This past December, during our Remodelista SF Holiday Market, we were chatting with potter Sarah Kersten about countertop compost pots. “I use a storage jar from East Fork Pottery,” she told us, which piqued our interest. A quick Google search later we were even more intrigued; it turns out East Fork Pottery is the brainchild of Alex Matisse, the great-grandson of Henri Matisse and the step-grandson of Marcel Duchamp. Matisse founded the pottery with his wife, Connie, in 2010; here’s the story:
Photography by Tim Robison, courtesy of East Fork Pottery, except where noted.

Above: The ceramicist Alex Matisse at work. “I have been making things out of clay with some seriousness since the 7th grade,” he says. “In the beginning I made mostly masks that had long sad faces.” Years later, after finishing his apprenticeships, he built a kiln on the edge of a tobacco field near Asheville, North Carolina. “There is a lifetime of challenges to explore with clay,” he says. Photograph by Connie Matisse.
Above: With a small group of potters and a brick and mortar shop in Asheville, Matisse and his business partner train the makers at East Fork to “know the exact weights of each pot we have designed and throw each form to the millimeter.” The collection is simple, unadorned, and streamlined; surprisingly, every piece is thrown by hand.
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