Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 26, 1993 TAG: 9308260325
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By RANDY WALKER SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Estes ordered the extra copies because the cover of the national magazine features one of her ceramic creations - a 10-inch cowboy named Gus.
Estes, who owns the Ceramic Barn in Salem with her husband, George, has published articles in Popular Ceramics before, but this is the first time she has made the cover.
Estes started with a mold purchased from a commercial mold company. She cast the figure in ceramic clay and fired it in one of her kilns.
She then painted it with acrylic paints, including native flesh, Wedgewood blue, henna, and country apple, using a technique called dry-brushing. "You've got your brush practically dry, and you keep building up the color," she said. "That gives you your depth."
She sent the finished figure and a how-to article to the magazine. "Barbara [Case], who is editor, wrote me a note that said he might be on the cover," Estes said. "And when it came in, he was on the cover."
While Estes was not paid for the article, the publicity is valuable.
"We have sold some greenware [unfinished ceramics] because of this," she said. "I've had, what, four articles in this, and I've had maybe 15 inquiries or questions about my articles."
Much of her business is done through the mail; she sends paints, brushes and other supplies to hobbyists across the state.
Retail sales are only part of her business. Most of her income is derived from wholesale customers such as schools, psychiatric hospitals, craft show artists and small ceramic shops.
One of the larger distributors in Virginia, Estes estimated she has 5,000 to 6,000 molds in stock, ranging in value from $20 to $300 each. She also offers ceramics classes.
Estes never expected her business to become this big. "I figured I'd keep it open until I got all three kids through college. The last one graduated 10 years ago."
Raised in Michigan, Estes attended Mars Hill College in North Carolina, where she met her husband. The couple have three grown children: George Jr., Diane and Susan.
The family has lived in the Roanoke Valley for 33 years, except for a couple of years in Martinsville. It was while they were living in Martinsville that Jerry Estes became interested in ceramics.
"When I was taking the children to the recreation department in Fieldale, for something for me to do while they were busy, I went to the ceramic room. I learned to cast I figured I'd keep it open until I got all three kids through college. The last one graduated 10 years ago. Jerry Estes Owner, Ceramic Barn and the whole nine yards."
In 1971, Estes opened the Ceramic Barn in a former cabinet shop and apple-packing barn on Kesler Mill Road.
The barn is filled with thousands of molds and unfinished ceramic figures. Western figures such as cowboys and Indians are the most popular, followed by fantasy figures such as wizards and dragons.
By the time Friday rolls around, Estes is ready to escape from the world of kilns, clay and paint. Leaving the store in the hands of Teala Poore, her "right arm," she heads down the highway with husband George, a semi-retired insurance adjuster, in their Pace Arrow mobile home. They often attend functions of the Family Motor Coach Association or the Star Valley Good Sams.
When the weekend is over, the couple return to their home, a former nightclub on Old Catawba Road on the wooded slopes of Catawba Mountain.
"We have a big, old rambling house, but we hate to leave that mountain," she said. "The closest house is a half-mile away."
Someone else's creation will occupy the next cover of Popular Ceramics. But Estes will always have a memento of her moment in the limelight. Her daughter, Diane, presented her with a framed copy of the cover.
by CNB