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How It Started

Blanket Creek Pottery is run by Paul Borian and Yael Neeman-Borian, a married couple who work together from their pottery studio in the countryside of Kentucky.

 

Paul learned the craft during a two-year apprenticeship, and in 2001 established his own business from the ground up, one wheel-thrown pot at a time. 

It remained a one-person studio until he met his wife, Yael, in 2014.

Yael, formerly a wedding photographer in Israel who also studied ceramics and business management, married Paul and became his business partner shortly after they started working together.
She left her country and started a new life by his side.

 

Paul was mainly wholesaling the pottery from the start, with the plan to sell retail online eventually.
However, the challenge of filling orders for galleries and gift shops throughout the country kept him very busy and left little time to become a retailer of his work. 

 

This changed when Yael joined the business. She shifted her focus to product photography to take pictures of the pottery, opened their Etsy shop, and built this website.

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How It Is Now

Paul and Yael work in full cooperation with all aspects of the business and continuously develop new product lines that combine aesthetics and functionality.

 

Paul does the production work, which includes wheel throwing, slip casting, formulating & mixing clay and glazes, and firing in a gas kiln to 2,400 °F.

 

Yael focuses on product & glaze design, photography, managing the online stores, and marketing.

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The Workshop

For a long time, all the work was done from their garage studio, which became home for rescued cats and dogs that arrived over the years and became part of the family.

As the demand for our pottery increased, it became necessary to expand the workshop to have room for better equipment and work more efficiently.

In 2019, they built a new pottery studio right next to the garage and kiln shed. They now have improved workstations, an office, a space for product photography, and a packing area that utilizes special equipment for sustainable packing materials.

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How It's Made

For the first 12 years, Paul made all items on the wheel, with the idea to eventually incorporate other forming processes.
He eventually started researching mold making and slip casting and began the process of developing a casting slip with the same look and durability of the wheel-throwing clay he formulated years before. He started making molds from some of his wheel-thrown pots, and developed with Yael new designs that were impossible to produce consistently on a pottery wheel. 

 

You can see some pictures of this process in these two albums: Designing Prototypes and Mold Making & Slip Casting.


If you are interested in seeing more production process steps, you are welcome to visit the summarized How It's Made page or go to the Workshop Image Gallery, where you can find more pictures with detailed captions

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About The Pottery

Each piece of pottery is unique and was designed to be fully functional for daily use.
Slight variations in size & glaze are to be expected and part of what makes handmade pottery special.

 

You are invited to the Shop, where there is a variety of mugs, bowls, plates, kitchenware, vases, and bath accessories.
You can find gifts for any occasion, such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and more.

 

All the pottery is food safe and can be used in a dishwasher, oven and microwave.

 

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

 

Sincerely,

Paul Borian and Yael Neeman-Borian