Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Frazer.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Patrick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Great Bay Pottery, as you now see it, was born as a culmination of love for the art, formal training, and painstaking hands-in-the-mud trial and error. It was founded officially in 1992, prior to the current ownership. At the time and for 15 years combined-current owners, myself and Joe Maiello, worked as Great Bay Pottery’s potters. In 2005, we purchased Great Bay Pottery. We had a vision for the business that would transcend our offerings to the customer and more precisely answer the needs of the market.
I started making pottery in a high school ceramics 1 class in northern New Hampshire. The art teacher was a former potter, and gave us a great overview on throwing, hand building, glazing and firing. I went on to take ceramics 2 where I was introduced to glaze chemistry. After high school, I continued my clay studies and I earned a BFA with a ceramics emphasis at the University of South Dakota (I had to get out of New England. It’s where I landed). After college, I was hired in a pottery factory in Dover, NH. I was one of 75 employees creating thousands of pottery pieces a day. While I learned a lot about the industry in this factory setting, the work environment was not for me. I purchased a pottery wheel and a 2nd hand electric kiln and started my very own production pottery line. Paying bills and feeding myself was possible after I began exhibiting at craft fairs throughout New England, booking two shows a month. After being juried into the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, I was able to deliver work to all of their galleries in New Hampshire bringing my work in front of a larger market. When I wasn’t working on my own line, I made pots for GBP.
Joe Maiello has been working in the field of ceramics for over 25 years in several different settings. While a student at The College of New Jersey, Joe studied drawing, painting, jewelry making and pottery. Joe worked as the college ceramics studio assistant and there learned the art of mixing glaze colors and firing kilns. He then worked for a craft potter in NJ and later for a large pottery firm in NH. When the opportunity came for Joe to buy into the Great Bay Pottery business, Joe was happy to have the opportunity to combine his love for ceramics with the excitement of running a small business. In addition to hand building and firing pottery at Great Bay, Joe loves to “hand build” pizza and “fire” it in his wood-fired pizza oven he built in his backyard! Delicious!
The line we create today is very different from the early days. We’ve embraced technology and we’re finding that balance between serving the modern needs of our business customers and maintaining the old-world charm of handmade pottery. Every piece is made by hand and they’re truly one of a kind. Joe and I have 2 employees and together the 4 of us create and ship pottery to over 300 retailers nationwide.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The journey has been anything by smooth. However, it’s probably no different from any manufacturing type business. Equipment failures, inconsistent raw materials, customers not paying their invoices, debt. It’s a bumpy road, but the tradeoff is independence. We enjoy being in control of the day to day problem solving and we like watching our own ideas either succeed or (in some cases) crash and burn.
Great Bay Pottery – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Great Bay Pottery is a small production pottery studio, we make everything by hand in Dover, NH. Our product is rugged stoneware made from clay and glazes that are lead-free and designed to handle daily use. They are suitable for the microwave, dishwasher and oven. You can find our pottery at our online retail store, and we wholesale pottery to retailers nationwide. Stock decorations are our very own original drawings and watercolor paintings which we print using ceramic toner and fire directly into the glaze.
Our process allows us the ability to personalize our pottery products. We can add names, dates and logos as well as custom paintings/artwork such as lighthouses, homes, historic buildings and other landmarks.
We get great feedback from our customers because the craftsmanship really makes a strong impression. So they make awesome products to gift or to offer customers and clients. And you’d be amazed how much we can output. We’re small but we work hard and we can deliver in high volume.
Pricing:
- Handmade Coffee Mug $28
- Beer Stein $34
- Travel Mug $38
Contact Info:
- Website: http://greatbaypottery.com/
- Email: gbpinfo@greatbaypottery.com
- Instagram: @greatbaypottery or (https://www.instagram.com/greatbaypottery/)
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/GreatBayPottery/
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