About

About Us

… you can expect hand made pottery, thoughtfully designed in many unique styles and shapes…

Generous Earth all started on a shopping excursion with my Mother in Law on a cold dark winter day in Montpelier, Vermont. We wandered into a great little pottery studio that was considering holding pottery classes. My husband’s mother encouraged me to sign up and 10,000 lop-sided bowls later, here I am and as our dear friend Kenny Miller from Calais, Vermont says ” On the World Wide WEB! ”

Being a critical care nurse for 20 years, pottery was always a wonderful, stress relieving hobby. I continued classes and through many instructors and studios, I finally found my own unique style. All my friends and family received those 10,000 lop-sided 20 pound bowls over the many years while I refined my technique. After moving to La Crosse Wisconsin I decided to switch things up and do pottery full-time and leave nursing all together. My husband Jim encouraged me to pursue pottery full-time and we have built a studio in our home. The headquarters of …GENEROUS EARTH POTTERY!!!!!!!

What you can’t expect is uniform bowls from China, Mexico or any of those far off countries using lead, or otherwise unhealthy chemicals. What you can expect is hand made pottery, thoughtfully designed in many unique styles and shapes, each one individual and meant for you to enjoy and cherish for generations to come. I offer my wares at reasonable prices, after all clay is in abundance, however I do put a lot of care into them. Sometimes I use multiple glazes, add handles, lids and this may cause the price to increase.

At Generous Earth Pottery, I use pure materials from a reputable supplier; Our Generous Earth. These do not contain lead. All products are food safe, dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. I do recommend hand washing to ensure you can pass the pottery down to your great-grandchildren and beyond. I further recommend over-use in a microwave may at some point weaken the clay structure and cause cracking. This may not occur in your lifetime, but you should be aware of this to protect your investment.

Inspiration

Sitting and looking out at the countryside which provides such beautiful and natural color combination, or browsing through a magazine and seeing interesting pieces which make me want to jump at the wheel and try it out myself. Visuals become stories which become finished products.

What gets me out of bed is what awaits me in the studio. Is it a glazing day? Does the kiln need to be emptied? Each of these questions results in a prescribed formula I follow for the day.

If its a throwing day, I sometimes decide what to create by what has been selling and needs to be replaced, or I may try to throw a new form if I feel like a challenge. I generally try and spend all day throwing the same types of pieces to get into a rhythm, especially when making sets. After throwing a piece, the next 24 hours (depending on the size) is generally for air drying. This is when the piece is called Greenware. At this time its the right consistency to further shape if desired, put handles on, do a footing etc.

After this the pieces dry for about a week until bone-dry at which time they are then bisque fired. If not completely dry they will explode in the kiln. Firing and cooling of the kiln take about 24 hours for my low-fire pieces reaching a temperature of about 1900 Fahrenheit. The bisque pieces are then ready to be glazed. Sometimes I glaze depending on what I already have in mind for the piece (I am filling an order), other times I just decide to try a new color combination. This can have fabulous results, or uuugghh, what was I thinking? The glazed pieces are again fired to the appropriate temperature for the clay being used.

When I have someone that wants to purchase a piece on line, they can contact me via our contact form on the website or they can stop in the store to order too. There are pieces available and ready to be shipped, or the customer can custom order pieces and choose color combination they would like. Eventually all colors will be available for viewing on-line.

Materials

I work with clays which I purchase from Continental Clay in Minneapolis. Depending on how busy my work schedule is, I typically go for a day trip every 2-3 months. The trip takes away 6 hours of time spent on the end product, but my reward is well worth the time. It truly is a special place to go… and the best part is I stop and pick up an Ethiopian Dinner for Jim and myself. See? In the end it’s really all about the food!

There are a variety of glazes I use, all designed for the particular clay, but always lead-free and food safe. I use name-brands from Amaco to Mayco and several in between. While I have a consistent library of traditional shades, I love to shop for colors and textures, selecting anything I find interesting. Sometimes I can’t tell what it is going to look like until I try it out. Some glazes I pick up on my quarterly road trip to Minneapolis, and some glazes are bought on-line.

I use Skutt kilns which after much research has proven to be as reliable as it claims. We plan on purchasing a third one soon!

Without the right process and materials, my product would suffer. It is very important to my craft to use the right mix, every time!