Zotter The Potter ...As The Wheel Turns

12.15.2010

Christmas Scenes @ the Studio

Through the peephole of an 1800 degree bisque fire...

The last glaze load of the year

12.09.2010

Was it only last year?

Walt really loved the Christmas Pitcher for the holidays. We think he created it special for his brother Randy's famous holiday egg nog usually delivered in a large mason jar.

What do you use your Christmas pitcher for?

And, almost more than he loved anything, he loved his girls. It hardly took any dog wrangling to get these two Jack Russell Terriers to sit this calmly in his arms, even with their Santa hats on their heads. The feeling was definately mutual.

12.03.2010

Holiday Season!

Photos copyright Edward Rieker

11.02.2010

Bisque fire

Personalized gift of the day.

Once the weather gets cooler, and the studio doors close against the weather, the girls love bisque and glaze fire days. One of the warmest spots to be is next to the kiln, which is where they got set up. We fire the bisque to around 1900 degrees, so their spot gets nice and toasty.

The bisque fire is the first firing of the cycle which hardens the pottery enough for us to decorate with cobalt, lining and glazing. It turns the pottery a pretty pinkish color which you can kind of see in the dark picture below.

Once the bisque fire is cool enough to unload the next day, the kiln and building are still pretty warm. At this point, the girls love to nap INSIDE the kiln. Those girls know all the hot spots.

Here is an example of a customer gift message we liked: "Happy 5th Anniversary, May your crock always be at least half full."

Here's another one written by another customer: "For your wedding, we wanted to share a new tradition with you- we were given one of these for our wedding and love seeing it every day as it sits on our counter holding all of our spoons and spatulas. I hope you love it!"

11.01.2010

Halloween Happenings, The Hotel Beacon and our Personalized Pot of the Day

Our personalized pot of the day.

The Hotel Beacon has a storied and haunted past. Located in Renfrew, PA, less than an hour away from Pittsburgh, it's a fun family place to spend a haunted weekend in October. They offer hayrides, a haunted house, a 10-acre corn maze and a restaurant lounge with a good menu. Learn more @ http://thehotelbeacon.com/

10.29.2010

Harvest Time: Pittsburgh South Side Farmers Market

Here is an example of our Harvest Pumpkin logo. Here we show it with a town name.

It reminds me of one of my favorite times of year, the fall harvest season. In the South Side of Pittsburgh, from mid-May to Thanksgiving week, we are lucky to have a weekly Farmers Market on Tuesdays. From May to November, it's interesting to see the evolution of produce that appear every week with May being pretty sparse with booths and selection, to the beautiful August tomatoes and summer fruit, to the abundant root vegetables, apples and cider that prevail in October.