Walker Custom Ceramics

12/25/2024

Thank you all so much for all of your support this past year! Merry Christmas!

12/20/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/TUe4AXmXGE7qWVtM/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Step back in time and celebrate the season with us on Friday, the 20th at Voices of Anderson's - A Christmas Bazaar! ⭐

This festive event is a nod to one of the earliest names of Anderson’s Department Store and showcases 18 local artisans and vendors—a perfect chance to find those unique, last-minute Christmas or Hostess gifts! 🎁

Enjoy hot cider, live performances of Christmas carols, and hear special stories of Anderson’s and downtown Owensboro Christmases of the past. 🎶❄️

Plus, just like Anderson's department store, we’ll have a Gift Wrap Booth run by Brie Greer Murray! All of the proceeds will support the “Rosebud Players” from Sutton Elementary School.

Mark your calendars and join us for a magical evening of community and holiday cheer! 🎄

11/20/2024

Hi all! I wanted to say thank you for a great Kraftucky 2024, I was really blessed by your support!

As we get into the holiday season, if you want to place any orders or come see what I have in stock, just message me. I’ve got several large mug orders in the works over the next couple weeks, so if you’re wanting some winter snowflake mugs, Kentucky mugs, or anything else, I can add that to my production list.

Thank you all for a wonderful 2024, and I’m
already excited about 2025!

11/09/2024

A great first day of Kraftucky today! Come out tomorrow 9-6 or 11-4 on Sunday.

11/08/2024

Thank you for the feature, Owensboro Living Magazine!

11/07/2024

Sneak peak 👀 of a little something new for Kraftucky this weekend at the Owensboro Convention Center.

10/05/2024

Henderson Arts and Crafts Festival at Audubon State Park…Come say hi 10-4 today and tomorrow!

10/04/2024

Tomorrow and Sunday 10-4, come say hi at the Henderson Lions Club Arts and Crafts Festival at Audubon State Park! I'll be set up with lots of pottery ready to go!

06/15/2024

Hi folks!! As promised, here’s pottery I have for sale after my last art fair. I do also have many more pieces available in my shop as well that aren’t pictured here.

If you see a piece you want, just private message me and include the reference number of the picture. Please don’t just leave a comment on the image. It makes it much easier to keep track of what you want through messages.

Pickup is at my garage/shop if you are local, but I can ship for an extra charge.

Payment through Venmo, PayPal, or cash and credit card in person.

06/03/2024

Well the weather didn’t exactly cooperate this weekend at the Butchertown Art Fair, so it kept a lot of people from coming out to shop. Soooo….

We’ll just have a little early summer FB pottery sale! Once I get unpacked I’ll post pictures and prices of what I have available. Pick yourself up a new coffee mug, a gift for someone, or really early Christmas shopping 😜

See you guys back on here in a few days!

06/01/2024

Butchertown Art Fair ‘24…come say hi!

05/31/2024

Up early unloading the last kiln load before heading to Butchertown later this afternoon. Pray the rain stays away tomorrow!

05/28/2024

LONG POST AHEAD (factory-made vs. handmade pottery)

At a recent arts and crafts fair, a guy came into my booth and told me he could go to Walmart and buy four or five mugs for the price of one of my mugs (and a few other rude comments sprinkled in). I just told him he's free to do that, and let him go on his merry way. Thankfully I held my tongue and didn't say some things I wanted to say!

As I'm prepping for Butchertown Art Fair , I thought it was a good issue to break down in terms of pricing and differences between factory- made and handmade pottery. Let me be the first to say there's some mass-produced pottery out there that I really like the look of...so this is not to be critical of it, just to educate on the differences.

Factory - Made:

1 - Most pottery is liquid clay (slip) poured into a mold, so each form is basically identical.
2 - Most employees are responsible for one job (think factory line), whether that's pouring molds, spraying glaze, loading kilns, etc.
3 - Production time is very quick due to the processes, number of employees, and size of facilities and equipment. Hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces are finished and shipped out weekly.

Handmade: (The easiest way I can break this down is to list the basic steps I have in creating pottery)

1 - Process the clay (mix it and prep for use)
2 - Weigh out individual lumps of clay for the pieces I'm making.
3 - Wheel throw each piece one at a time.
4 - Move each board full of freshly made pieces to a shelf (usually 12 pieces to a board for me)
5 - Check the pieces periodically as they dry and lay plastic drop-cloth over them to slow the drying.
6 - When the pieces have dried slightly, I move them from that board to another for the next step of adding handles and/or trimming.
7 - I hand-pull each handle that will eventually go on a mug. I usually pull 24-36 handles in a session.
8 - Check the pieces again, and when they are at the exact right consistency, handles are added to create mugs, foot-rings are trimmed into bowls...all one at a time.
9 - Bottoms of pieces are smoothed off one last time and signed or stamped. Pieces are covered with plastic again and put back on the shelf.
10 - 24 hours later the plastic is removed and pieces are left to finish drying.
11 - Dried pieces are loaded in the kiln for a bisque firing. This takes about two days from load-in to load-out.
12 - Bisque fired pieces are unloaded, sorted, and then I brush wax on each piece individually where I don't want glaze to stick.
13 - Use an air compressor to blow any dust/debris of each piece.
14 - Glazes get stirred up, and then each piece is dipped in glaze, or glaze is brushed on.
15 - Sponge off excess glaze.
16 - Load the glazed pieces back into the kiln for a glaze firing. Slightly quicker and hotter firing than the bisque firing...still about a day and a half at least until you can open the kiln.

** During both bisque and glaze firings, you are checking the kiln multiple times to make sure it's firing properly. Also the fuel for your kilns (electricity, propane, gas) is added to your usual monthly utilities.

17 - Unload the cooled pieces, and check each one for quality control, and then sand the bottom of each piece.
18 - Pieces are then sorted, priced, and loaded on display shelves or packed up for a sale at a different location.

Soooo...if you've made it this far in the post, you can see how many steps are involved in making hand-made pottery! Here's a few takeaways:

* Most potters like myself balance their pottery production alongside their full-time career and family. We have to carve out the time to work on our craft.

* It's HARD work...it's dusty, sweaty, lots of grunt work, but I LOVE IT!

* I price things as affordably as possible...I want anyone to be able to buy a piece of hand-made pottery that they can enjoy! However, pricing is not just the cost of the materials...people are paying for my time (all those 18 steps listed above) and for the skills and techniques I have. I have to make it worthwhile for the time and effort I put into it.

* When you buy a piece of my pottery, it was created start to finish by my hands ONLY (whether that's a good thing or bad thing, haha!). Nothing is subbed out to other people or done in factory.

* When you buy from an artist you know, or someone you just met, it's always great to know the hands and the person who created the art that you can use, appreciate, and enjoy!

05/28/2024

Just a few days away from my first big sale of the season at Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville!

It's been a busy time balancing the end of the school year and creating new pieces, but it'll be great to be back at one of my favorite events of the year. Saturday 11-6 and Sunday 11-5...come say hi!

04/14/2024

Beautiful day for pulling handles and finishing mugs!

11/18/2023

Plenty of pottery left after unpacking from Kraftucky. If you’d like some pieces for your Thanksgiving meals or for an early Christmas gift, just reach out to me!

11/12/2023

Last day for Kraftucky…11-4 at the Owensboro Convention Center today! There’s a lot more empty spaces on my mug display but still lots left. Come say hi!

11/11/2023

Day 2 of Kraftucky today at the Owensboro Convention Center 9-6 today! Had a great first evening yesterday, but lots of handmade pottery still available. Come say hi!