Over the past 33 years (25 in Folsom, California)
we have developed a very unusual style of porcelain
pottery.
Originally G. F. Cloud, working at the back
of the store, threw all the pots and Penny Cloud
painted them right there. The kilns were behind
the store, and every day we produced a fresh load
of pottery. We received immediate feedback and
new ideas from our customers, learned what kinds
of pottery folks liked well enough to buy, and
which kinds they weren't wild about. Naturally
we wanted to please, so we did more of the former
and less of the latter.
The first change we made when we came to Folsom
was to change to porcelain. The customers loved
porcelain's white color, and we loved the fact
that it didn't chip like stoneware did. The customers
spoke, and we listened. The bright colors we are
known for today began with our Iris pattern. We
use lead-free glazes and fire to very high temperatures-nearly
2400 degrees F. At that great heat many colors
are unstable, but by trial and error we first
found purples and greens, then yellows and roses,
pinks and reds. We have been developing our colors
for the last couple of decades, and we suppose
we will still be working on new ones decades from
now.
Our friend from England, Ms. Fred Knox, came
to work with us and stayed a few years as a potter.
Later, others joined us, and friends from the art
department at California State University, Sacramento
came to work for us. The early 1980s were a tough
time in California for potters, and we were fortunate
to have a growing business that provided work for
many of our area's best potters.
Many of us were influenced by Ruth Rippon,
who taught at CSUS for many years. Her style-which
stressed clean, classic shapes and the importance
of balance-was heavily influenced by her teacher,
Tony Prieto, who in turn had been strongly influenced
during that incredible time in the 1950s when
Japanese master potter Shojii Hamada and legendary
English potter Bernard Leach were on the West
Coast. That confluence was the spark that lit
American art pottery. It was the best possible
start to develop a "California style"
of porcelain.
Our
surface treatments are inspired more by our appreciation
of southern European pottery, the faience of Provence,
the majolicas of Spain and Portugal, and the wonderful
traditional decorated earthenwares of Italy. The
pots of these regions are made to be used and enjoyed
for years. We improved them by doing them in high-fire
porcelain (they're still not apt to survive a drop
on the concrete, but they're much stronger than
the softer, low-fire European ware). The high firing
temperatures slightly blur the patterns, giving
the work a soft, somewhat impressionistic look.
Some of our colors flux, or cause the glaze
to melt more, and thus become a translucent colored
glass on the pot. Others mix with the glaze and
slow the melt, thus becoming an opaque glass on
the pot. The translucent areas, with their crystals
and vibrancy against the opaque area, give the
work a dynamic look you don't see in other pottery.
Our pots are indeed covered with colored glasses,
as opposed to being clay that has been painted
on.
The extreme temperatures give an unmatched
vitality to the ware, but that also causes us
to be unable to make exact matches. Each piece
is unique. The personality and mood of the potter
and his or her esthetic at the time makes the
piece original. Then each painter brings his or
her own sense of placement to the piece. Finally,
there is the unpredictability and magic of the
fire, which does our work, but in its own way.
California is a land of immigrants. Our families
have lived in the West for well over a hundred years.
Our pottery is evolving in a region where we are
free to synthesize and take from other traditions
instead of being bound by them. We have made our
esthetic choices and we love making pottery that
our friends, our families and finally our customers
love. We love hearing stories about how the Clouds
pottery was gotten out for a special occasion and
then left out and each use became a special occasion.
We love the stories of the office coffee cup that
would be kept under lock and key, except that it's
so famous no one would dare pilfer it.
So now you know! We're pottery nerds. Thanks
for looking through our web site, your interest
is what makes us go on. Maybe you will pick up
the phone and add to your collection. Maybe you'll
get in your car and come on over for a gift for
someone special. Then we will get to make some
more pottery. Then everyone will be happy.
Our site features many pages that showcase dozens
of our favorite pieces from the thousands that
we make all by hand! We encourage you to view
our different lines of porcelain pottery for the
home and garden. If you still have questions,
please contact us via e-mail or call our 800 number
to order. Again, enjoy!We invite you—our
new and long-time customers—to enjoy and
use our website as an online catalog.
