Salt Glaze Stoneware

I have always been drawn to the grey pottery with blue designs known as salt glaze pottery, maybe because of the blue designs. The pieces are made by wheel turning or hand building, and the decorative designs are hand applied by slip trailing or brushing. As they are baked in a kiln, salt is introduced at a very high temperature, and this produces a glassy, pebbley coating on the pottery. Here are some pieces from my collection.  It comes from all over the eastern and mid-western United States, (Beaumont from York, Maine, Rowe and Wisconsin Potteries from Wisconsin) and has been collected as we have travelled, although we had a potter here in an adjacent town (Stebner Pottery from Hartville, OH).  Does anyone recognize these potters? All are new pieces.  And yes, I do use them.

Today I saw this gorgeous card made by Leni.  I dropped everything to see if I could make my own version, substituting a stoneware crock for her bucket.  Here is my card. 

I hand-drew the shape of the crock onto grey cardstock, then used these little flowers from a Hero Arts sentiment set to simulate the designs often seen on this kind of pottery, shading it with grey and brown inks.  Then I stamped and colored 3 hydrangeas and added them to the pot.  I'm really pleased with my approximation of these treasures!  And thank you, Leni, for your inspiration - I spent a very happy couple of hours putting this together!

Supplies: HA stamps K5376 Hydrangea, CL380 Truly Appreciated (floral design on pot), CL371 Essential Messages for sentiment, CG125 Friend Definition, grey, white, pale and dark blue cardstocks, colored pencils, Adirondack Denim dye ink, Stampology Onyx ink, Palette Burnt Umber ink,  Nesties Labels Eight