Elan Pottery





	Special Thanks As the artist and potter behind Elan Pottery I have so much to say about where my inspiration comes from, how I got to this point, and where I am headed from here, however first let me say this. Although I am the potter and owner of Elan Pottery I could not do it single-handedly. My friends and family have been a huge help in the process.

Evolution of Elan Pottery
Clay was introduced to me in High School and I have been hooked ever since. I dabbled on my own for a few years and then I was reintroduced in a college wheel throwing class. My instructor was Harriet Ross, an eccentric potter from Hartsdale, NY. Her belief was that a mug was not worth making unless there was something special about it. I learned a great deal about design and substance from her and continued to take her classes until I graduated. Shortly after graduation I moved to New Hampshire.
The first year here was hard, I was renting a small apartment to save for a house and there was hardly any room for a studio. The only available space was a 4’x 3’ linen closet; it was just enough space for a wheel and shelving overhead. Believe it or not I prepared pottery for my first year at the Connecticut Renaissance Faire there. I had greenware piled on shelves in the bedroom and boxes of glazed pottery in the living room along with tree trunks and other display materials that consumed my apartment. I made it through CTRF and had an overwhelmingly positive response to the pottery and displays.
		With the New Year came huge changes! I bought a house in Franklin, NH with a home studio for creating and garage for the newly purchased cone 10 electric kiln. There is now room to throw, trim, glaze, store wares, and still have plenty of personal space that is relatively free of clay. As if there was not enough on my plate, I decided to apply to the New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, NY.
When I got the newa that I had been accepted the reality hit, I had four months to prepare for 12 weekends of shows. Did I mention I have a full time job as well? Things got a bit stressful; luckily I have amazingly supportive friends and family who helped me along the way. After being accepted into NYRF and CTRF, I needed to get organized and create a business and all that goes along with it.
Elan Pottery was born out of need for structure and cohesiveness in my work. The word Elan means distinctive style or flair, which describes my personality as well as creative expression. Elan also has a personal significance to me. As a child Leigh Anne was difficult to say and instead my cousin and I would say Elan with a hard “a” sound. It seemed only natural that my business should be called something that depending on how you say it has described me from childhood to present. I decided on a spiral logo since like me my work is constantly changing and evolving into new directions as my life’s experiences grow. We then had an amazing website built by website designer Dawn Stone of Stone City Designs, stonecitydesigns.com. My mother designed a beautiful business card and my step-father made a hand-carved cedar sign to hang above the booth.
I have recently become a member of the NH Potters Guild and are looking forward to learning more about the craft from people who have been involved for years longer than myself. I am also experimenting with glazes and different firing temperatures. I now make all the glazes from scratch which is both rewarding as well as frustrating! At the end of the day the rewards out weigh the pitfalls and I continue to mix the glazes and find new and exciting colors and effects. Currently I am preparing for the Scarbourough Renaissance Festival in Texas. I was just notified that I was accepted into the fair and will be selling pottery there this spring. I am excited to this new chapter of the business and the future to come!