Jean Elton Blog

For the entire month of August, our homepage will feature products anywhere from 37% to 76% off!  Check out the gallery below for the complete selection.

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:

• Get Well Soon
• Congratulations
• On Your Special Day
• You are Special
• Happy Birthday

So if you like the idea of giving a plate instead of just another card, 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!

Read the rest of this entry »

Over ten years ago, Bill Barker sat down at his potter’s wheel to throw a jar.  When he was finished, he was particularly happy with his work.  The lines were nearly perfectly even and the shape was very pleasing to behold.  He and Lois like the piece so much, they decided to make a slip mold so they could forever replicate the jar.

At Jean Elton Studio, we still use that mold today and it is not only the basis for our jars, but for many other pieces as well!  We are constantly finding new uses for the shape, for anything from lamps to candleholders!  See the gallery below for all the various pieces that have been born from the same jar mold.

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.

1. What is a mission statement? We reviewed the definition of a mission statement to make sure that everyone involved knew what we were looking for.  Thanks to BusinessDictionary.com, we know that a mission statemtent is a “Written declaration of a firm’s core purpose and focus which normally remain unchanged, whereas business strategies and practices may frequently be altered to adapt to the changing circumstances.”
2. Brainstorming. Next, we had a brainstorming meeting and invited people who had been involved in Jean Elton at one time or another throughout the years.  During that meeting, we examined various mission statements from companies similar to ours in size and industry.  Then everyone took some time to list words and phrases that they thought described Jean Elton and were central to its purpose.  Next, we answered some essential questions about Jean Elton.  Some examples include, “What need does the company fulfill?” and “How do we differ from our competitors and what is our competitive advantage?”.  And finally, everyone put together a mission statement using various descriptive words and answering the most important questions.
3. Party. After the brainstorming meeting, we had a dinner party for more people that played some sort of role at Jean Elton, plus the people from the original brainstoming meeting.  In this way, we could gain some new insight on our original ideas and discuss further descriptive words and phrases.
4. A Collaboration. After the meeting and party, we took all of the most important ideas and merged them into one cohesive statement.  This took on many forms before we finally settled on the statement below.  We hope that it makes it clear who we are and what we are about.

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”, Read the rest of this entry »

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?

1. First, decide on whether you would like an elegant/formal presentation versus a casual one.  This will affect which dishes you will use and what you will accessorize with.
2. Decide which dishes to use.  We here at Jean Elton Studio are trying to create dinnerware that can be used for casual and formal table settings.
3. Match the dishes with a tablecloth or placemats.
4. To dress up your Jean Elton dinnerware (or any dishes that you choose to set), add some of your fine china, crystal, and/or silver flatware.  To keep it casual, accessorize with pewter or stainless steel flatware.
5. Remember, forks go on the left!
6. Find matching napkins.  To make the table more interesting, add napkin rings, or fold your napkins in clever ways.
7. Accessorize with other fun items like individual salt/pepper shakers or miniature flower arrangements at each place setting.  In the evening, add tea lights to make a warmer setting.
8. Finish with a centerpiece to match your theme.  Remember it doesn’t have to just be flowers or a plant!  It can be a matching dish with a candle and greens around it, or a bowl of fruit.

Find creative ways to set your tables and take pictures!  We’d love to see them.  Or if you are out of your own ideas, copy some of our’s from the gallery below.