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This is the place you go to learn how Shirley makes those wonderful cookie jars and accessories. Below is a small paragraph on the process Shirley uses to create her unique cookie jars and accessories. First she starts out with an idea, that is usually the scary part. Next she begins to make a sculpture of what ever her idea was. From the sculpture a mold is made and then she is off to the production line. Here is an example of this process for the Bellville 2001 Show Jar The production line consists of herself and one or two motivated helpers. They pour the molds, set them up, clean the raw clay, paint, fire, glaze, fire, put on gold and details and fire again. Each jar is painted by Shirley and none of them go out the door until she they meet her high standards. I have seen her break many jars that she considered worthless because they had minor flaws, but they would have held a half dozen chocolate chip cookies just fine. Ever wonder what her workshop looks like. Ok, OK here are the long awaited pictures of Shirley's Workshop. First I will show you what the molds get poured. This is a pouring table that helps her save the slip and reuse what does not hold in the mold. You can see a mold in the foreground and a green piece in background. Just click on the picture to see it fullsize.
Next we see the extensive collection of paints that Shirley uses. Each
color is unique as she usually blends together several colors to get the look
she wants. Somewhere
in there where Shirley sits as she paints, applies glaze and gold. The
organization of the place is real complicated so I will not go into that. Here we see the kiln's where she fires her jars and pottery. This finishes the tour. Be sure to email us if you have questions.
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