Dear Avid Nicholas Mosse Fan:

Much to our delight, we had an incredibly busy November here in our Irish Country Shop. Now December is here and the weather feels a bit more appropriate for this time of year.

For me it's exciting because I've been here at the pottery now for three months and I have learned so much about how our product is made and decorated. 

What is so special about working here at Nicholas Mosse is the fact that everything is beautifully hand-made. Did you know there are over 20 steps each piece goes through until it reaches our retail shelves? Today I just wanted to show you a part of the process. Here Francis Power, who has been with the company for over 30 years, is finishing some candlesticks. They've already been made and now he is doing the final detail on the bottom. As you can see above, the base is flat and below he's creating that rim on the bottom to complete the look.

 Francis has been doing this for so many years that it is second nature to him. But I find it so fascinating to watch and frankly am easily be mesmerized by the process. By the way, you can watch this when you visit us in Bennettsbridge as this all happens in an area that can be viewed by our visitors. I expect you too will find it as fascinating.

 Here they are lined up - finished and now will dry for a period of time.

There is not waste here at Nicholas Mosse, everything is re-cycled, re-used and re-worked where ever possible. Here is a skip filled with all the clay shavings and pieces that didn't make it onto the next stage. 

Moving onto the next stage, the candlesticks have been dipped in glaze and are heading to the kiln. Underneath the white glaze is the pattern and the white will burn off in the kiln turning to a shiny glaze.

In our next blog post, I'll show you some more images and details of decorating the pieces.

In the meantime, hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season. Don't forget we are also on Facebook and you can also follow us on Twitter @NicholasMosse.

Until next time,

Lisa