The East Fork Journal The Journal

Color Theory: Bittersweet & Nocturne

Time traveling with Nicole Lissenden. East Fork’s Creative Director shares the inspirations behind this season’s bold color explorations and reflects on East Fork’s 15th Anniversary.

Community-supported Healthcare

Meet our first employee-recommended community partner, Big Ivy Health, and learn how they support the needs of the Barnardsville Community with free access to healthcare.

A black and white photo of Alex Matisse kneeling in front of large ceramic pieces in a wood kiln

Why Is It Called East Fork?

Alex Matisse, East Fork’s founder, on how the company got its name and why it represents a “little private victory” for him.

A lineup of ceramic palettes with square glaze swatches all over them.

Color Stories

A look back at the evolution of East Fork’s core colors and how they came to be.

A person wearing a black sweatshirt is holding a ceramic terracotta mug with 2 hands.

How We Make The Mug

Want to know everything there is to know about how we make The Mug? It’s your lucky day. Get the behind-the-scenes on how we make our iconic ceramic mug.

In a sink are various ceramic dishes, mugs, and silverware with sudsy water

Caring For Your Pots

A care guide for your pots, yourself, each other.

How We Make The Mug

Want to know everything there is to know about how we make The Mug? It’s your lucky day. Get the behind-the-scenes on how we make our iconic ceramic mug.
The Collective Good

An interview with Andrea Golden and Jackie Fitzgerald of Asheville’s PODER Emma, the collective network that is the recipient of East Fork’s Wealth Reclamation efforts in early 2021.
What Are Seconds?

Learn about how we make the call when we determine "Seconds" quality pottery. Seconds are flawed pieces we sell online and at pop-ups at a discount.
Our Favorite Glaze Combinations

We put together an assortment of our favorite glaze combos—from classic to downright funky.
Last Night I Ate for the First Time

Jefferson Ellison finds himself at “the universe’s table” in the first of a new series of dream dinners.
Food Sovereignty & Food Justice Resources

Resources for making fresh, healthy foods a basic human right and dismantling systems that lets conglomerates alone decide what gets grown and by whom.
Marvels in Glass: R+D Lab of Milan

In appreciation of glassware, timeless and special, and the people who design it and create it with their breath and hands.
In Praise of Marcella Hazan

We love Italian food so much, it defies words. So instead, we thought we’d tell you about our Italian cooking hero, Marcella Hazan.
Woodworking with Andy McFate

The East Fork collection has a new serving board we’d like to tell you about, along with our friend and conspirator in wood, Andy McFate.
Samin & Connie Go Deep

Our Connie Matisse caught up with Samin Nosrat on a video chat. They spoke wistfully about gathering with friends over meals, food justice, a new glaze coming out in early 2021, Samin sang a song about pinto beans and much more more. Watch the video here.
The Pottery Peep Show

Pottery Peep Show is a glimpse into the cabinets and closets of serious East Fork collectors, dishing the dishes with our own Annie Schambach. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (though if you cry it’s probably cuz of other stuff cuz nothing cryworthy really happens here), you’ll want a time machine to go back and get what they’ve got.
Clay Buddies: Donna Casellas-Banks

Donna Casellas-Banks’s title here at East Fork is sales associate but it should be professional listener.
At Your Service

A conversation on Southern Hospitality with cocktail historian and Atlanta-based bartender, Tiffanie Barriere.
Cravings, Aversions, and a Crispy Eggplant Salad

A reflection on cravings, pregnancy, and motherhood from Whitney Otawka and a crispy, herbal salad recipe to follow.
Rituals Rooted in Ease

For Alex Elle, self-care is so much more than a buzzword—it’s a necessary tool for growing and maintaining self-love.
A Note on Soapstone's Departure

The July 2020 announcement that Soapstone would leave East Fork's core glaze collection later in the year, in preparation of refreshing and expanding the year-round, core colorway.
Our Values

In 2017, with the help of a facilitator, we invited our staff to co-create a list of company values. In conversation with each other, with customers, with vendors, with our greater community, we ask ourselves five questions: Am I speaking sincerely and inviting others to do the same? Am I aware of an uneven power dynamics that might be present in this conversation or decision-making process? Am I ready to hold myself and others accountable for our actions and inactions? Am I in the proper mindset to engage compassionately with conversation or decision at hand? Am I ready to be flexible and adaptive in order to reach our goal?
Coloring Pages

Emilja made coloring pages! Click for a happy, calming distraction. Then share your artwork with us @eastforkpottery
Motherhood in Quarantine

East Fork's CEO Connie Matisse was thinking of her pregnant friends, her friends raising kids alone, her mom friends who work in restaurants and bars and of her own mom, who was far away when she wrote this essay.
Thoughts on Lean Manufacturing from our Process Technician, Jeff Linton

About a year and a half ago, Alex told me about Bob Chapman’s book, Everybody Matters, I read it and I got excited. It talked about lean as a method for giving people autonomy over their work processes and the deep trust between workers and management that was made possible through lean.