Hi, my name is Karen Duddy. In my Etsy shop you will find individually hand made pottery that I have personally created in my home studio. I have no employees and I do all work myself.

My pieces begin with moist clay that I buy in 25 pound bags. Depending on what I decide to make, it is either rolled into a slab or thrown on the pottery wheel. Each piece is individually shaped and almost always decorated or textured in some way. It may be carved free handed, stamped with my own hand carved stamps, decorated with clay attachments or impressed with special pieces of lace. I try to make my pieces as unique as possible. The work is then dried slowly until it is bone dry. It is then loaded into the kiln to be bisque fired to 1850f. Once cooled and unloaded it is glazed and then refired to approximately 2250f. The hardest part is waiting for the kiln to cool enough to open and finally see the results of my efforts. Next, photographs are taken and listings are posted. I carefully pack sold goods with recycled packing materials whenever possible. If the packages are relatively small I walk to the post office which is only about a mile away. I try to be as environmentally conscious as possible, recycling as much clay, glaze and water as possible.

In an effort to help the environment, my childhood friend and I have opened a new shop selling editable digital cards, invitations and announcements which can be sent via text, email and WhatsApp to save paper, shipping costs and fuel. If you are interested in checking us out you can find us here on Etsy:

TheWoodenSwanDesigns.etsy.com