Studio Update

A lot has happened in the past few months! Here are the highlights…

We got a new electric kiln! It’s big, heavy, and awkward, so getting it off of Sam’s truck was an undertaking. We moved it into the studio using Ancient Egyptian engineering - rolling the kiln and pallet on scrap metal rollers. This was actually pretty fun and of course we took a few minutes to Walk Like an Egyptian and to sing that song too…

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Still need to hook it up, but the kiln is now in its new home with the other kilns (they all need names.) The space is a bit unsettled for the moment, but everything will find a place soon.

Speaking of finding a place, we’ve been in need of shelving to keep our drying or ready to be fired pottery. Sam welded us a cart…

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Up next, this is probably the most important (or at this point, luxurious) item… a studio sink! Complete with clay trap and on-demand water heater. I promise it will never be this clean again. Ever.

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Or maybe this is the most important? A tiny bathroom, complete with a sliding barn door (with a handle Sam made once in a blacksmithing class) and a vintage porcelain towel rack (scavenged by my dad)

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We had our first ever open studio and pottery sale this weekend, it was a good start for events to come! Plus we got help with the final lift of the new kiln and a few suggestions on future bathroom colors…

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Not to be left out, Studio Cat Merlin is hard at work overseeing the Shipping Department (located in the house.) We will be introducing Merlin back to his job in the studio very soon, we just need to finish building things and make sure he has some comfy perches he can observe from. He’s resting up in preparation.

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Studio Build

It happened! This open side-lot was the feature that made our house that much more appealing, we could easily imagine our very own pottery studio in this spot. The short commute from home to studio is a dream come true.

This is the before and after photo, scroll down for a full slideshow of the build, and more of the story…

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If you’ve followed us for awhile you know we began building our pottery business in Alpine, WY. Dowd House Studios became an official LLC in 2011 and I left my day job in 2012 to work as a full-time potter. After 15 years at the Art Association of Jackson Hole Sam was ready to join me in the studio.

We’d always talked about “someday when we have our own studio” (technically we had a little studio in our 1-car garage in Alpine, but I outgrew it pretty quick.) We realized that “someday” needed to be now and made the tough decision to relocate ourselves and our business.

After moving into our new home in NW Arkansas last summer we started the process of building the studio (this is actually a long and winding story, so I’ll cut to the good stuff.) We worked with Ozark Metal Buildings, a local business that specializes in custom metal buildings. It was November before we arrived at the point of figuring out what we wanted and putting everything on paper, I’m pretty sure we were telling ourselves it would be at least a year before we had a building.

Having lived in the mountains for so many years with very short summers and building seasons we were amazed to see things start as early as the end of January. With supply shortages in mind, Ozark Metal Buildings waited until they had all the materials before they started, so once it started the build went quick!

In this case, photos are much better than words, so check it all out…

Now an even more exciting part starts…. figuring out where everything will go in the studio. The electric and plumbing work will happen soon and we will start moving everything in (we’ve been living with our studio materials and equipment in the house.) Plus building shelves and tables… so much work, but so very exciting.

Follow us on Facebook to see more as we progress with these next steps!