A brief history of Bruning Pottery

In the spring of 1983 Judy and I approached Jim Lunz at Seattle Pottery and asked if he knew of any 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 (it is no longer there now), and rented it to us.  The down side was constant heavy truck and train traffic... and dust from a working installation such as SPS.  Those down side items were off set by the fact we could get supplies at a moments notice, and delivered on a fork lift!

Judy sold pots to florists and nurseries around the area from the trunk of our car, and we had a pottery booth  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 DVDs 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.

Seattle, being a major import sea terminal for all eastern countries, soon led to huge influxes of pottery of all kinds from many overseas countries. Those pots were impossible to compete with price wise and we started looking for niches that were not being filled by those overseas imports.  Hand made and slab-made Sinks come to mind as a market we have been successful in for some years now, as well as teaching pottery skills to others.

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 historic district on Avenue "D".  It is a heavy traffic through fare, and there is considerable traffic for a small town.  We 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 are home, and this time a landlord can't sell it out from under us. Judy and I have lived 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.  Next summer the front room is to have major foundation repairs that will entail removing the last wood floor on the ground level and make it more solid all round.

Soon after arriving we found that Snohomish and surrounding area residents needed and wanted one thing  from us, above all else, and that was classes.  This community is hungry for creative opportunities and have welcomed us with open arms. So we are now offering pottery making instruction in Snohomish (using various techniques) and have over 60 students enrolling in 7 sessions throughout the calendar year.  Several of those people are now selling their work successfully.

You are invited to celebrate with us being in business for these many years in the month of May. An Open-House will include a kiln opening, light refreshments, and tours including demonstrations.

Larry and Judy Bruning 

The sliding door that was not at all weather tight that first winter!

The recessed area with a glowing orange color tiles that is very nice at night with lights.