As a result of months of work developing and refining designs, the studio is full of Experimental pottery. A sizeable group of these one-of-a-kind designs will become available online starting Wednesday, May 10, 2017, @ 12 PM (CDT). Each Item is unique, the exact piece represented in the photo and ready to ship in 2 business days. The following pieces and many more will be included in the sale. Prices range between $148 and $950.
Have you heard of the phrase: “Art for art’s sake?” Once in a while we get the urge at the studio to push boundaries. We take these risks for the thrill of the ‘what-if’, to find the limits, to stretch ourselves, and frankly to see something new. Kevin came to work one quiet weekend in June and in a fit of inspiration threw this colossal form. No small task, the forming and sculpting of this piece took a couple days of work and a lot of careful handling through the modeling, drying, and firing processes. We expected to learn a lot along the way, but we never expected a first quality piece to result from this experiment in ‘art for art’s sake.’ Follow the blog to see the process of making our Colossal Dragon Vase and witness our jaw-dropping excitement at the beautiful end result.
At 23 inches tall, 15 inches wide and 39.6 pounds this form is more massive than any previous ceramic work from Ephraim Pottery. We are thrilled and amazed by the first quality results of this ambitious form and excited to offer you the chance to own this historic piece.
Kevin began this form to explore creative boundaries, not thinking at all of the potential profit. We feel tremendously lucky to have received a first quality result from our kiln and wish to share our good fortune. 50% of the sale of this vase will go to charity. To carry on the spirit of Kevin’s original artistic freedom expressed in this dragon we will donate 25% of the proceeds to local youth arts programming (in Lake Mills, WI & Cambria, CA). In addition to supporting the arts, we feel a strong need to support the hungry in our community. A further 25% will be donated to our local food banks. The remaining 50% will cover shipping costs and the expenses accrued in creating the piece.
The Colossal Dragon Vase Experimental will go to auction on eBay beginning this Friday evening with the auction closing Nov 2.
Update: Thank you everyone for your interest in the Colossal Dragon Vase. The vase fetched $5,487.88 at auction, which means we raised $2,743.94 for charity! We had a lot of fun creating this unique piece and greatly appreciate your positive response to it.
We invite you to join us Oct 8th for a celebration of fall designs, including the 20th Anniversary Fall Collection Limited Edition pieces. The galleries will each offer at least 20 one-of-a-kind Experimental pottery pieces. Look to our California gallery, Ephraim Pottery West, for pieces with pine, poppy and favorite Ephraim motifs. 
If bats are your thing, join us in Wisconsin at the Studio Gallery where we will offer a variety of seasonal designs and also invite you to paint your own tile in our new “Bloom” workshop space! The cost (including tile shipping) of the workshop is $49 for a 5×5 tile and $35 for a 3×3 tile.
We also invite you to shop online Oct 12th.
Last summer Ephraim artists collaborated with our email, Pinterest and Facebook audiences to create a “unity” themed design. Together we explored many concepts that represented various ideas about unity. With the creative ideas and constructive feedback from our fans, we ultimately added the “Unity Tree” to our collection. In the process of exploring all of these ideas, the studio produced many experimental pieces. This small grouping represents five beautiful directions that we feel are strong, but were not pursued in the final piece. Each of these pieces is one-of-a-kind and will be available for purchase beginning September 28, @7PM (CDT). See them in bisque or greenware on our blog and read about how they came to be.
A diverse group of 27 Experimental pieces & 1 Custom Octopus Vase will become available online starting Tuesday, June 28, 2016, @ 10AM (CDT). Each Item is one of a kind, the exact piece represented in the photo and ready to ship the next business day. The following pieces and much more will be included in the sale.
The following group of 34 experimental pieces will be available online starting Friday, April 27th. Each Item is one of a kind, the exact piece represented in the photo and ready to ship the next business day. Within this diverse group, you will find experimentations in design, form, and glazing.
Artist Ken Nekola commemorates his 15 years at the Ephraim studio with this charming electric lantern. Ken especially wanted to make this piece for his anniversary in tribute to his early days of making functional pottery. His affinity for symmetry and order are legendary and he designed this piece with those sensibilities on display.