Pot Crazed
Being that it's Spring, I once again have grand illusions of becoming a master gardener. So about a week ago when we here at STUDY received a postcard from City Escape advertising Guy Wolff's upcoming presentation on pot making, I knew that the planets had aligned. We had every intention of going, then forgot about it, then made other plans, but somehow we made it to what ended up being an incredibly satisfying demo.
You'll have to pardon the crappy camera phone photo, but since this was such an impromptu journey on our part, we forgot to bring the widowmaker.
Potting is fun!
via Martha Moments
Guy's been making handmade reproductions and pieces inspired by 18th and 19th century English flowerpots since 1971. He's Martha's personal potter, yes, but things really exploded for Guy when La Stewart featured him on Oprah and now small children in Honduras artisans around the world are crafting pots under the umbrella of G. Wolff Pottery.
via Baker Garden and Gift
Wolff is incredibly talented and truly loves what he does. It was nice to find a such genial man spinning the wheel for the eager group of attendees, and someone who wasn't afraid to talk about the dirty details of the potting business. Apparently Guy's got to make an average of $750 worth of pots a day (by himself) to break even. At an average of $60 per pot, that's no small feat.
That's where Restoration Hardware comes to the rescue. Wolff was commissioned to do two exclusive lines for the retailer: Greenhouse - which are your pretty standard terra cotta pots - and Regency - which make me want to quit my job and start potting plants for a living.
Regency Fitzwilliam in White
via Restoration Hardware
Regency Orchid in Terra Cotta
via Restoration Hardware
Regency Long Tom in Grey
via Restoration Hardware
We're smitten with the Wolff's grey pots and never want to see a pot in any other color so long as we both shall live. This also seems to be the only color that is sold exclusively through Restoration Hardware.
All in all, it was great to learn about this trade from such a skilled craftsman, but whereas I normally walk away from a demo - be it on upholstery or pudding-making or insert the blank - having decided that I must go home and master the craft myself... I have absolutely zero illusions about becoming a potter. It is damn hard work, and like Martha, I'll leave it to the professionals.
