I have come to be known as Reggie the potter.
Locals, my students and on my travels around the country, folks now know me as Reggie the potter. Sometimes I answer the phone as, "Reggie the potter speaking". Sometimes I introduce myself as, "Hi, I'm Reggie the potter. This past weekend I finally got to go to St Johns pottery in Collegeville MN, I introduced myself to a famous potter in residence there, Richard Bresnahan, as Reggie the potter.
I am also known now for my miniature pottery. Little gems of colorful glazed clay pots. "Still only $3..." at my shows.
Years ago when I first started demonstrating at the Goshen Fair in Connecticut, I made large pots for three days at the fair. I would be at the fair from 8:00 in the morning till 8:00 at night. As all potters know, throwing a pot on a wheel is a fairly quick procedure, especially mugs and small jugs. All the visitors wanted to see me throw a pot on the wheel and the Goshen fair has a steady stream of visitors. By the end of each day, I would have scores of thrown pots, still damp and heavy to transport home in my car. Some pots I could trim and put handles on the next day, but again, people wanted to see me throw a pot so by the time the fair was over I would come home to scores of pots in various stages of drying and have to finish them up.
I have two girls, younger at that time with doll houses so I had begun to make little pots for their dolls. One day at the fair, I showed someone how to make them off a hump of clay and that began my career as the miniature potter. It has worked out wonderfully for me. Not only do I enjoy making, decorating and glazing thousands of them each year, but I can make them at the fair with a small amount of (heavy) clay, dry them by the end of a summers day, pack them in layers of sawdust from the Goshen shingle mill outside my door and bring a little box of gems home ready to fire and glaze. Soon these will be poured into the basket bin at the next fair for sale... "Still only $3"... and the circle continues. Fun.
I have a little stamp I put on the bottom... EKP. East Knoll Pottery, the name of my works, is the name of my old house in Torrington Connecticut. East Knoll was the name given the little brick house I live in, on a knoll on the east side of an old highway in my little village.
Quite a few visitors lift up my little pots and ask me what the EKP stands for, so I thought I would clear it up.
This year I have some new items along with the old standards. I have new Momma and Poppa molded gnomes. I have sold out of my first batch of cast gnomes and need to make another batch next month for my fall circuit. I have my chef heads for tooth picks, Krampus and troll heads, little bowls, pitchers, face jugs and swirly plates. Lots of George Ohr influenced vases and a few coveted piggy banks. I have more of the little jugs with naked mermaids and popular deer drawings. My cows and sheep drawings are improving too.
Come and see them all at this years fairs. For my long standing customers, I will be in the same spot again at the Big E in Springfield in September.
All my minis will have my little EKP stamp on them. Come and collect some more! See my fair listings below...
http://www.eastknollpottery.com/demonstrations.html
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