Ongoing Preview Sale

Yesterday was Day One of introducing my little showplace. It's great to open the door and let some people into the gallery for the first time, and show them what's doing in the studio. Feels almost like spring despite the still-chill weather. It's spring in the gallery!

Today is Day Two: I'll be in my studio and gallery again, essentially 9-5, and you can stop by after that till 8 PM today and then tomorrow, too, 9 AM to 8 PM. I'm still giving 10% off as an introduction to The Gallery Downstairs. (Contact me for a coupon if you're shopping online!) We're at 196 Windsor Way, Hillside, NJ, 732-492-8558. Here's what you can do: Repost this on whatever social media you use. Tell your friends. You can "Like" Mimi Stadler Pottery on Facebook, so your friends there can see the goings on at studio and gallery, too. If you haven't gone, you can go see my website at http://www.mimistadlerpottery.com. You can feel free to Comment on the blog (on the blog itself- where you can also find a blog RSS feed button to receive notice of new posts. And (of course) you can shop at The Gallery Downstairs or on this website. I recommend the gallery itself if you are local, as it has additional items not found on the website, some at nice sale prices.

I thank you if you do any of this; it is really appreciated; and in the course of doing them you may well find some handmade things you will love.

It's another great day for handmade pottery! 

(10% off sale extends through tomorrow, Tuesday March 25, 2014.)

The Added Value of Handmade

Because I make each item by hand, even similar mugs, humblest of pottery creatures, are not exactly the same.

Buyers have the opportunity to buy THAT ONE. No, THAT one! Or... It may be the curve of a particular handle. The run of a glaze in JUST such a way. The slightly different curve of a particular rim. This experience is personal. 

It is a radically different experience from shopping at the china department in Macy's, or Bed Bath & Beyond. On my website (reachable on the above menu) and in The Gallery Downstairs (196 Windsor Way, Hillside, NJ), if someone likes something very much, but does not buy it when s/he "feels the like", it may be gone soon, and the next one will not be exactly like it. 

A human made it, a human with a range of aesthetic choices going on at every creative moment and wares that reflect them. Experience and continuing creative growth are in the work. Sometimes, serendipity also dances with my years of experience, for added value in the finished piece.

I didn't know exactly how this washing cup (click on highlighted words for price and information) would turn out, for example, as results will vary from a little to a lot, depending on thicknesses of glazes, areas of overlap, and where the pot sits in the kiln as it fires. The next one with these glazes will be a little different.

The lines on these bamboo-style vases (click on the highlighted words for prices and information) drew the red glaze into the indentations in the kiln firing, leaving lighter outlines around them. Each drawing on every piece, being incised into the clay freehand, is always at least a little different from the next, though often I make items with the look of "sets."

Handmade. Highly recommended.