Jean Elton Blog

We are excited to once again be a part of the Bridgeport Rescue Mission’s event this October. This year, the tables have our pitchers as the centerpieces, and everyone gets to take home a coaster. This video shows the process (from beginning to end) of how the coasters are made.

As we announced earlier, we are new grandparents and wanted to do something special for our granddaughter.  And what is it we do best?  Pottery!  We decided to create a large plate for her (it’s actually bigger than her at this point!) and paint a customized design on it.  Do you see the name hidden in the design?

We are excited about this plate, because we feel like it would make a beautiful customizable gift!  The “Mystery Letters” design wouldn’t have to be only on plates.  You could order it on any of our pieces!

In the past, we have waited until the month of a certain holiday to add the pertinent pieces to our website.  But we realize that was a mistake and doesn’t give you long enough to purchase and then enjoy the pieces you buy before the holiday occurs!  So we have corrected that this month with the addition of our Christmas items to our homepage, even though it’s only November.  Don’t worry, we’ll have new items in December as well!  And as always, just because the items are no longer on the homepage, does not mean they are no longer available.  Take time to browse through previous month’s featured items by clicking the “Dinnerware” and “Home Decor” links at the top of the page.

But for now, here’s a gallery of our Christmas Featured Items for the month of November.

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 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!

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.

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?

When asked why she started hand-painting her large ceramic bowls, Lois remembers a conversation she had with a fellow ceramic artist at the Rosen Show in Philadelphia several years ago.  ”The woman had hand-painted her bowls and was selling like crazy,” Lois says.  They got to talking and Lois mentioned how much she admired her work, while lamenting her own lack of drawing skills.  But the woman encouraged Lois to begin painting.  And that’s how it began!  That’s when Lois started painting plates; she liked it so much, she eventually graduated to hand-painting all her work!

Browse the gallery below to see the evolution of her painting prowess on her large bowls.

Wall-hangings are not a new idea to Jean Elton Studio.  In fact, we’ve been creating wall-hangings for years!  But you might be surprised at how much they’ve changed recently.

If you are unfamiliar with our larger wall-hangings, take a look at them on our website.  The wall-hanging you see there is a four-piece, three-dimensional wall hanging measuring 22″ high and 52″ wide!

But recently we have started creating much smaller wall-hangings like the one you see to the left, for those of you who may not have nearly 5-feet of wall to spare!  Interested in how they are made?  Keep reading! Read the rest of this entry »