This is us. We make these...
We are gearing up production ready to release a new range of stoneware pottery on Friday 9 July.
Our pots have changed over the past 14 months. Their development is very particular to this time: the duration of the pandemic. Positioning ourselves to be able to release a resolved product range is our COVID response story. Our design journey, glaze development, mistakes, and victories are raw.
There have been many design and glaze iterations and now this is it. Sunken Studio makes stoneware wheel thrown pots. Cylinder, circle, square, and sphere: minimal fuss, nowhere to hide. Simple for a team to share production elements. Forms stay the same, colour and surface evolve.
Back in April 2020, we released pots, any pots that we had in stock to raise funds. We then made our first coherent Standard Ware range with the raw materials we had in stock. That stock got us to mid-summer 2020 and the release of our colourful earthenware pots. Long-term we didn’t want to make earthenware pots, and behind the scenes Chris was running hundreds of stoneware glaze tests.
June-October we were back open and Chris and I were running our full program of classes - and cleaning like never before. Billy joined the team, and Amy returned, for a very short stint in October. Faced with lockdown two we decided to use up all our waste clay to make planters. In five days Billy and Chris threw as much as possible. That week I also conceded that we would not be able to resolve our designs for Christmas. We paused production, everyone was furloughed in some capacity, and I kept e-courses, online orders, a popup shop, memberships, and enquiries going on my own. I was lonely and fraught.
A week before Christmas House of Fu ordered 460 pots for their new restaurant, followed by another 60 in April. They took a pop. We said yes, and started a new journey. We’ve learned loads about managing production, and Chris’ knowledge of glaze is a phenomenal asset to him and us. He’s a freaking legend and toughed it through some bleak months. We’ve now restructured our opening times to make space for production. We know we can’t do everything simultaneously but we can modify our output and simplify our range to make it doable.
In January we made a batch of pourers to gauge interest in our new glazes. Did I mention it was Baltic in the studio January-March? At least we had warm beds and food to go home to. With this in mind, we sold the pourers to raise funds for Simon on the Streets and raised £1150. We learned that you don’t always feel the same about the glazes we love… so we now test interest by releasing small batches and seeing how they fair.
We cleared the decks in February. Super Seconds Saturday was our 2nd samples and seconds sale in 9 months. We were making too many mistakes - there was too much variation for us to manage. We’ve now ironed out the glitches, and sales will become biennial events - there will always be ceramic casualties.
Our last shop update was in March. Since then we’ve had one lonely white pourer in the web-shop. It’s been unnerving having a spartan shop, but being able to release our workshop calendars, and welcome you back onto courses provided us with some breathing space.
Lots of handles, mug body, and bowl tweaks later we are ready to say this is us. We make these…
Our model? Tall and short mugs will be in stock as much as possible, and there will be shop updates throughout the year for bowls, plates, and maybe the odd pourer.
I’m super proud of this range. It makes me smile. Making is a psychological battle with expectations and matter at the best of times. Throw in a pandemic response and it’s an epic test of will and creativity. That said, we get to share something positive, and that makes every headache and coldsore worthwhile. We hope you’re interested in the potential of our pots to delight. Despite our troubles they bring a huge amount of joy - it keeps us going and is essential.
Save the date: next shop update Friday 9 July, 2021.
