August 2003
Vol. 5 No. 3

Collectors’ Corner: Falcon Vase on sale August 15th
Collectors’ Spotlight: Century Studios
Lily-of-the-Valley Vase to benefit CERF
CERF at Heart: The 2003 CERF Collection of Miniatures
It’s never too early...
Catalog 8
Upcoming shows
The best pie in the U.S.
Employee corner: Welcome, Marilynn!
Down on the farm

Collectors’ Corner:
Falcon Vase on sale August 15th

The Falcon Vase is the second piece in our new bird series. It will be created in a limited edition of 50 numbered pieces. This fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime vase is approximately 12” tall, and is glazed in several colors, including yellow, green, red, white, brown, and gray. It is truly a spectacular collector’s piece.

NOTE: THE FALCON VASE IS SOLD OUT, AND THE WAITING LIST IS FULL.

Interested buyers should call 888-704-POTS beginning at 9:00 a.m. CT on Friday, August 15, 2003 to place their order (local buyers, please call 608-764-1302).  The price is $428.

No orders will be taken prior to 9:00 a.m. on August 15th. Orders will be taken by phone only on a first-come, first-served basis until the edition is sold out. One Falcon Vase per customer, please.

Watch this web site for announcements of new vases in this popular series.

Please note that colors will vary from the example shown. Each piece is glazed individually and will contain unique color variations.

Collectors’ Spotlight: Century Studios

Tucked away in the former warehouse district of Minneapolis is a tiny jewel of a showroom filled with gorgeous Tiffany-style stained glass and Ephraim Faience pottery and tile. Century Studios is the workshop and showroom of glass artists Irwin Terry and Bill Campbell. They create stained glass lamps and custom projects using the same techniques as did the original Tiffany studio.

EFP creates custom pottery lamp bases that Century Studios pairs with their stained glass shades. Just like EFP’s vases, each of Century Studios’ shades is unique, being created from hand-made glass which was selected specifically for that particular shade. The pottery bases and the stained glass shades complement each other, fusing into a truly special one-of-a-kind piece of decorative art.

Periodically—about once or twice a year—EFP creates an exclusive, numbered edition dragonfly-themed piece for Century Studios. The current offering is the dragonfly wall pocket shown below. Only 25 were created, and as of press time, only eight of the pieces in the edition were left. It is glazed in Leaf Green with yellow highlights that flow downwards from the rim. The piece bears both the EFP and Century Studios stamps. The price is $130. Contact Century Studios or stop in to purchase one.

If you’re in the Twin Cities area, you owe it to yourself to visit Century Studios. We guarantee you’ll be impressed!

Century Studios
200 3rd Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Tel: 612-339-0239
www.centurystudios.com

Exclusive EFP/ Century Studios dragonfly wall pocket

Lily-of-the-Valley Vase to benefit CERF

Ephraim Faience Pottery is once again joining forces with its company store, Dovetail Antiques, to help crafts people in need. EFP has created another original, limited edition vase to benefit the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF). 

Never heard of CERF? The Craft Emergency Relief Fund is the only organization of its kind in the U.S. CERF helps craftspeople sustain crafts making as a livelihood by providing immediate support to professional craftspeople suffering career-threatening emergencies or illnesses. You can read about some of the craftspeople that CERF has helped by logging on to the organization’s web site, www.craftemergency.org.

Last year, EFP created The  Chamomile Vase for CERF’s September is a Month for CERF fundraiser. We chose to decorate the Seaspray Blue vase with white chamomile flowers because chamomile traditionally represents energy in adversity. Energy, in the form of money and support, is what CERF provides to crafts people facing serious adversity: possible career-ending illnesses and disasters.

We are carrying on the theme of flowers with traditional meanings that relate to CERF’s mission again this year.  For the 2003 fundraiser, we have chosen the Lily of the Valley, which traditionally represents the return of happiness. CERF’s grants and loans bring a return to the happiness of crafts making for their recipients.

EFP will create up to 100 Lily-of-the-Valley Vases for CERF. Each piece will bear an additional impressed mark on the foot designating this as a “CERF” vase.

To order your Lily-of-the-Valley Vase, please call Dovetail Antiques at 608-764-1454.  John Mathews will be happy to take your order. Orders will be taken through September 28th, or until 100 pieces have been ordered, whichever comes first.

Dovetail Antiques and Ephraim Faience Pottery are proud to participate in A Month for CERF. We will  donate 50% of the profits from the sale of this year’s vase to CERF. We hope you will join us in supporting this worthy cause by purchasing a Lily-of-the-Valley Vase for CERF, or by making a donation directly to CERF by calling 802-229-2306.

Lily-of-the-Valley
Vase for CERF
click on photo to enlarge

Detail of
Lily-of-the-Valley
Vase for CERF
click on photo to enlarge

The Lily-of-the-Valley Vase for CERF
Limited edition—100 pieces max.
Approx.  6.75“h x 3.75”w
Color: Seaspray Blue vase with Leaf Green leaves & white flowers
$128.00
Shipping  and handling: $15
WI residents add 5.5% sales tax

Available for order exclusively through Dovetail Antiques now through September 28th, or until the edition is sold out. To purchase yours, stop in at Dovetail, or call John at 608-764-1454.

CERF at Heart:
The 2003 CERF Collection of Miniatures

For a sixth consecutive year, CERF will be raffling a one-of-a kind collection to raise funds for their programs and services that help craft artists sustain crafts making as a livelihood. This year’s chosen theme is “hearts.”

Raffle tickets are $50.00 each or 5 for $200.00. You may purchase raffle tickets by contacting Arlene Hanson at 802.229.2306 or info@craftemergency.org.

The drawing will take place October 19, 2003 at SOFA Chicago. You do not need to be present to win. And if you win, you win the entire collection. For more information, see www.craftemergency.org/cerfatheart.htm.

It’s never too early...

...to be thinking about (gasp!) the holidays! Our current lead time for orders is 10 weeks, and now through Thanksgiving is our busiest time of the year. We never like to disappoint people, so we’d really appreciate it if you could order your holiday gifts as early as possible.

We will also have gift certificates and gift cards available again this year. These are great alternatives if your order arrives too late to be shipped in time for the holidays.

We will also be offering our Collectors’ Calendar again this year. The 2004 calendar will feature all collector photos and will be the most beautiful calendar yet! Ordering information will be announced in the November newsletter and on ephraimpottery.com.

Please call us at 888-704-POTS if there’s anything we can do to make your holiday gift-giving easier.

Catalog #8

Catalog #8 was mailed to our current customers on July 8th. If you’ve purchased directly from us by phone or at a show, you should have received a printed catalog in the mail. If you think you should have received a catalog but did not, please call us at 888-704-POTS or email info@ephraimpottery.com and we’ll check to see if you’re on our list.

Upcoming shows

We hope you can stop by  one of these shows to see our special show pieces!

August 9th-10th
Arts & Crafts San Francisco
Concourse Exhibition Center
San Francisco, CA
tel 949-494-9499
www.artsandcrafts-sf.com

August 23rd
Wisconsin Pottery Association Show & Sale
Alliant Energy Center
Madison, WI
tel 608-249-6898
www.wisconsinpottery.org

October 4th-5th
Pasadena Heritage’s Craftsman Weekend
Masonic Temple
Pasadena, CA
tel 626-441-6333
www.pasadenaheritage.org

October 11th-12th
Pottery Show California
Glendale Civic Auditorium
Glendale, CA
tel 949-494-9499
www.potteryshowcalifornia.com

December 6th
4th Annual Holiday Pottery Fest
Dovetail Antiques
119 S. Main St. (Hwy 73)
Deerfield, WI
tel 608-764-1454
www.dovetailantiques.com

The best pie in the U.S.

On our recent trip to Century Studios in Minneapolis (see above), we stopped at the Norske Nook in Osseo, Wisc. for lunch. The Norske Nook holds the title for Best Pie in the U.S. for 2003. It’s their Banana Cream, and comes highly recommended by Laura, who tested it out. The Norske Nook gets the official EFP stamp of approval!

Employee corner: Welcome, Marilynn!

Jana Mirs, former Sales and Customer Service Manager, left the company in mid-May. We have hired Marilynn Reichel as our new Sales and Customer Service Manager-in-Training. Marilynn started with us on July 15th. She comes to us from a career in the cheese industry. On the surface, pottery and cheese may seem quite different, but Marilynn’s background in quality assurance and customer satisfaction will be well-utilized at Ephraim. We are excited to have her working with us.

You will no doubt be meeting Marilynn soon on the phone. We appreciate your patience while she’s learning the ropes. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call Kristin or Kevin at EFP (888-704-POTS).

Down on the farm
by Kristin Zanetti

In the lushness of the Midwestern summer, it seems wrong to be working. We get so little of it, this explosion of greenery. Fall ends early, winter is long, and spring comes late. Each year, I feel a sense of amazement when the tiny leaf buds begin to unfurl. It seems incredible, after so many months of being leafless, to see the trees wearing green again.

And now, in the heart of summer, everything is visibly, vibrantly alive. On hot humid days, if I could sit still long enough, I’d swear I’d be able to watch the corn get taller before my eyes. Vegetable gardens are beginning to yield their bounty, and flower gardens are bursting with color. The sharp brilliant blue of the sky after a cooling downpour is accompanied by the clean smell of hot, wet cement.

Of course, I think, I should be standing barefoot on that wet cement and feeling the steam rise up my legs. I should be picking the vegetables and painting the flowers in the garden. My skin should be browner; my hair, lighter. I should sit still long enough to actually watch the corn grow. Instead, I’m sitting indoors at the computer, typing.

Now to Kevin, on the other hand, this must seem like exactly the time of year that one should be working. Having been raised on a farm, summer is the time you work, and work hard. The fact that summer and the accompanying growing season are so short necessitates working hard, fast, and long. When the crops are ready, they won’t wait. “Make hay while the sun shines,” as the old saying goes.

My job and my lifestyle challenge me to enjoy and appreciate summer’s beauty without letting it seduce me. This is no easy task. It’s calling to me now, beckoning me to lie on my back in the grass and watch the puffy white clouds float by. Good thing it’s time for lunch. I see Todd out there. I think I’ll join him.

Ephraim Faience Pottery - PO Box 168 - Deerfield, WI 53531
Tel 888-704-POTS/ 608-764-1302 - Fax 608-764-8439