News From Ephraim

August 2004
Vol. 6 No. 3

If it’s August, it must be...time for another CERF vase! Ephraim Faience Pottery is once again joining forces with its company store, Dovetail Antiques, to help craftspeople 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 United States. 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 people that CERF has helped by logging on to the organization’s web site, www.craftemergency.org.

The CERF vases have been developed around the theme of the traditional meanings  of flowers that relate to CERF’s mission.  In 2002, the vase bore chamomile flowers, which traditionally represent energy in adversity. Last year’s Lily-of-the Valley Vase for CERF represented the return of happiness. This year’s vase continues the theme with the Apple Blossom, which carries the traditional meaning of hope for better things to come.

Apple Blossom Vase
for CERF

Click here to view
a larger image

Limited edition of 100 pieces
Approx.  8.25“h x 4.25”w
Color: As shown
$168.00
Shipping and handling: $15
WI residents add 5.5% sales tax

EFP will create 100 Apple Blossom Vases for CERF. In addition to our 2004 mark and the artist’s signature, each piece will bear an additional impressed mark on the foot designating this as a “CERF” vase.

This year, the CERF vase will be sold by mail-in postcard drawing. If you are interested in purchasing an Apple Blossom Vase,  please mail a standard-sized (4.25” x5.5”) postcard with your name, address, and telephone number to CERF Vase, Dovetail Antiques, PO Box 33, Deerfield, WI 53531. Entries must be postmarked by September 30th.  There is a limit of one entry per collector or household. Duplicate entries will be discarded.

The names of the 100 winning buyers will be drawn on Thursday, October 7th. Winners will be contacted for credit card payment information within a week of the drawing. There will be a shipping and handling charge of $15 for vases that cannot be picked up at Dovetail Antiques.  Purchases destined for Wisconsin addresses are subject to 5.5% sales tax. If you have any questions, please call or email John at Dovetail Antiques ( 608-764-1454).

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 an Apple Blossom Vase for CERF, or by making a donation directly to CERF by calling 802-229-2306.

More gorgeous pieces are soon to be retired.  Take advantage of the opportunity to order now at the regular retail price, and pay later! These pieces won’t be shipped until the first week of March 2005, and your credit card will not be charged until that time. Simply provide your payment information at the time of order, and we’ll keep it on file until your order is ready to go out.  It’s that easy!

TO BE RETIRED:

#012 Begonia Vase
#017 Hanging Bat Vase
#027 Valley Oak Short Vase
#029 Pacific Eucalyptus Vase
#064 Spring Leaf Cabinet Vase
#112 White Iris Vase
#116 Harvest Squash Vase

Click here to view photos of these pieces, details, and prices.

To add any of these pieces to your collection, call us at 888-704-POTS before 5:00 p.m. CT on October 1st. Please note that some of these pieces may sell out their limited editions of 500 pieces before the Oct. 1st deadline, so please place your order as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment.

Well, we think so, anyway, at least when it comes to our studio. When Kevin first started Ephraim back in 1996, he expressed a commitment to keeping the studio at ten employees or less. He set this limit to ensure that we are always able to focus on quality, creativity, and good service while being able to maintain a sane and healthy working environment. This philosophy is expressed in our mission statement (see sidebar) and in our slogan, It’s more than pottery; it’s a lifestyle.

In June we reached that self-imposed limit of ten people. So who are they? You are probably already familiar with these seven: Kevin Hicks, studio founder and potter; Kristin Zanetti, business and marketing manager; Jesse Wolf, decorator; Laura Klein, potter; John Raymond, decorator and studio foreman; Ken Nekola, potter; and Marilynn Reichel, sales and customer service manager. Last September, Angela Taddei started working with us part-time as a decorator. This September, she will switch over to full time. In April, ceramic artist Eric Anderson joined our staff as a glazer. The tenth and final person, experienced potter Mary Pratt, joined us in June. You can learn more about the new folks below.

Those of you who have called us recently are already aware that we have received an unprecedented number of orders over the past few months. This has pushed our lead time out to about 6 months. Eric and Mary have extensive pottery experience, but they need time to learn our system and our pieces. Over the long term, we expect their contributions to be significant. We are hoping that this will help to cut our lead times back to a more reasonable level.

There will always be limits on what we are able to do: limits on the number of pieces made and limits on what we can accomplish on any given day. It is important to us to set challenging yet realistic goals that provide us with opportunities for creativity and job satisfaction while maintaining the level of quality and service our customers have come to expect. After all, that’s what the lifestyle is all about.

Angela Taddei
Decorator

Angela Taddei started with EFP last fall as a part-time decorator, helping John and Jesse with glazing. Over the past year she has learned a lot about pottery and will be switching over to full time this September. She is married and has one son, named, appropriately, Clay!

Eric Anderson
Decorator

Eric Anderson, an experienced potter, joined EFP in April. He works in the glazing area with John, Jesse, and Angela. Eric and his wife, Susan, also have their own studio, Grand River Pottery, and do several shows a year. They have two children, Sarah and Adam.

Mary Pratt
Potter

Mary Pratt is a potter with two decades of experience. A talented sculptor, working at EFP allows Mary to use her skills to the best advantage. Like Eric, she also moonlights in her own studio. Mary shares her home with her two daughters, Grace and Sophie, and two cats.

An important part of having a pottery collection is maintaining it. Taking good care of your pottery will ensure that its beauty will last for generations. The following tips will help you get the most enjoyment out of your pottery collection.

First of all, NEVER, EVER, EVER put water directly into your EFP vases! Our vases are porous and are not designed to hold water. Your vase may leak or even crack, ruining it and whatever piece of furniture it is sitting on. If you are determined to display live flowers in your EFP vases, put the water in a glass or plastic cup or test tube that is small enough to fit through the opening of the pot.

Art pottery should be dusted with a dry, soft cloth. It’s a good idea to remove your rings before handling the pottery. Never use anything abrasive on your EFP. To remove grime and scratches left by rings, try using a damp, light-colored sponge with a small amount of Soft Scrub® cleanser. Rub gently and remove any excess cleanser from the surface of the pot with a damp sponge or soft cloth.

Never use anything oily or gummy on your EFP vases. We once heard a horror story of someone who tried to remove the gummy residue from a price sticker with Goo Gone®. This caused double  the trouble, as both the goo and the Goo Gone® absorbed into the pores of the glaze, leaving permanent damage.

Sunlight will not fade or discolor your pottery. The heat of the sun should not cause your pieces to crack. Remember, our pottery reaches nearly 2000°F when it’s in the kiln! Assuming that the temperatures in your home don’t climb above 2000° (!), you should be okay. It is better to avoid quick, extreme temperature changes, but unless you are fond of moving your pots from a hot, sunny window and placing them directly into the freezer (although why you would want to do this, I don’t know), you shouldn’t have a problem in a normal household environment.

By following these tips and using common sense, you will ensure that your pottery’s beauty will last for generations to come. When your grandchildren take your collection of EFP to Antiques Roadshow in 2050, they’ll be thanking you for it!

In addition to the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (see above),  each year Ephraim Pottery supports several other charitable and non-profit organizations whose missions are important to us.  So far this year, we have donated pottery to these worthy causes:

Arts & Crafts Research Fund, a non-profit foundation established by Bruce Johnson, organizer of the Grove Park Inn Arts & Crafts Conference. The ACRF awards funds to writers and researchers working on projects of interest to the Arts & Crafts community. A silent auction to raise funds for the ACRF was held at this year’s Grove Park conference.

North Lakeland Discovery Center in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, a community-oriented educational center dedicated to exploring preserving, and enhancing the area’s natural, cultural, and historic resources. A silent auction was held over Memorial Day Weekend during the Center’s member appreciation event. More information can be found on the web at http://www.discoverycenter.net.

Monticello Project, Jefferson Elementary School in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a project started by a group of parents to create an outdoor classroom with plants indigenous to the Midwest, a sensory garden, weather station, prairie garden, and bird sanctuary. A silent auction was held in May to raise funds for the second phase of the project.

EFP has also donated experimental or one-of-a-kind pieces to the following organizations’  upcoming silent auctions:

Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Annual Conference:  “On Home Ground”, being held in Madison, WI, October 13-16th. The FLWBC works to preserve and restore buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright. For information, log on to http://www.savewright.org.

Stickley Museum at  Craftsman Farms Auction Fundraiser, Morris Plains, NJ,  Sept. 18th.  Craftsman Farms is the former home of Gustav Stickley and a National Historic Landmark. Info: 973-540-1165 or http://www.stickleymuseum.org.

Pink Tie Ball fundraiser held by the North Jersey Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Morristown Armory, November 13th.  Funds provide breast health care to medically underserved women in northern NJ, as well as grants awarded by the Komen Fdtn. Info: 908-277-2904 or http://www.njakomen.org.

We encourage you to support these organizations by bidding on our pieces in their silent auctions. You’ll gain a beautiful piece of pottery, and you’ll also feel good knowing that  you’re helping a worthy cause.  These organizations thank you for your support.

A big THANK YOU to our collectors who attended the Arts & Crafts Grand Californian show in Anaheim in June. Lots of you  came as soon as the show opened for the closeout tiles, boxes, and paperweights. We want to let you know that we appreciated your patience and good will as Marilynn and Todd worked to serve you as quickly as they could.  We’ve got the best collectors in the world!

We recently added some exciting new features to ephraimpottery.com, and we invite you to spend a few spare moments to move beyond this page and surf the rest of our site.

Our Photo Tour features some beautiful photos of the area around our studio. The photos change seasonally, and our summer Tour is on line now. It features photos taken along a rural road that is only about a mile from the studio which recently received the designation of Rustic Road from the state of Wisconsin.

Another feature that we added recently is “Today in the Studio.” Each weekday (well, almost), we post a photo of something going on in the studio that day. It’s a great way to get a sneak peek inside the studio and to learn more about how we  make our pottery. Who knows? Maybe you will see one of our artists working on a piece that you ordered!

Who designed the Wild Morning Glory Vase? How familiar are you with each of our artists’ styles? The answer appears at the bottom of this page (come on now, no cheating!)

We need your help!
Each time we mail the newsletter, many copies are returned because the addressees have moved. If you are on our postal mailing list and have recently moved, please email Kristin at EFP to update your address if you wish to continue receiving the newsletter. Thank you for helping us keep the costs associated with producing and mailing the newsletter down.

Our resident chipmunk, the aptly-named Chippy, has been  quite busy lately.  This in itself is not unusual, for he is in and out of the studio all day long,  as this old barn is far from rodent-proof. He visits several times a day to gorge himself on the peanuts  and other delicacies that Jesse puts out for him. He is likely the most well-fed chipmunk in Deerfield.

Chippy munches his daily
ration of peanuts, courtesy of his best human friend, Jesse.

A boy and his chipmunk

Recently, however, Chippy has been more gluttonous than usual. We have found stashes of dried corn and sunflower seeds hidden amongst our shipping supplies. We really suspected that something was up when Marilynn discovered him in the office (a posted chipmunk-free zone) raiding a box of decorative dried flowers and fruit. She called Jesse, but Chippy wasn’t about to stick around to be reprimanded and made a break for it. We later dis-

covered that he had made off with not one, but two dried pomegranates, the diameter of which were at least twice as big as his head. He left the evidence—shards of chewed-up pomegranate rind and one whole pomegranate bearing telltale teeth marks—in a pile on the bathroom floor, along with some more corn and sunflower seeds. He obviously had gotten serious about putting away food for the winter.

Now, mind you, it is early August as I write this. Normally this sort of behavior doesn’t occur until September. Not only that—the blackbirds have already started flocking together. We’ve also been having an unusual cold snap, with autumn-like skies and temperatures to match. It feels odd that the kids aren’t back at school yet.

I don’t know what the Farmer’s Almanac has to say about it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a long, cold winter this year. Animals have ways of knowing what Nature has in store, even if the weather forecasters don’t. I think I’ll take my cue from the chipmunks and blackbirds and start stashing away some extra cash for those nasty winter heating bills.  Couldn’t hurt.

Answer to Who designed it?

#409—Kevin Hicks

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