused on building community, mentorship, and a space for healing.
Chris
I began my pottery journey last year after spending more than a decade searching for a higher purpose, a connection to myself, a passion - more or less, a hobby. I've always had intense hobbies that occasionally turned into professions - skating, DJ, event coordination, etc. I lived for my hobbies, and they defined who I was. In my 30s I briefly fell out of love with life, sustained a chronic injury/pain, navigated a divorce, caregiving, parenting, job loss, friend loss, family loss, came out as trans, and got sober.
I watched my friends soar, my kids grow and I longed to find something that I loved doing again. Many of my previous hobbies were off the table due to my injury and I felt completely disconnected. Through the introduction of pottery, I've gained a new sense of pride, purpose, ambition, and love. Each piece is made with that new-found love and a spark, and I am so excited to share it with you.
Danielle
Before last year, I never considered trying pottery as I’ve always leaned more towards hobbies involving less mess… but as I’ve found myself on a personal journey of exploration for the last few years, I opened myself to new experiences and opportunities outside my comfort zone, and gratefully so, Chris helps me to do just that. After our date night pottery class and then taking an 8-week class at Lancaster Clay Studios, I tried my best at the wheel but instead found a lot of creative joy in slab building, experimenting with textures and glazing. I found myself in a flow state during one project, focused for hours with a lot of intricate glaze painting and I found I deeply loved that part of the process. I learned a lot by just being willing to try, in spite of potential failure and how to deal with that (as an anxious perfectionist, this was HUGE). And the perfect imperfections of what we create fills my heart with joy and I’m excited to share that with others.
I still have LOTS of ideas to create but after an ongoing foot injury/surgery and starting graduate school, much of my work has been temporarily tabled. However, given that Chris is so prolific with throwing, I’ve been able to help glaze a number of pieces until I can get into my own creating rhythm again. I hope you see the unique beauty of these pieces and can connect with our perfectly imperfect work.
The Kids
Since I began my pottery journey, my kids have taken a liking to the wheel and hand-building. My oldest (9) was gifted a pottery class for Christmas and my youngest (6) loves all things clay. The two of them frequently spend time with us in our small studio. They make small dishes that they hope to sell and keep 80% of their sales; the rest goes into their savings.
We do try to keep them off social media for privacy purposes, so you will rarely see actual images of them. Thank you for understanding.
Thank You for Your Support!
We are just beginning our adventure, and just you visiting our page is helping to grow our small side business.
Our pieces are not perfect and we are still learning. With that in mind, we also want to offer alternative ways to pick up a piece if money is tight. Contact us if there is something you like, and perhaps we can trade art.