OOOH! La! La!
Willow House is debuting a brand new American made Pottery Line by Artisan Tena Payne.
Josh, from our fabulous Willow House Creative Team, Blogged about the debut at www.plateandpattern.com. Here is what he said:
Hear ye, hear ye, I now call this meeting of the Tena Payne Fan Club to order!
Ask anyone in the office and they’ll tell you — I’m a HUGE fan of our new American-made pottery. I can’t stop talking about it. In fact, I had to resort to drastic measures to keep from driving my co-workers nuts...
My love for Tena Payne and her work started when I went out to her studio to shoot a special documentary-style video for Willow House (coming soon!) I said it then, and I’ll say it now — Tena Payne is the kind of person I want to be when I grow up ... if I ever do! She’s creative, passionate, relaxed, and so ... cool. She even taught Kathleen how to throw pottery!
We had such a blast that day, and we learned a lot about all that goes into creating this beautiful line of American-made pottery. Here's a quick look at a few of my favorite things about it.
Artisan Details
Hands down, my favorite features of our American-made pottery are the hand-crafted details. Tena and her team of artisans make each piece by hand — no robots allowed! That means that instead of soulless, identical pottery, each piece of Tena’s pottery is a truly unique work of art.
And I’m not just saying that in a “cover our derrière” kinda way. I mean it. It’s about more than each piece being different. It’s about each piece being SPECIAL. Take a look at what I’m talking about:
Check out the rim of that bowl. Look closely. See the little organic spiral shape stamped on the rim? That’s made using an actual fossil. Tena has collected fossils for years, and as a special finishing touch, she stamps them into each piece. I’m totally in love with this signature touch!
Hand-Mixed Glazes
OK, so weighing in at #2 on my Tena Payne love scale are her glazes. Tena mixes her own glazes from purely natural minerals and elements. On a technical level, that means that you can be 100% sure that every piece of her pottery is so food safe, a newborn could eat off it. On an artistic level, it means that her finished pieces wear a coat of many colors. See for yourself:
See? The colors aren’t just flat red, or brown, or tan. There’s movement to the glaze, a depth and richness that mass-produced pottery can’t match. And on some pieces there’s an extra special touch — a swirl of contrasting glaze that follows the contour of the piece (look again at the image with the fossil stamps). See what I mean? Simply beautiful.
Made in America
You’ll hear this later in our video, but “Made in America” means more than a sticker on the bottom of a bowl. It means that we are helping actual Americans earn an income doing what they love. I’ve met these artisans. They were so welcoming, so engaging, and so ... happy. And that’s what left the most lasting impression on me — that this partnership with Willow House is helping these folks do what they love doing. It’s a 100% all-around good thing.
OK, I’m officially stopping myself for now before I pass out from oxygen deprivation. But don’t worry — as I am the self-proclaimed Founder and President of the Tena Payne Fan Club, you’ll most definitely be hearing from me again. Until then, I'll keep keep sneaking pieces home to play with! ;)
