About Julie's Soap and Pottery
I am a frustrated corporate employee who has found a way to cope with the hassles of a 6:30-4:00 work life. I started making cold-process soap 7 years ago as a way to vent pent-up energy. I was successfully selling soap and wanted to expand the line while enhancing the presentation. Ah... soap dishes. I enrolled in a pottery class at "Mable House" in Austell 3 years ago and have not been far from clay since.
It's been difficult to control the clay beast and has taken me 3 years to come up with a consistent selection of creations. The class projects have kept my mind in over-drive - I still don't have many of those soap dishes but I'm working toward them.
The Country Cluckers will make you smile. Don't restrict them to the kitchen... they have a way of wandering around the house.
The Brick series is straight forward, no frills. Each piece is hand carved - even the bottoms. They beg to be picked up and examined. So much texture. The beads on each piece are either carved horn, bone, seed, porcelain or glass.
Wisteria pieces are wheel thrown and embellished. Each piece, even though they are hosting blues, greens, pinks, browns and yellows consist of one glaze….it’s all the work that goes into the clay before it gets fired that contributes to the finished product. These pieces are beautiful display pieces but, just like my other pottery can serve as functional pieces. Very delicate.
Soap or pottery- which do I prefer? Depends on the day. I have made hundreds of batches of soap to come up with my prized formulas. The base oils and their quantity make a difference in the finished bar. Is it thick creamy lather, bigger bubbles, healing or moisturizing properties? What oil combination will keep better without adding preservatives? What essential oils will give me the scent I’m looking for? It’s like cooking or baking. You have to practice to say current.
The pottery offers me the opportunity to use the softer side of my brain. But trust me- there’s chemistry involved there too!
To learn more, check out the soap making and pottery finishing classes I offer at the Mable House Cultural Arts Center in Mableton, Georgia. Call for class schedule: 770-819-3285.
My Method
My Old World Soap is made in small batches in my kitchen using the old-fashioned, cold-process method. The soap is made with food-grade vegetable type oils- like olive, sunflower, apricot, avocado, coconut, palm, shea butter, palm kernal, castor and grape seed oils. I do not use any animal product oils. Each oil used is selected and combined to create a soap with unique skin care properties. Essential oils are blended to create lovely bouquets of fragrance that will lightly scent your skin.
The Short A,B,C’s of Soap Making History
Who figured out soap and how to make it? Well, the Romans (Celtics, too) claim to have discovered the method to soap making. The Roman legend says soap was first discovered by women washing clothes along the Tiber River at the bottom of Sapo Hill. The women noticed the clothes became cleaner with far less effort at that particular location. What was happening?
