East Fork: A History

Mar 27, 2020 • Alex Matisse

East Fork: A History

East Fork: A History

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Behind the Scenes

Clay Buddies: Virginia Knight

Clay Buddies: Virginia Knight

If you have ever had a comment, a question or, yes, a concern about East Fork, there’s a good chance you encountered Virginia Knight, who probably left you feeling like you just made a new friend. Here, Virginia talks comfort, favorite places, writing, fashion and much more, and shares five objects she cherishes.

Why Is It Called East Fork?

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.

Clay Buddies: Emily Bukoski

Clay Buddies: Emily Bukoski

Here at East Fork, Emily Bukoski is the executive assistant to Connie Matisse, our CEO. She knows the name, purpose and next step of every moving part at this company, literal and figurative. Here, she talks business and pleasure and names five objects that are dear to her.

Clay Buddies: Mads Ludvigsen

Clay Buddies: Mads Ludvigsen

Mads is a member of the East Fork glaze team but outside of work, he’s making art of his own, of wood and clay. Read about him and all the places life has taken him.

East Fork’s Compensation Philosophy

East Fork’s Compensation Philosophy

In the face of our country’s ever-widening wealth gap we are intentionally structuring our payroll to embody our values.

East Fork's Next Chapter

East Fork's Next Chapter

Our company is growing! We realized a longtime dream with the support of our first institutional partnership.

East Fork Recaps

East Fork Recaps

We share highlights from our new product offerings, Internet ramblings, social media adventures, and everything else we got cooking (including actual cooking) in the last month.

Shop Updates

Shop Updates

The Scoop on Coupes

The Scoop on Coupes

Learn about the engineering, guesswork, lasers, 3D printing and testing (so much testing) going down at East Fork HQ, all to bring you a form that solves your not-a-bowl-not-a-plate problem.

Favorite Flatware: Sabre Paris

Favorite Flatware: Sabre Paris

Francis Gelb sets a cool, chic table—and overthrows the old rules about stuffy utensils that only get used for formal meals.

Clay Buddies: Donnie Rex Bishop

Clay Buddies: Donnie Rex Bishop

There’s a good chance that Donnie had a hand (get it?) in The Mug you’re drinking from right now. Read all about it, and about Donnie’s outside-of-work passions.

East Fork x Drip Life

East Fork x Drip Life

Tony Pearson, a member of East Fork’s roller team, is an artist who started a line called Drip Life last year. After making hundreds of custom shirt designs, he made two for East Fork that we’re offering for sale in limited quantities.

Clay Buddies: Lisa Flamion

Clay Buddies: Lisa Flamion

Lisa Flamion leads East Fork’s Quality Control team. She’s also a potter and a gardener carrying on the family tradition of growing vegetables to eat and share with others. She doesn’t mind when the rabbits take their share.

$20 an Hour Minimum Wage at East Fork

$20 an Hour Minimum Wage at East Fork

This week we realized a years-long dream of raising our company-wide minimum wage to $20 an hour.
Chapter 2

Chapter 2

This is the first page of our next chapter.

Clay Buddies: Lindsey Zinno

Clay Buddies: Lindsey Zinno

Lindsey Zinno is East Fork’s e-commerce manager. The way she writes about her outside-of-work passions will get you fired up about your own.

The Dish: Episode #3

The Dish: Episode #3

Watch the third episode of The Dish, a quarterly conversation with East Fork’s Founders, CEO Alex Matisse, CMO Connie Matisse, and CFO John Vigeland. They devote this hour to answering the audience's questions about, well, everything.

Clay Buddies: Connie Matisse

Clay Buddies: Connie Matisse

Connie Matisse: East Fork co-founder, chief marketing officer, determiner of future glaze colors and never the subject of a Clay Buddies post? Let’s fix that.

"The Masks from Talea"

A feel-good story about taking care of one another, old friends, and masks that East Fork employees really, really love.

Clay Buddies: Karla Valdez

Clay Buddies: Karla Valdez

Karla makes dies and plaster molds that form the pots we make at the factory. She spoke with values manager Manny Ayala about life in the mold shop and what she likes to do when she’s off duty.

How We Make The Mug

How We Make The Mug

Want to know everything there is to know about how we make The Mug? It’s your lucky day.

Tong Marks

Tong Marks

How did those mysterious marks find themselves on the inside of our larger bowls? We explain here.

Marvels in Glass: R+D Lab of Milan

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.

The Dish: Episode #2

The Dish: Episode #2

Watch our second episode of The Dish, an inaugural talk of what will become an ongoing quarterly update from East Fork’s  Founders on what it takes to run a manufacturing business with integrity. 

Clay Buddies: Cherry

Clay Buddies: Cherry

Cherry Iocovozzi wears many hats at East Fork and all of them are funky. They are our food systems manager.

Catching Up with Cade Hollomon-Cook

Catching Up with Cade Hollomon-Cook

Cade is our Small Batch Studio Manager and makes limited-release, wheel-thrown, extra special pots. On the team since 2014, Cade is a bonafide East Fork historian and a super-duper nice person who shares what’s been happening in the studio and what’s on the horizon for hand-thrown limited releases.

Stamps on Pottery

Stamps on Pottery

Ever flip over your pot to find a teeny, tiny piece of cutlery stamped on the bottom? What’s that all about? We're here to clear that up.

Clay Buddies: Donna Casellas-Banks

Clay Buddies: Donna Casellas-Banks

Donna Casellas-Banks’s title here at East Fork is sales associate but it should be professional listener. She can tell when she’s talking to a plate person or a bowl person and she knows who should (and shouldn’t) dive headlong into a seasonal glaze.

Caring for Pottery

Caring for Pottery

Here are some easy tips for caring for brass and clay pieces from East Fork.

Reflections on East Fork’s Origins

Reflections on East Fork’s Origins

East Fork is rooted firmly, joyfully, intentionally in Western North Carolina. It’s in the name of the company: the east fork of Bull Creek flows near the old Madison County farm where Alex started making and selling pottery in 2009.

The Dish, Episode #1

The Dish, Episode #1

Watch our first episode of The Dish, an inaugural talk of what will become an ongoing quarterly update from East Fork’s  Founders on what it takes to run a manufacturing business with integrity. 

2020 Fall Preview

2020 Fall Preview

Our newest glazes Panna Cotta and Amaro are coming mid-September, but we have more than that up our sleeves for the rest of the year. Stay tuned...

What Are Seconds?

What Are Seconds?

What's a Second? A pot with cosmetic blemishes of many types can be labeled as a second. We're here to show you what a seconds pot might look like when it arrives at your doorstep.

Clay Buddies: Nicole Lissenden

Clay Buddies: Nicole Lissenden

Nicole is East Fork’s Art Director. That means she is in charge of making our digital and print materials look and feel great! Learn about her involvement in the early days of East Fork, her printing presses, her wonderful and creative kids, and of course, her five favorite things.

Clay Buddies: JaQuan LaPierre

Clay Buddies: JaQuan LaPierre

JaQuan is East Fork’s Roller Tool Lead. We talked about why he is proud to call himself a member of East Fork’s team, how he gets into ‘the zone’ at work, and his absolute favorite thing—his family.

Clay Buddies: Britta Baker

Clay Buddies: Britta Baker

Britta Baker is on East Fork’s fulfillment team. You can thank her personally for packing up your pottery and sending it to your door with so much love and care. Read below about distant memories of Syria, her tiny home project, and her mead making hobby.

Clay Buddies: Molly Webb

Clay Buddies: Molly Webb

Meet Molly Webb, the manager of our Atlanta store. As a lover of art, design and all things fashion, Molly helps complete our look in Atlanta. Read below about her past life as a founder of the Spin Style Agency, her thoughts on fashion in golf, and of course, her five favorite things.

East Fork: A History

East Fork: A History

What is Forecasting?

What is Forecasting?

At its most basic, forecasting means using historical data and educated assumptions to predict a future state. At East Fork, we use historic sales to determine our typical % of Revenue is for each of our forms and glazes.  If that's not enough to get you to click in and keep reading then we can't help you...

Clay Buddies: Devin McMillen

Clay Buddies: Devin McMillen

Devin McMillen is East Fork’s new Ceramic Engineer. He will blow your mind with his knowledge of ceramics, and then shatter your assumptions about engineers when he talks about his floor loom. 🤯

Questions, Answered!

Questions, Answered!

Hey folks! I asked our Instagram followers if there are any burning-business related questions folks had.

Clay Buddies: Emilja Tokarski

Clay Buddies: Emilja Tokarski

Emilja is in charge of producing the thing you all go crazy for—THE MUG! Keep reading to learn about our awesome “mug operations lead”—from her journey at East Fork to her thoughts on different kinds of motorcycles.

Clay Buddies: Daryl Nathanson

Clay Buddies: Daryl Nathanson

Meet Daryl, fulfillment manager by day and talented musician by night. Here's a bit about him, and why we're so glad he's a part of our team.

Between Two Bowls

Between Two Bowls

Wild news, y’all. You can eat breakfast in the Ice Cream Bowl and ice cream in the Breakfast Bowl.

10 Years Ago on Ras Grooms Road

10 Years Ago on Ras Grooms Road

"We contemplated the cosmic absurdity that two people from such different worlds would find themselves together in this little clearing in the woods, listening to the wind and snow. We were alone in a strange dreamscape, and life felt new and wild and sweet and full of possibility."

Holiday Shipping Deadline

Holiday Shipping Deadline

The last day to get your orders in is Friday, December 13th at 5pm EST.

A Friendly Holiday Shopping Season Reminder

A Friendly Holiday Shopping Season Reminder

Ah, the holidays. A time to gather together with friends and family.  A time to give thanks. A time to give gifts. And a time—as evidence shows—when depression, anxiety, and misdirected anger are at their peak.

Quality at East Fork

Quality at East Fork

In the early days, there were no set standards for quality, no SOP’s, and no QC position. The quality and price of a pot was based solely on the maker's own intuitive judgment.

A (Heartfelt) Financial Report from CFO John Vigeland

A (Heartfelt) Financial Report from CFO John Vigeland

"We’re a pretty good microcosm of the middle of the US Economy more broadly (no flashy silicon valley salaries, a $15 minimum wage company-wide)."

The Geami

The Geami