Built by Potters

I started East Fork nearly 12 years ago as a potter. For the first 5 years, everything we made started on the wheel and was finished in a large wood-burning kiln the size of a school bus. Along the way I was joined by 2 amazing humans (my co-founders Connie and John) and in 2015 we bought our first gas kiln, and the collection you see today was born. Between that drastic pivot we have scoured old abandoned factories, nursing machines back to life that lay dormant for many years, and took ourselves through our own little industrial revolution in a few short years. - Alex Matisse, Founder

A medium sized ceramic mug with handle in a cool white color featuring iron speckles and unglazed rim and bottom base.
A stack of cookies next to a medium sized ceramic mug with handle in a cool white color featuring iron speckles and unglazed rim and bottom base.

in Eggshell

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The pottery we make has every detail considered, with many of them being so subtle that they convey more as a feeling than a design element.  There is nothing extraneous, yet the forms are not stark or minimal. 

When we were taught to throw as apprentices we were told that pots have bones and skin and muscle, that a dinner plate should have the fullness of the moon, and this approach to our design has followed us ever since.

When finding beautiful, well crafted, and durable objects to sit side by side with the things we make in our own factory we take the same care and thoughtful approach: Who makes them and how they are crafted? How do they hold up under everyday use?  What utility and joy will they bring to the table?

A dinner-sized shallow ceramic bowl in a deep dark teal color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim
Mushrooms in a dinner-sized shallow ceramic bowl in a deep dark teal color featuring iron speckles and an unglazed rim

in Night Swim

Alex’s Blue Ridge Getaway Sweepstakes

Win an epic trip for two to Asheville, with the perfect itinerary curated by Alex Matisse, a luxury stay at The Foundry Hotel, an outdoor day adventure of your choice, and the ultimate outdoors-inspired prize package. Prize valued at over $9,000.

Where Beauty Meets Utility

The most crucial reason to make ceramics in the United States is to continue an American craft tradition that is rooted here in North Carolina. “Our worldview [at East Fork] has been guided by a collective upbringing in southern pottery. Now the challenge is to take what could have only been learned here in the dirt-floored, smoky workshop of North Carolina, and share it.” – Alex

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