The Blog
At Saltstone Ceramics, we're fans of using ceramics all year round. We asked our staff and members for their favorite ceramic pieces to use in sunny weather! "Spring time means farmers market and seasonal greens. Giant serving bowls are perfect for salads and picnics!" - Alex "I'm a big fan of using a handle-less cup (like SSL or Cocos) to drink wine or a cocktail either on a patio or a rooftop :)" - Sam "I do a lot of planting in spring and summer, so planters of all kinds" - Sarah "I like to make vases in the spring/summer! Also second the handle-less cup in the summer - it’s great for iced tea and coffee...
As of January 1st, Liz, Sam and Jude have officially become the co-owners of Saltstone Ceramics. While many of you may have already met us around the studio, we wanted to introduce ourselves to the entire community. "While living in Wallingford, I spent many moments at the Saltstone Ceramics window display. Moments at the studio became hours when I enrolled as a student and eventually became an employee. Working with clay has given me the space to find quiet moments, express myself, and have fun. I am incredibly grateful to have a community to share this experience. Sarah and Steve...
This has been in the works for a year now, and we're so excited to finally be sharing this with our community.As of January 1st, 2023, owners Sarah Steininger Leroux and Steve Leroux have sold the business to three of their employees: Jude Mortensen, Liz Leong, and Sam Schauer.Please read the rest of this newsletter for a statement from Sarah, and join us in congratulating our new small business owners! A statement from Sarah, founder of Saltstone Ceramics Building Saltstone Ceramics has been an incredible journey for me! It all started back in 2015. That spring I resigned from my social...
"Saltstone Ceramics is a place where everyone is welcomed to discover a meaningful connection with a creative working community." (Words On A Mission, Oct 2019) Over the past several weeks we’ve come to see the ways in which our mission statement isn’t living up to its potential. Our Queer & Dear 2022 show was meant to celebrate the entire queer community, but was presented with BIPOC artists glaringly underrepresented. We are sorry for the harm that the omission and the cancellation caused: to the queer community, to people of color, to the artists we represent, and the ceramics community as a...
From now (Friday morning) through the end of Sunday, June 26th, we will be donating $5 for every item sold to the Northwest Abortion Access Fund. That's one dollar for every decade that access to abortion was a constitutional right in the United States. There's no need to use a coupon code or special link; we'll keep track. Everything you buy counts, whether it's a workshop, class, piece of pottery, or cutting board. And if nothing in our store is calling to you right now, then we encourage you to donate directly.
Queer and Dear 2022 has been cancelled. After listening and reflecting and listening some more, we’ve accepted that the show is fundamentally flawed as it is, and can’t be fixed in a respectful manner.Yes, this decision took us a long time to arrive at. We did not want to silence these Queer voices. But we see that the absent voices matter more, and this show can not go on.We will have more to say about specific actions we’ll be taking in the gallery in the next few days and weeks.
This year, we're recommending folks get their orders in by December 15th in order to have the best chance of packages arriving before Christmas. Later orders might arrive in time, especially if you're closer to Seattle. We generally use UPS and USPS for shipping, and once we hand over your package, it is (literally and figuratively) out of our hands. December 15th is our best guess at a deadline and we can't make guarantees about delivery dates. For folks who live in Seattle, we'll be open an extra day: Tuesday, December 21st, from 11am to 5pm, to help with your Christmas...
[Editor note: this was sent out as a newsletter for our Handmade for the Holidays 2021 show. We thought the information could be useful for everyone, though, so we put it up as a blog post here. Some of the formatting might be a little off, and some of the links might be to work we no longer carry. But the breakdown should still be useful... enjoy!] As of this writing (a sunny afternoon in always-sunny Seattle), we have a stunning 467 handmade mugs in stock! Our gallery staff has done a fantastic job bringing in talented artists from all over the country...
Starting October 25th, King County regulations will require businesses like ours to check proof of vaccination before folks can use the studio. This policy applies to all students in our classes, workshops, open studio, private lessons and one-night Clay Curious classes. This only applies to folks using the studio; visitors to our gallery and retail shop aren't required to show any documentation (but do need to wear a mask). Documentation All students will be asked to show proof of vaccination status of either a two-dose mRNA vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer), or a single dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson). All forms...
Just a quick note to let everyone know what's going on in the studio with regards to masks: Currently, masks are optional for vaccinated folks when inside our studio. We made this decision based on the high vaccination rates and low case count here in King County. Masks will be required in the studio during weeks where we are hosting Kid’s Clay Camps (Weekdays, 9 am-12 pm August 9th-27th). We will continue to monitor cases here in Seattle and may return to mandatory masking if it feels appropriate or is required by state or county regulations.Thank you for your continued support!The Saltstone Team...