Join us for a celebration of earthy wares and cozy crafts. Delight in our harvest of handmade gifts that reflect the aura of the season!
Stop by the gallery to shop all of the featured artists below.
“Jack” Son of Jack-pot Pottery
CERAMIC ARTIST | MILLERSBURG, OH
"Clay forces you in the here in now. In the ever-present moment with the clay. For if you jump ahead, you miss a step, and if you fall behind, you will forever be behind, hurriedly trying to catch up in the chaos of the outside world. Doillie patterns create a decorative control in the chaos. A sense of forced symmetry. When creating this work/series, my world was like many others: a hectic place. There were times I fell behind and couldn’t catch my breath in order to catch up. But the moment that reveal would happen. The moment after the slip was applied over the patterns, and the resist was pulled away, the world would stop just for a few seconds. The world made sense for a time as the design all came together. Those are the moments. The ones you hold your breath for are the ones I live for."
Grateful Gathers Glass
GLASS ARTISTS | BERNVILLE, PA
"Glass art is captivating not only for its fluid beauty, but for it’s expressive possibilities to describe the relationship between the thermal dynamics of gravity, and the curious forces of mans creative energies. Much of my love and passion for glass grows from the processes involved in its creation alone. An inexplicable relationship between artist and medium is achieved every time I compose a new piece of glass, and this is the experience and sensation I wish to emulate to my audience in a finished piece. This direction provides a flexible boundary in which my style of work falls."
-Danny Polk Jr (Grateful Gathers Glass)
Black Cat Pottery
CERAMIC ARTIST | DETROIT, MI
Cheryl M. English, a long-time resident of the metropolitan Detroit area, has traveled as far as Singapore and Turkey, only to return to her childhood dancing grounds. Having earned a BA in Art History from Michigan State University and an MA in Art History and Archæology from Cornell University, she realized she much preferred making art to dissecting it. A life-long autodidact, Cheryl first began her ceramics studies with Gene Pluhar through Grosse Pointe Community Education. Taking advantage of Mr. Pluhar’s classroom at Grosse Pointe South High School, she reveled in the pleasures of propane torches, sand blasters and drill presses while investigating the potential of slab rollers, extruders and the wheel. Cheryl’s work is a reflection of her “other” passion: gardening. As an Advanced Master Gardener (certified through Wayne County Extension), her abiding interest in things natural – and indigenous – is reflected in her unique designs. Cheryl’s work has been featured in The Detroit News Homestyle Section and Handmade Business Magazine.
Colleen Deiss Designs
CERAMIC ARTIST | WISCONSIN
I was raised by my father and grandparents in Hartland, Wisconsin. With an avid outdoorsman for a father I developed a love of Wisconsin’s great outdoors, which is apparent in most of my work. I also had a love of art which I later decided to pursue in school with the support of my family. I graduated from UW Oshkosh in December of 2012 where I received my Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts. Once out of school I started selling my watercolor and oil paintings at local art shows. I also worked part time at a ceramic studio, owned by my best friend’s dad. I spent all of my extra time in the upstairs of his barn/shop rolling slabs and creating a technique of my very own. He gave me a ton of business guidance and really helped me get my feet on the ground. Rather quickly, I made the transition from painting into ceramics and did very well in the art show circuit. Now I sell primarily to sweet little retail gift shops throughout the nation, Uncommongoods, and wonderful art lovin people like you!
I live and create out of my in home studio, in rural Wisconsin, with my husband, our two beautiful babies and our smelly little dog, Millie. I have completely taken over the garage and basement. In the next couple of years, we are looking to build a larger studio on our family farm. I couldn’t be more excited to see where this journey leads us.
The mugs you see here are all slab built and the process is really kind of interesting for those who only know about thrown pottery. I start with a flat slab of clay and form it by hand into various functional pieces. This gives me the ability to add some really great textures and designs. From beginning to end, each mug takes about 10 days to make, going through 14ish different processes. First the slabs get rolled and slightly dried. Then they get stamped, cut out, and formed into the mug shape. After drying for a few hours they get a hand formed handle attached to them. Each mug will then need to dry for two days. Once fully dry, they get their bottoms sanded flat and sponged smooth. Now they are ready to be bisque fired for 9 hours followed by 20 hours of cooling. Once cool, they are unloaded, waxed, painted with oxide and sponged clean. They get dipped in glaze and loaded into the kiln to be high fired for 9 hours followed by 30 hours of cooling. Once cool, each mug gets checked over for quality and gets packaged and sent to their new home. PHEW that was a mouth full! Needless to say these mugs are loved by their maker!
All of my work is cone 10, high fire stoneware. Each mug is food, dishwasher, and microwave safe. The functionality of pottery is what really made me fall in love with it. A mug doesn’t have to be just a mug to enjoy coffee or tea out of! It’s a piece of art!
Creative Edge
WOOD ARTIST |ST. LOUIS, MO
Creative Edge creates handmade cutting and serving boards from sustainably grown and harvested hardwoods. Every board is designed, cut, assembled, and finished by hand in their solar powered woodshop in St. Louis, Missouri.
Their limited production lines and custom pieces push the boundaries of traditional cutting board forms and aesthetics, offering a variety of elegant patterns and organically inspired designs. The attention to detail extends to form as well as function. They consider how well each design will work for preparing and displaying food, but also how it feels in the hand. Right down to the subtle details, such as sculpted edges to create a comfortable grip.
The contrasting colors are achieved solely through the natural tone of the wood, never with stains or dyes, and finished with food grade mineral oil and beeswax.
They use full inlay construction--precisely cutting and piecing each design together like a puzzle-creating long lasting cutting and serving boards that are also reversible. You can cut on one side and serve on the other so you never have to compromise function over style.
Creative Edge was founded in 2018 by jeweler Peggy Eng and woodworker Steve Souder. The collaboration began with brainstorming a use for the remnants, or “shorts,” leftover from Steve’s high-end residential construction, custom cabinetry and furniture studio, Full Circle Design Works.
Peggy brings over twenty-five years of design experience, and a jeweler’s eye for detail, to Creative Edge’s out-of-the-ordinary cutting and serving board designs and patterns. Steve contributes fifty years worth of technical expertise as a production oriented woodworker to their limited production lines and custom creations. They both have a strong commitment to ethical and sustainable production, and using sustainably grown and harvested hardwoods and natural finishes
Additional Artists
Kathy Jeffers, Metallic Evolution, Phillip Roberts, Grant Noren,
Paper and Stone, Joanna Craft, Whitney Designs, Aiden Dale & more!
]]>
]]>
