Podcast appearances and mentions of alex matisse

East Fork Pottery founder and CEO Alex Matisse shares the story behind launching his Asheville-based pottery company and its new collection, a collaboration with Les Héritiers Matisse.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BOH executive editor Fred Nicolaus and host Dennis Scully discuss the biggest news in the industry, including a quick end to the dockworkers strike, the shuttering of an online antiques site, and a look at whether a wave of silicosis lawsuits will upend the world of engineered stone. Later, East Fork CEO Alex Matisse joins the show to talk about Helene's impact and what comes next for North Carolina.   This episode is sponsored by Loloi and Isla PorterHELENE RELIEFRed Cross of North CarolinaBeLoved AshevilleLINKSEast ForkBusiness of Home

How do you go from a farm with a woodfire kiln and two potters to an industrial warehouse that already feels too small? Vision. And a bit of luck. At least, that's what worked for Alex Matisse, founder of the one and only Eastfork Pottery. On this episode, Alex shares insights into the pros and cons of growing such a large, successful business and how taking the time to get clear on a vision is the lynchpin of it all.At the time of this replay, Asheville, North Carolina (where Eastfork Pottery is located) is currently beginning the slow and arduous process of recovering from the devastating affects of Hurricane Helen. If you are able, please consider donating to any of the following organizations helping with recovery efforts: World Central Kitchen: On the ground getting meals to those affected.CERF+: Provides emergency relief grants specifically to craft artists.Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more. Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybookHave questions about the show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com

Alex Matisse is here with Ben and Joshua this week on the podcast. From potter to Founder and CEO, Alex has been shaping East Fork Pottery both literally and figuratively for the past ten years. He shares about the values he holds and how he brings that to the business at East Fork; he's passionate about his local community, about bringing a human-centeredness to both his craft and the environment he creates for the employees of East Fork, and about not just defaulting to the most traditional approach to something, but doing things differently

Keith Recker is a color poet and you will hear that immediately when listening to this conversation, even if it's not all roses we talk about. Keith does not refrain from talking about how color continues to create political and social divides and often triggers consumers into buying promises not kept by brands. The mission of his latest book Deep Color is to indeed reveal the misperceptions on color and to disclose the truth about each color in the spectrum.  Not all that is white is clean, simple and pure.. Keith Recker brings 35 years of adventuresome, insightful, multicultural experience in marketing, merchandising, trend and color forecasting, and content development to his role as Editor in Chief and Co-Owner of TABLE Magazine. With strong roots in food and drink, TABLE also explores travel, interior design, fashion and jewelry, and other facets of modern living, in both print and digital formats. Recker is the founder and editor of HAND/EYE Magazine, a print and online publication whose 10 issues cultivated a global following. The magazine profiles forward-looking creators, faraway cultures, ancient craft traditions, and cutting-edge design.  HAND/EYE saw humankind's creative future as handmade, which demands attention the struggle of artisans to earn decent livelihoods through preservation of ancient traditions, innovation of new ones, exploration of new markets, and educating the consuming public about the cultural and economic importance of their work. HAND/EYE is on a pause right now, but ripe for rebirth.Recker is also a trend and color forecaster whose almost 20-year client list includes global influencers Pantone, WGSN, Stylus, Color Association of the United States (CAUS), and more. For 16 years, Recker has been creative director of Pantone's annual home publication, PANTONE View Home. For eight years he was on WGSN's global trend and color team. He serves on the CAUS home forecasting committee.The revised second edition of his book, True Colors: World Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments (Thrums Books) was released in September 2020, with chapters already excerpted in London-based Selvedge Magazine, NY Textile Month Journal, and reviewed in many more, including Metropolis. He is co-author of PANTONE: The Twentieth Century in Color (Chronicle, 2012), published in eight languages. His new book, Deep Color: The Shades That Shape Our Souls, debuts in September 2022.  His writing on color and culture has been published by the Studio Museum of Harlem (catalog essay about Stephen Burks), Museum of Art and Design (catalog essay about African craft and its messages about the future), Brooklyn Rail (comparing the work of potter Alex Matisse with the performance work of Marina Abramovic), The Santa Fe New Mexican, and more.He has also worked in the non-profit world as a director of consumer marketing at CARE International and executive director at Aid to Artisans (as well as a board member and volunteer for 22 years). Through his involvement with Aid to Artisans, he has worked side by side with artisans from 50 countries. He has served on the boards of Art in General, Chez Bushwick, as founding chair of The Quiet in the Land (a project which brought leading contemporary artists into communities in the developing world) , and the International Folk Art Market, where he was also pro bono creative director and head of the Marketing Committee from 1996-2020. 

Alex Matisse, who made it a strategic point not to name his brand after his famous last name (yes, he is the great-grandson of one of the most influential artists to ever live, Henri Matisse), co-founded East Fork, a pottery brand I cherish and study from the outside for a lot of reasons, all of which you will learn more about during this very sincere and insightful conversation. Alex and I talk about the soul of a brand and how to keep it intact, his dislike of the word authenticity, the constant – which he sees as positive – struggle that drives his artisanal 'made in the US' business, and how he and his two Co-Founders created a brand that those who know came to love and even obsess over.Yet another conversation that reminds me of why I love bringing this show to you – and why I love spreading these insights on the often intrinsic art of crafting brands people truly love.

In 2009, Connie Matisse was working at a farmer's market in North Carolina when she met her now-husband Alex Matisse, who had just finished an apprenticeship and set out on his own to make pottery. They fell in love, and what manifested — aside from a decade-plus-long relationship — was East Fork Pottery, a direct-to-consumer phenomenon with a mission to bring traditional American craft to a new generation of consumers. In 2013, Connie and Alex expanded their business to bring on their potter friend John, who now serves as CFO. In this latest episode of The Partner Ship, East Fork Pottery's co-founding team join us to discuss how they've scaled their business with heart and transparency, all while "doing the work" personally.

How do you go from a farm with a woodfire kiln and two potters to an industrial warehouse that already feels too small? Vision. And a bit of luck. At least, that's what worked for Alex Matisse, founder and chief strategic officer of the one and only Eastfork Pottery. On this episode, Alex shares insights into the pros and cons of growing such a large, successful business and how taking the time to get clear on a vision is the lynchpin of it all.Alex and I chatted a lot about the importance of having a vision for your business and how that vision drives so many of the day-to-day decisions when a million things are flying at you. If you're looking for a little help on how to answer all the myriad of questions you have floating in your head when it comes to your own business, whether that business is a weekend side-hustle, full time, or even still just a daydream - Be sure to click here to download my free PDF - The Savvy Owner's Quick Guide to Smart Decisions.This guide is built to help you create context around so many of the questions we ask other makers online - should I use Etsy or my own website? Is Squarespace better than Shopify? How do you… What about… All of these questions are important, but the right answer for you, specifically, depends on the context of your life, and - just as Alex and I discussed, the goals for the vision of your business. Download it for free here.For full show notes and links to all of our guests' resources visit: www.makersplaybook.com/podcast

Beautiful Thinker: Alex Matisse, founder of East Fork Pottery, on bringing old-school manufacturing back, making community part of brand DNA, and finding success beyond his family’s legacy.

In this episode, we sit down with Connie Matisse, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of East Fork Pottery. It's almost impossible to live in Asheville and not have heard of East Fork but, just in case, East Fork Pottery East For makes beautiful ceramic dinnerware and pottery using materials from the local Blue Ridge Mountains mountains. Founded in 2009 by Alex Matisse, Connie Matisse, and John Vigeland, the company has grown quickly from a small group of friends and artists who had a good “hunch” and creative sense of style to a full-blown, nationally-recognized ceramic business with multiple product lines, an ever-growing need for warehouse and factory space, and an executive team. Despite its growth, East Fork has strived to remain true to its mission: create beautiful, durable, and timeless ceramics in the U.S. following sustainable and ethical practices. In this Episode you'll learn: The behind-the-scenes story of how East Fork got its start from Connie's point of view Connie explains how East Fork grew from a small pottery company to a national brand and shares some of the growing pains they experienced along the way Advice for deciding whether or not you should go into business with your friends and loved ones and how to maintain a balanced relationship once you do The unique customer service strategy that East Fork follows East Fork's strategy for creating engaging Instagram and newsletter content in order to nurture and gently “nudge” customers How to know if you should turn your craft into a business The three East Fork products Connie recommends getting first Connie's point of view on the city of Asheville and how it's changed over the years Connie's favorite spots in Asheville Exciting initiatives coming up in the future for East Fork For show notes, including some supplementary information from this episode visit: MakingItInAsheville.com/020 To recommend an interviewee, visit: MakingItInAsheville.com/podcast Curious to learn more about what we do? Making It Creative is a boutique marketing agency in Asheville. We are dedicated to working with small business owners that are deeply passionate about what they do by helping them build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here. Music by Commonwealth Choir If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share! It helps to spread the word and get more eyes on Asheville's makers. Check out Making It in Asheville on other platforms! https://www.instagram.com/makingitinasheville/ https://www.makingitinasheville.com/youtube/ https://makingitinasheville.com/subscribe/

In this episode, we sit down with Connie Matisse, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of East Fork Pottery.It's almost impossible to live in Asheville and not have heard of East Fork but, just in case, East Fork Pottery East For makes beautiful ceramic dinnerware and pottery using materials from the local Blue Ridge Mountains mountains. Founded in 2009 by Alex Matisse, Connie Matisse, and John Vigeland, the company has grown quickly from a small group of friends and artists who had a good “hunch” and creative sense of style to a full-blown, nationally-recognized ceramic business with multiple product lines, an ever-growing need for warehouse and factory space, and an executive team. Despite its growth, East Fork has strived to remain true to its mission: create beautiful, durable, and timeless ceramics in the U.S. following sustainable and ethical practices.In this Episode you'll learn: The behind-the-scenes story of how East Fork got its start from Connie’s point of view Connie explains how East Fork grew from a small pottery company to a national brand and shares some of the growing pains they experienced along the way Advice for deciding whether or not you should go into business with your friends and loved ones and how to maintain a balanced relationship once you do The unique customer service strategy that East Fork follows East Fork’s strategy for creating engaging Instagram and newsletter content in order to nurture and gently “nudge” customers How to know if you should turn your craft into a business The three East Fork products Connie recommends getting first Connie’s point of view on the city of Asheville and how it’s changed over the years Connie’s favorite spots in Asheville Exciting initiatives coming up in the future for East Fork For show notes, including some supplementary information from this episode visit: MakingItInAsheville.com/020To recommend an interviewee, visit: MakingItInAsheville.com/podcastCurious to learn more about what we do? Making It Creative is a boutique marketing agency in Asheville. We are dedicated to working with small business owners that are deeply passionate about what they do by helping them build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.Music by Commonwealth ChoirIf you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share! It helps to spread the word and get more eyes on Asheville's makers. Check out Making It in Asheville on other platforms! https://www.instagram.com/makingitinasheville/ https://www.makingitinasheville.com/youtube/ https://makingitinasheville.com/subscribe/

In this episode, we sit down with Connie Matisse, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of East Fork Pottery.It's almost impossible to live in Asheville and not have heard of East Fork but, just in case, East Fork Pottery East For makes beautiful ceramic dinnerware and pottery using materials from the local Blue Ridge Mountains mountains. Founded in 2009 by Alex Matisse, Connie Matisse, and John Vigeland, the company has grown quickly from a small group of friends and artists who had a good “hunch” and creative sense of style to a full-blown, nationally-recognized ceramic business with multiple product lines, an ever-growing need for warehouse and factory space, and an executive team. Despite its growth, East Fork has strived to remain true to its mission: create beautiful, durable, and timeless ceramics in the U.S. following sustainable and ethical practices.In this Episode you'll learn: The behind-the-scenes story of how East Fork got its start from Connie’s point of view Connie explains how East Fork grew from a small pottery company to a national brand and shares some of the growing pains they experienced along the way Advice for deciding whether or not you should go into business with your friends and loved ones and how to maintain a balanced relationship once you do The unique customer service strategy that East Fork follows East Fork’s strategy for creating engaging Instagram and newsletter content in order to nurture and gently “nudge” customers How to know if you should turn your craft into a business The three East Fork products Connie recommends getting first Connie’s point of view on the city of Asheville and how it’s changed over the years Connie’s favorite spots in Asheville Exciting initiatives coming up in the future for East Fork For show notes, including some supplementary information from this episode visit: MakingItInAsheville.com/020To recommend an interviewee, visit: MakingItInAsheville.com/podcastCurious to learn more about what we do? Making It Creative is a boutique marketing agency in Asheville. We are dedicated to working with small business owners that are deeply passionate about what they do by helping them build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.Music by Commonwealth ChoirIf you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, like, review, and/or share! It helps to spread the word and get more eyes on Asheville's makers. Check out Making It in Asheville on other platforms! https://www.instagram.com/makingitinasheville/ https://www.makingitinasheville.com/youtube/ https://makingitinasheville.com/subscribe/

Ceramics are having a moment, and East Fork is at the center of it. Founded by husband-and-wife team Connie and Alex Matisse along with their friend John Vigeland, the North Carolina–based company has grown from a small rural pottery into a thriving manufacturer, shipping thousands of pieces around the world—including a coveted mug they literally can’t keep in stock. On the latest episode of the Business of Home podcast, host Dennis Scully spoke with the Matisses about creating a compelling brand in the social media age, avoiding growth for its own sake, and the challenges of building a values-focused business. This episode is sponsored by Datacolor.

Scaling a craft brand isn’t easy, not only on manufacturing, but company values and ethos. Alex Matisse's company East Fork is producing traditional pottery that’s distinctly modern while forging a big, ambitious path forward. East Fork makes sought-after stoneware using clays from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Their minimalist mug is so popular that it sells out in minutes. East Fork plates and bowls come in seasonal glazes that mirror the energy of a family kitchen and the blanket warmth of a cup of cocoa. Co-founders Alex Matisse, his wife Connie Matisse, and friend John Vigeland are craftspeople at their core, but now they’re bringing their art to the masses by turning their simple handmade forms into scalable production methods. On this episode, Alex shares how East Fork is growing big but staying small. Alex talks about the turning point when they bought a gas kiln from the Netherlands (7:30). He shares the insistent design process of The Mug (9:29). He gets real about the blunt impact he felt as the CEO when East Fork grew to 50 employees (10:39). He talks about keeping rituals like their bi-weekly team lunches (16:30). Alex discusses his high aspirations to grow beyond Heath and into the realm of Homer and Laughlin (18:22). He talks about why they started hiring photography and marketing roles in-house (30:02). Alex talks about standing on his own in spite of the expectations and legacy of his family name (32:25). Also mentioned on the show: Heath Ceramics The Homer Laughlin China Company Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family by Bob Chapman Well Made Episode 45 with Helen Rice: Breathing Life into Brands The cut-outs by Henri Matisse Why funky ’70s-style fonts are popping up on brands like Chobani and Glossier by Eliza Brooke Link and images can be found on the Lumi Blog.

Alex Matisse grew up in a converted white clapboard church in the center of a small New England town in a family of artists. For three years, Alex apprenticed in the workshops of North Carolina potters Matt Jones and Mark Hewitt. Their work combines traditions, from the Anglo-Oriental school of Leach, Hamada, and Cardew to the folk pottery of the south-eastern United States and many places between. In their workshops Alex learned to love simple pots; adorned or bare, quiet and strong, they make their place comfortably in the home and speak to the thousands of years of pots before them, and all that is to come. Alex's work is made in a fusion of pre-industrial country traditions in both process and material. It is fired in a large wood burning kiln and made of as many local materials as the chemistry will allow. Ales believes in the beautiful object; that there are inescapable aesthetic truths, physical attributes, that remove time and place from the defining characteristics of the made object. These objects can be viewed today or many years from now and be understood as beautiful. Though their quotidian value may become antiquated, their aesthetics will save them. Alex believes in making pots that carry this truth while, as Henry Glassie told Alex in passing one day, holding one hand to the past with the other outstretched to the future.

Passionate artist Alex Matisse reveals the thoughts and emotions behind his work as he creates pottery with an aesthetic that fuses pre-industrial traditions. Then, join Bland Simpson on a literary journey down the Lumber River.

Passionate artist Alex Matisse reveals the thoughts and emotions behind his work as he creates pottery with an aesthetic that fuses pre-industrial traditions.