We are very excited to be working on a couple projects for Bridgeport Rescue Mission this month!
Bridgeport Rescue Mission demonstrates the love of God to hungry, homeless and addicted people throughout Fairfield County, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We fight poverty from the inside out by providing a place of hope and dignity through a yearlong educational program, biblical counseling and case management.
Click on the link above for ways to get involved with the Mission.
We are so excited to introduce our new series of plates called "Pass-It-On". These plates offer a unique, gift-giving experience. The idea is to give a plate, perhaps with some fruit and cheese, or some brownies, for a special occasion. Then, the receiver of the plate can pass it on to the next person to have the same type of occasion, and so forth. The series will include the following phrases:
So if you like the idea of giving a plate instead of just another card and bouquet of flowers, order yours today!
We here at Jean Elton Studio continue to develop many new products. One such piece is our new teapot, which is handmade from a slip mold of a jar. A slip mold is a mold made out of plaster that is filled with a very wet clay called slip. The plaster of the mold begins to absorb some of the water from the slip, which causes it to attach to the sides of the mold. After a short amount of time (usually about an hour), the molds are turned upside-down to pour out the remaining slip. They are left like that overnight and then taken apart the next day. Watch the video for the rest of the process.
You've seen the jar mold turned into a lamp and turned into a teapot, but now we have the jar as a teapot lamp!
Interested in how it's made? Check back later this week for a video of the jar to teapot from start to finish!
In our studio, we have many machines that aid in the production of our pottery, like our pugmill and our slab roller. The slab roller itself is very unassuming and doesn't take up space, but we use it to create many different items!
First, we take a log of newly extruded clay and cut it in half lengthwise.
Next, it is smooshed (a very technical term) down with other thin pieces of clay. We tend to use two to three whole logs of clay for a good sized slab.
The slab of clay is very thick at first, so we roll it through several times. Each time, we turn the knobs on either side of the roller to press the clay flatter and flatter.
We then use the resulting slab of clay on our various molds for vases and bowls.
Or we use it for our ornaments...
Or wall-hangings.
So as you can see, our slab roller is a very important part of our studio! Without it, we wouldn't be able to create some of your favorite pieces.
If you enjoyed learning about this machine, read our post on the pugmill and keep checking back for more posts about various other machines in our studio.
Developing a mission statement for a company that has been in business for over 30 years is quite a challenge! But that's just what we have done in the past several months. Here is an overview of our process and the mission statement with which we ended up.
Jean Elton Studio & Gallery is a stoneware pottery company committed to creating functional and decorative dinnerware and home decor from our studio in Fairfield County, CT. The ceramic products in our ever-evolving product line fuse artistic design and practical durability. Our custom work celebrates the collaboration of artist and client on a journey to inspire and delight, and to create one-of-a kind objects pleasing to the eye and to the touch.
At Jean Elton Studio, we work exclusively with stoneware and have for over 30 years. We love stoneware because of its durability in every day use, as well as the ability to dress it up for more formal table settings.Stoneware is so durable because it is made with clay and then fired at very high temperatures. We fire our pieces at over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit! Like its name implies, the resulting material is like stone: hard to break and waterproof. Many of the dinnerware that you can buy at big box stores are made of another type of porcelain dinnerware and tend to break more easily. Like Lois says, "While we believe they are of better quality, safer, and better designed than many of the imports currently available in the marketplace, we hope you will want to own them because you love the way they look and feel!"On a personal note, as the daughter of "Jean" and "Elton", I grew up using their stoneware dishes. In my nearly 30 years of interacting, using, cooking with, and cleaning their dinnerware, I have only ever broken one bowl! And on that occasion, I had mistakenly slammed it against the dishwasher as I was unloading it. I can testify that, as well as being beautiful, their products are durable and will last years and years.
Sometimes when I'm between projects, I try to come up with new ideas for our pottery. A couple weeks ago, you saw the evolution of our large bowls through the years. It seemed like such a big jump when I started hand-painting our bowls with so many different colors! From there, I started hand-painting everything! But only this past week did it occur to me to hand-paint our mugs. The picture above shows the first ever Jean Elton painted mugs and I am so excited about them that I will probably keep them in my kitchen for myself. But even if someone didn't want a whole set, wouldn't just one be a fun gift?
