A brief history of Bruning Pottery over the last 25 years

It was in the spring of 1983 that Judy and I approached Jim Lunz at Seattle Pottery and asked if he knew of studio space available.  He said "as a matter of fact"... and took us out-back to a Quonset hut building he was only partially using (no longer there) and rented it to us.  The down side was constant traffic and lots of dust from a working installation such as SPS verses we could get supplies at a moments notice and delivered on the fork lift almost instantly.

Judy sold pots to florists and nurseries around the area from the trunk of our car, and we sold pottery at street fairs nearly every weekend... in addition to having a spot at Pike Place market at least 3 days a week.

After a few years we put a truck on the road with a sales person to take orders and offered free delivery to entice the retailer to purchase from us. (gas prices have certainly changed!)  And Judy became the office person and administrator.  I was running the production end of the business and developing new glazes and looks. (See DVD of early pots and styles)

A number of years went by (about 10) with increasing sales and employees and we were out growing our welcome in the building behind Seattle Pottery Supply and moved our business to 6th Ave S.  That location was larger {and much more expensive} and we had to grow again just to keep up with it. We had numerous employees and 2 trucks out full time and traveling as far away as Montana to service accounts.  You may remember the desk top fountain phase... It was a great time for Bruning Pottery where we made many fountains and supplied many companies with fountain components.

Somewhere in there we were joined by our oldest son Ky who quickly became an expert thrower and is now the main production potter.

Seattle being a major import sea terminal for all eastern countries soon led to huge influxes of pottery of all kinds from many countries. Those pots were impossible to compete with price wise and we started looking for niches to fill that were not being filled by the imports.

After about 12 years in the 6th Ave location the land-lord decided to sell the building due to his advancing age and we were faced with having to move a pottery factory!  Just finding a location we could now afford was a major challenge, and then the prep work, and finally the physical move, altogether took nearly a year.

So it was in 2005 we moved to Snohomish, and right in the historic district on Avenue "D", a main through fare, and designed a studio that flows nicely from materials in the front door, through throwing, bisque firing, glazing, and high firing all in a nice smooth line... to a finished product and back out the front door.  The layout of the rest of the building fell in place nicely also... including an apartment upstairs!  We were home and this time a landlord couldn't sell it out from under us because we bought it.

We have been here since March 2006 and are still in the midst of remodeling (that could go on for years we realized) and are glad to be here.  No commuting!

Soon after arriving we found that  one thing needed and wanted from us was classes.  So we are now offering pottery making instruction in Snohomish using various techniques and have over 30 students.  Raku workshops are the next area needed and wanted and the adventure continues.

You are invited to celebrate with us being in business for 25 years this month of May 2008. An Open-House 17 May will include a kiln opening, commerative pots, light refreshments, and DVD of works from many years.

Larry and Judy Bruning

This is a possible early photo of the building, but we are not sure. Built in the late 1800s.