East Fork’s 15th anniversary, and a big year for the Workshop. John officially stepped into the role of Workshop Director, bringing a slate of new ideas—and new pots—to life. Alex carved out a few weeks to hand-paint the Reverdir Collection, while John began introducing new forms throughout the year. Mike retired the Third Wave Mug and brought back a longtime favorite, the Sunday Morning Mug, in seasonal colors. More to come...!

After losing our Workshop space to Hurricane Helene, Mike began throwing Third Wave Mugs in his home studio for each seasonal color. John, East Fork’s co-founder and former CFO, came back to the wheel after a seven-year hiatus to throw a limited run of pitchers.

We went into the year with big hopes for what the Workshop could become. John stepped away from his role as CFO to return to his roots behind the wheel, and Mike threw East Fork’s first incense holder. But no one was prepared for the devastation Hurricane Helene brought. By October, the Workshop was paused after our studio was destroyed by the storm.

In 2023, we expanded beyond form and began experimenting again with glaze, starting with an Ash Glaze reminiscent of our earliest pots. Mike also explored new shapes, introducing the Farm Bowl and branching into mugs with a heftier, diner-style design.

The year the Small Batch Studio officially became East Fork Workshop. As Cade stepped into the role of East Fork’s archivist, longtime friend and local potter Mike Ball began throwing pots under the newly named hand-thrown program.

A big year for hand-thrown collectors. We introduced the Third Wave Mug, our ode to the artisanal coffee movement, and released a small run of Little Pitchers, finished with raw clay exteriors and Harvest Moon glaze inside. They’ve since become sought-after pieces within East Fork’s community trading network.

The world shut down, East Fork didn’t. While navigating closures, new protocols, and a general sense of unease, we decided to have a little fun and get a bit weird. Enter the Two-Handed Mug, along with a handful of pieces that helped make life at work and home a little more joyful.

We had just sold the farm and moved to Asheville—a bold leap that shifted East Fork from a small rural pottery to a scalable manufacturing operation. In the corner of our new factory floor, our first apprentice, Cade Holloman, pulled an old wheel out of storage, plugged it in, and began making limited-edition hand-thrown pieces once again under the moniker “The Small Batch Studio.”