Profile: Adriana Valenzuela

Adriana Valenzuela is a jack-of-all-trades in our pottery studio!  For the past four years, she has worked with Lois Barker on producing everything from mugs to large bowls.Adriana was born in Mexico City and moved to America 12 years ago with her husband and son.  Her mother, brother, and sister continue to live in Mexico and she visits them every chance she gets.Two years after moving to Connecticut, she met Lois at a nail salon.  Their friendship bloomed through the years.  Says Adriana, "She saw me when I was invisible... Now she's my boss, my friend, my mentor, my teacher, and I'm so glad I met her, she's like my angel."When asked what is her favorite part of working in the pottery studio, she can't decide!  She loves everything, she says, especially being able to work with a close friend.  And of course, she is a big fan of her Jean Elton dinnerware and uses them often, especially when she has company.Today, she is helping in the glazing process, helping to clean the glaze from the bottom of bowls, as you can see in the picture below.  It is an important job, because if the glaze is not removed from the base, it will melt in the firing and the bowl will stick to the shelf and will be unusable.

You can see more of Adriana in this video, where she is expertly trimming and cleaning up plates before a firing. Look for more of her in videos to come!

"We were pleasantly surprised to find a firm like Jean Elton..."

Remember The Making of the Mugs video?  We mentioned that the order of mugs was for a corporate gift, but neglected to mention it was for a company called Coalfire.  We wanted to share this email from the CEO and co-founder of the company, Rick Dakin:

Jean Elton is a “throw back company” that reminded me of a time when all American businesses focused on customer service and quality.  Our experience in designing, ordering and delivering unique corporate gifts for Christmas 2009 was extremely positive.As a small business, we thought we could only afford to go into a mass market catalogue and buy gifts for our valued customers.  We were pleasantly surprised to find a firm like Jean Elton that dedicated the time and skill to design and develop a piece of corporate art at a price we could afford.  Obviously, we are more than pleased with the quality and value of our purchase.We received so many thank you cards from our customers this year because we took the time to give them something that they understood was a unique piece of corporate branded art.  The Coalfire mugs look great and are functional.  We will definitely be back for Christmas 2010 gifts.Thank you for treating this small business with the care and dedication that allowed us to make a difference with our customers.Rick DakinCEO and Co-founderCoalfire www.coalfiresystems.com

Ceramic Jars: From Blue to New!

For years, I've been making these little ceramic jars and glazing them with one color or another.  They have never been a big seller like our dinnerware, but they are a fun little item.  Just a few days ago, however, I asked myself why I had never tried to hand paint one of the jars, like I do the plates.  So I decided to try one.  Suddenly the hand-painted jars are getting so much attention!  See the picture below and tell me what you think!  

This jar is on special offer from now until the end of March for anyone who is a fan of ours on Facebook, or a follower on Twitter!

A Note of Thanks

Hi Lois,Thanks to Jean Elton for your generous donation to our school auction. We are so grateful to have one of your beautiful vases to offer. Trying to fund artistic programs is difficult these days to say the least. We are so fortunate to have businesses such as yours who care about the children!Stay tuned for more information after we hold our event. We have many wishes for our Greenspace Art Center and you will help them come true!Thanks again.Ty MurrayPTC Co-chairMt. Holly Elementary SchoolMt. Holly, VT

What is a pugmill?

You've heard us mention using our pugmill.  You've even seen pictures of us using our pugmill. But what exactly is a pugmill?

A pugmill is essentially a machine that mixes materials with a liquid.  In pottery, it can be used with clay to achieve the consistency that you are looking for.  It is helpful because it means that leftover clay need not be thrown away, but just stored for later use.  When stored for any period of time, the clay will start to dry out.  Thus, a pugmill is used to mix the dried out clay with water to make the clay soft and workable again.In our pottery studio, we always have a huge pile of clay leftover from our projects, whether from pressing, building large bowls, or working on the wheel.  So some days become "pugging days".  Pugging clay doesn't take long, but we allow each batch about 15 minutes to churn.  You wouldn't think it, but the pugmill can hold 4-5 bags of clay!

Then depending on how dry the clay is, we'll add several cups of water.

Next, we close the top, flip the lever to "mix", and let it do its thing!

Finally, after we've allowed ample time for mixing and churning, we flip the lever to "extrude" and out comes the newly softened clay!

If the clay is soft enough, it is ready to be used again.  If not, it can be put back through a pugmill cycle.

March Featured Items

As it is the first of the month, we have added some new featured items to our website!  If you've been following us on Facebook or Twitter, you would have seen many of the items on there in the process of being made.  If not, check out the following gallery for before and after photos of some of our March Featured Items.  Not all of the "before" pictures are the same piece as the "after" picture, but we hope it gives you an idea of the process.

The Cleverest Cheese

Our Jean Elton company party was a success, from the "JE" brie cheese to party favors.

Kathy made a "JE" brie cheese, especially for the occasion.  Don't we have a talented group of people here?

Everyone in attendance got to choose their favorite piece of Jean Elton art!Doesn't Alan look happy with his Sail Vase?

Of course, we used Jean Elton serving bowls!

Lois, Adriana, and Rex!

Overall, a good time was had by all!  We enjoyed the dishes, the party favors, and the cheese, but mostly we enjoyed the company.

My Story

Hi, my name is Amy and I am the manager of this blog and writer of most of the posts on it.  I am also the daughter of the founders of Jean Elton Studio & Gallery and have been using their products all my life.  Now I have a home of my own, and guess what?  I still use the dishes every day!  And not just the dishes.  Pretty much everywhere you look in my house, you will see evidence of Jean Elton.My parents have encouraged me to write up a profile of myself (as we started doing and want to continue doing with everyone involved in the company), but instead (for now), I thought I'd just post a few pictures of how I use Jean Elton dinnerware and home decor in my home.So as you can see, nearly 30 years of using Jean Elton dishes has not soured me on them.  In fact, with all the new designs and colors, I'm more excited about them now than I ever was!

Upcoming JE Party

Our Jean Elton dinnerware is perfect for everyday use, but also can be dressed up beautifully.  For an upcoming company party, we used the dishes on several different tables as you can see in the gallery below.  Each table is set with a different color and design of dishes, with matching glassware and linens.

We'd love to hear about your experiences with Jean Elton dinnerware.  How do you display them?  Do you use them everyday, or just for special occasions?

Making of Plates

Jean Elton has its own line of plates that are glazed in a wide variety of colors and designs.  But the process from just an idea of a plate to beautiful, hand-painted one is long.  It begins with an idea, then a drawing, then a complicated process that turns a drawing into a three-dimensional physical object.  That object is then used to create plaster molds, which allow us to replicate the plates over and over again (as you can see in the video below).