The Blanket Creek Pottery Story
About Blanket Creek Pottery
I moved to the Ohio river valley region in the summer of 1999 and was offered a job at a friend's pottery studio in Cincinnati. With no prior experience and minimal understanding of the process, I would never have thought to try it until I walked in the door and, at first glance, realized it was more like a production factory than the art studio I envisioned. Having previously considered careers both in engineering as well as manufacturing, while also maintaining various creative pursuits throughout life, I had a sense that this craft was the ideal way to incorporate my various abilities. So I took the job, which meant taking the lowest seat in the facility by starting with the most menial tasks, such as reprocessing hundreds of pounds of used clay scraps through the slow, underpowered pugmill.
How Blanket Creek Came to Be
Although a humbling start to a career, especially at age 30, the labor-intensive and seemingly endless chores didn't dissuade me a bit. Rather, I saw them all as steps that would bring me closer to my goal of eventually starting my own pottery business.
That opportunity came in late 2001 when I moved an hour south to rural Kentucky. I knew that the long commute would be impractical, especially with winter coming when the work schedule generally slows down at the factory. By that time I had already gained a reasonable degree of proficiency in all aspects of the pottery business and had already amassed quite a collection of mostly broken-but-fixable tools and equipment needed to start a pottery business. This included the remains of a very large kiln previously owned by a potter who moved from the region, which I had purchased, disassembled and stored away during the previous year.
So, once again I took the low seat in the house (the garage actually!) and set out on the even more difficult task of building a pottery business from scratch. The six cats and three dogs living in the garage seemed pleasantly surprised to see all this happening, although it must have been a bit of a shock at first - and we all had lessons to learn about diplomacy! Cleaning up broken pots was often one of my fist chores of morning, along with reminding myself that they were here first!
Eventually a customized and highly efficient production system began to take form, including the heavy equipment needed for clay production which I managed to piece together from scrap metals and surplus drive-train components in a crash course on metalworking (miraculously, it is all still holding together just fine!). Now I struggle to keep up with an overpowered pugmill... The old kiln was resurrected as a unique, multi-fuel kiln that can burn anything from propane to used vegetable oil.
Today Blanket Creek is a Thriving Business
Today, Blanket Creek Pottery is a thriving business as demand for this product continues to increase every year despite the economic gloom relentlessly expounded by the media. It seems that the decision I made from the very start to never stray from functionality was a good one, as people continue to give gifts even amidst difficult economic times; and functional pottery is evidently as popular a choice as ever.
As of this writing, 2012 is quickly becoming another amazing memory with so much to be thankful for. I would like to extent my deepest gratitude toward everyone who has purchased this pottery! You have all helped to support a lifestyle based on living by, and reciprocating to, Grace. The many months and countless hours of work it takes to fill holiday season orders always seem to culminate in a time of peace far more rewarding than the material returns. This is when I remember what Blanket Creek Pottery is really all about.
— Paul Borian
December 23, 2011
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