We’ve got some significant Milestones to celebrate:
this year John joined the 70’s;
Next year it will be 48 years in Clay
and 40 years at Ellison Bay Pottery;
In October our Dreams WILL come true:
WE ARE GOING TO CHINA!
Pottery Pre-Sale
We’re going to China in October and to fund our last minute adventure, we’re combining a Pottery Pre-Sale with a ‘100 Bowls in 100 Days’ challenge. We’re offering this Pottery Pre-Sale exclusively to our long time customers.
Once home we’ll begin designing the 100 bowls (50 one-of-a-kind 10 inch bowls and 50 one-of-a-kind 6 inch bowls) and developing new glazes, and then begin making them after the holidays. After your bowl has been fired we’ll mail it to you with a short story on how we were inspired to make each bowl. We’ll be working on these all winter, so if you find yourself in Door County, come on in and we’ll share.
How does this work? To buy your bowl(s), chose whether you want a $50 or $100 bowl, go to the small or large bowl listing and click on the PAYPAL or Shopify button and follow the instructions. You’ll get an email notification AND a special thank you card from us in the mail. Then we’ll email updates to you on a regular schedule. Once those 100 bowls are done, that’s it. We won’t make or sell any more than that.
Sister City Delegates
It’s really a last minute trip, since we agreed just last month to be delegates, along with 8 other people from Door County, to our Sister City Jingdezhen in China, which holds an annual International Ceramic Fair. We are the only potters from Door County attending. Jingdezhen has been for centuries the Porcelain Capitol of China and the world and we can hardly contain our excitement at this opportunity to travel and learn. We’ll be visiting all sorts of workshops, the actual Fair itself, local schools and government officials as this is not just a ceramic visit but also a Sister City exchange.
Jingdezhen celebrates it’s porcelain industry everywhere, including lampposts and traffic lights!
We’ll be guests of the City during our stay in Jingdezhen, but all transportation and other hotel and living expenses during our two week stay are on our nickle. A trip of this sort usually needs months of planning and saving, and we have just a two months!
Learning and Growing All The Time
We will spend three days in Shanghai exploring museums and historical sites before we fly to Jingdezhen. We’ll also be spending time in Dali Yunnan Province at the Linden Centre. Our hosts, Brian and Jeanee Linden (Lindens Gallery of Ellison Bay) offered a discounted rate to all the members of our delegation and we chose to accept and extend for a day or so to explore that region. There are even Chinese brush painting classes, tie-dying and tea ceremonies we’ve signed up for. And the final visit of our first trip to China will visiting the Terracotta Army.
So vital to an artist’s creative life is the willingness to take chances and realize old dreams and new ones. This is a once in a life time moment for us both personally, and professionally. China is the center of the Ceramic World, and we are going. Pinch us, please.
Details: Each bowl is either $50 or $100 which includes shipping/insurance/handling and taxes. A story of what inspired us to create the bowl will be included. And a great big thank you from us! Designing, creating, putting the artwork on and firing will take months. We’ll be sending updates to let you know where we are in the process. And Thank You Again.
FYI
The Silk Road or Silk Route is a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa…….Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilizations of China, the Indian subcontinent, Persia, Europe and Arabia….
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We are surrounded by trees, frogs, snakes, leaves, apple orchards, the sounds of waves from nearby Green Bay, turkey buzzards, deer, turkeys, coyotes, sinking into the ground outhouses from the past and the wireless satellite towering in our orchard.
Ellison Bay Pottery 