One of my favorite knife shapes.....the nakiri, Japanese vegetable knife.

I'm thinking about diversifying quite a bit this year, so signing up for my newsletter is a great way to be the first kid on your block to know what's happenin' 'round this joint. Some of you know I've started making kitchen knives -- already a waiting list for those -- and I'm considering making some funky knife magnets using rare earth magnets imbedded into some local woods. I'm still researching that one.

OK, all for now -- Tom

sneak peek

firing

kiln cooling

truck packed. somewhat.

Dear friends,

Changes have abounded around the Gray abode over the last few months. If you recall from my last newsletter, I closed my retail shop back in July(?) In hindsight, in spite of the anxiety produced by making a drastic lifestyle change, I probably should have done it years ago. Heck, I even read Who Moved my Cheese about five or six years ago and still didn't get the message! Having closed the shop has given me some opportunities to live my life a little differently, and spend some time doing stuff other than being a potter. It was a good decision, especially having had my shop open almost six days a week since the summer of 1978. That's a long time!

 In spite of my shop closing, I am still making pots, and keeping a good inventory at the Co-Op of Seagrove Potters and Seagrove Creations. In fact, as I write this note, I'm firing my kiln in anticipation of opening it this Saturday. I WILL BE OPEN THIS SATURDAY, October first, from 10-5. Any pots not sold on Saturday will be either stuck aside for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters in November, or delivered to the Co-Op or Seagrove Creations. If you're awaiting a special order from me, it is not in this kiln load. Between a summer too hot to work as hard as usual, and an accident that kept me from doing anything pottery related for the better part of five weeks, I have not gotten to your orders yet. I will, it's just going to take a lot longer than I thought. My apologies for any inconvenience, but please, just be (even more) patient.

 For those of you that have just signed up for my Occasional Newsletter, it's no mystery, I like to cook. This summer I put away roughly 20 quarts of roasted tomato sauce for use as pizza topping, spaghetti sauce starter or for chili, etc., and the tomatoes all came from my little garden. I also froze about the same amount of basil pesto, with the help of my mom and a friend who had more basil than she could find a use for. I use it in my spaghetti sauce and it has become my favorite pizza topping, especially in our new wood burning brick oven. This summer I also came up with a sauce for stir-fry that has become my go-to recipe. I use the word recipe loosely, as I have yet to measure out any ingredients, preferring to mix just enough by taste every time. This came about after a trip to a Vietnamese restaurant in Chapel Hill called Basil and Lime, where we ate pho, and I realized how tasty basil and lime are in Asian dishes. For the sauce, mix together orange juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, lime juice and sriracha. Start with roughly half a cup of OJ, then a splash of the other ingredients until it tastes right to YOU. I usually thin it with a little water too, and splash it in at the end when everything is still sizzling. Try it! You'll like it!

 Now, on to some other changes, I'll soon be dropping the tomgraypottery.com domain name, and it's attendant e-mail address. I will continue twgray.net, and start utilizing tomgrayseagrove@gmail.com. It is going to take me some time to switch all my calendars, contacts, documents and other stuff over, but my hope is that I'll keep twgray.net until I'm too old to keep it updated, and the gmail account as well. One of my goals this year has been to simplify, simplify, simplify. I guess one “simplify” would have sufficed, huh? I want to stay in touch with family, friends and customers, but in as simple a manner as possible. Hence the changes.

 One other change, or should I say addition – I've begun to make handmade kitchen knives. My passion for cooking kind of bled over (pun intended) into making some of my own equipment. I've been collecting chef's knives for years, and am now enjoying the processes involved in making them from scratch. Hopefully I'll be offering some of them for sale next year. You can see some WIP'S (works in progress) at twgray.net.

 OK, that's all for this month's Tom Gray Pottery Occasional Newsletter. As always, if you wish to unsubscribe, just let me know, and if you have friends who might enjoy this please forward it on to them.

 Be well- Tom and Slate Gray

I just lit Bertha...first firing in quite a while. Preheating tonight, firing tomorrow and unloading Saturday. I WILL open the shop this Saturday, God willin', and will sort through the pots the first of the week, stick some aside for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters, and deliver the rest to the Co-Op and Seagrove Creations.

Two weeks ago I cut my hand while deburring a new knife I had made. The belt on the belt grinder broke, sending the knife into my palm. Four hours in the emergency room, and sixteen stitches later, I am slowly recovering. My hand was so swollen when I was stitched up that as the swelling receded, the stitches no longer were tight enough to hold the skin together. The stitches have since been removed, but I am at least another week away from glazing pots for my next kiln load. For those of you for whom I'm making pieces, just keep on holding your water. I hope to have them all done by Christmas. In the meantime, when you come to Seagrove, please check out my selection at Seagrove Creations and the Co-Op of Seagrove Potters. More later-Tom

Collaborative pieces will be avaialable at the Gala on Friday night.