The End of an Era

June 04, 2020

Ever since the late 90’s when Dave & Jennie first launched our red glaze, it has grown to be a very beloved part of our pottery collection. Over those years, many of you who collect our red glaze combinations have noticed the great level of variation within that glaze, and have chosen to embrace it. To others, it has been a source of frustration as you’ve been on the quest for more consistent red tones. Within the pottery community, copper red glazes are notorious for being cantankerous to deal with, and ours is no exception! Depending upon many factors, it can turn out a light pink color, all the way to a splotchy reddish/gray, and on further to a stone color with no trace of red at all. It also can tend to run down the pottery during the firing and stick to the kiln shelf (pictured below on the bottom of a Charcoal Red serving bowl).

YES! Believe it or not, all of these pictures feature our red glaze, and we get all of these variations on a regular basis! In fact, the bright cherry reds are unfortunately the most rare!

In the past few months, as our business (like so many other small businesses) has taken a staggering hit backwards, we have had to look at every way possible to tighten our belts and optimize our processes in order to be able to reopen our studio, employ our studio team, and have a viable plan for the future. After years of having to remake pieces multiple times in order to get acceptable red tones, many wasted pottery pieces, and months of conversations and problem solving between Josh and Kathy, Dave & Jennie, and our studio team, our conclusion has been that we truly no longer have the luxury of being able to absorb the cost of that wasted pottery (and the labor it takes to remake items multiples times to reach an acceptable quality standard). As a result, we have made the incredibly sad decision to discontinue our red glaze. It is truly the end of an era, and we realize this will be an immense disappointment to many of our long-term customers. We are very sad to have had to make this decision.

In the interest of doing our best to take care of our customers who have sets of pottery in our red patterns, we have set aside all of the remaining pieces in Mocha Red, Chocolate Red, and Charcoal Red in order to give those customers the best chance of completing their collections (on a first come, first served basis). We are sad to say that we will not be making additional pieces in these glazes.

If you are interested in some of this pottery, please give us a call at 406-522-7707 and ask for Kathy or Josh specifically.

If you have an open order with us that features a red glaze combination, we will be reaching out to you directly to discuss options and do our best to take care of you how we can.

As we look to the future, our studio team is working hard to test and develop additional glaze colors to complement our existing color options. The colors we are testing are based on frequent customer requests as well as focusing on glaze formulas that will be stable and consistent within our handmade pottery process.

We greatly appreciate all of you for your ongoing loyalty and business, and your understanding as we navigate these unprecedented times.

Blessings,

Josh & Kathy Lockie, and the Mountain Arts Pottery Team