Happy New Year everyone!
It has been a busy and exciting time since my last entry. My last big job for the year was an order for the wine bar and restaurant in Nihombashi, G'Drop. You may have read about it in Ceramics Monthly. From January 5th till the end of March the restaurant will be serving all of their cuisine on my dishes. The prices are very reasonable and the food is delicious. They are open for lunch and dinner, Monday to Friday. 
Earlier in the year I began making prototypes for this restaurant, but we only nailed down the final designs and numbers at the start of December, only three weeks before we were to go to Australia! So ensued a marathon production cycle, which included an emergency increase in shelving. 
It is hard to explain the sheer volume of work involved in producing a range of twelve designs for a sixty seat restaurant. In order to ensure 100% "A" grade work sometimes twice the number of pots need to be made. I got the order finished and delivered on the day before we left, still warm from the kiln.
We then went to Australia for two weeks with my family and a great adventure for the kids.
When we got back there was a message on the phone... they had started using the pots and the response was great! But they needed to talk to me about the pots. So the day after we got home I drove the family down for lunch in Nihombashi. 
The food was fantastic, and especially exciting for the kids as all the pots were made by Daddy! It turned out that what the restaurant needed to talk to me about was MORE POTS! The menu has expanded from the original plan and they need more pots for the extra course.They would also like to do a signature dinner event in early February where our guests can enjoy the food and dishes with the Miyake and Craig families. More information as it comes to hand!
So it's back to the wheel where I belong.
A mass of great-looking pots, Euan. But, even better, a great-looking family. And I very much enjoyed your earlier essay on your fast-fire kiln. Thinking of building a wood kiln here on Cape Cod, in the USA, and this one looks like a good choice. Congratulations on the big job.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hollis,
ReplyDeleteWe bare aiming to do a photo shoot of the pots with food on them at the restaurant. It will help put the work in context and be a record of the event. When they are done I'll put some om the blog for you to see.
Good luck with kiln building, but remember, a kiln is like a piano, you have to learn how to play it and practice before it makes music. This is a good, efficient kiln, but it takes some getting used to. Don't be discouraged if your first few firings aren't ideal, they will get better. I hope to start putting some "how to" videos on the blog soon to help people out.
Keep in touch,
Euan
What a fantastic opportunity that was. Thank you for sharing your life and pottery with us.
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