Wild Bower Studio's Commitment to Sustainability: Creating Beautiful Products with a Conscience
Sustainability is not just a buzzword at Wild Bower Studio – it’s a way of life. As a small business, we recognize the importance of minimizing our impact on the environment while creating unique and beautiful home decor products.
Hey there! Did you know that at Wild Bower Studio, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do? We believe that we all have a responsibility to take care of the environment, and we're doing our part to make a difference.
More and more we’ve been using recycled and repurposed materials in our products. For example, we're currently developing lamps that will use handmade paper shades created from our paper waste. We’re also using broken pottery to create mosaic pieces. Not only are we reducing waste, but we're also giving new life to materials that would otherwise end up in the trash.
We're always on the lookout for ways to minimize our carbon footprint. We've switched to eco-friendly packaging and are brainstorming ways to reduce our plastic usage. Plus, we've implemented energy-saving practices in our studio to help reduce our energy consumption like solar energy and only using rain water. Did you know that on average we use between 5 - 10 gallons of water each month? For a medium that is notoriously known for it’s water usage we are proof that there are ways to reduce the amount of water used.
We know that sustainability is an ongoing process, and we're committed to continually improving our practices. We firmly believe that being sustainable is not only the right thing to do but also a smart choice for our future. By focusing on sustainable practices, we're not only reducing our impact on the environment, but we're also creating unique and meaningful products that resonate with our customers.
At Wild Bower Studio, we think that all businesses should make sustainability a priority. By integrating sustainable practices, companies can reduce their impact on the environment and even improve their bottom line. We're proud to be a part of the movement towards a more sustainable future, and we hope to inspire others to join us on this journey. Oh, and we promise to keep things light-hearted and fun along the way!
Mosaics in Progress
Artist, Nicole Helen Brunner is exploring new projects and sharing the journey here. Check out this post to see what she’s thinking about.
Why do I share unfinished in progress work here? Well, lately I’ve started to think of this journal as a place for notes. I’m not good at keeping a physical journal. I mean, I have many notebooks but none are like “The one” that I carry around and doodle in etc. Which I guess could be strange since I have a painting and drawing degree.
Anyway, I’m a maker not a writer though as you may already know, owning a small business requires you to wear all the hats even if they don’t quite fit. So I decided that part of this process is documenting it here in this journal. It’s an experiment in writing and staying on top of my many projects.
When I was in college I was introduced to the art movement called : Land Art. Though short the movement ran from the late 70s into the early 80s. It was dominated by east coast artists pushing out of the white cube gallery space into the land around them. You can see land art all across the United States and with the biggest pieces located in the western US. I’ve seen a few in person like the Spiral Jetty created by Robert Smithson, the father of Land Art. And have been a frequent visitor of Storm King Art Center and Dia Beacon which are both located in upstate NY house lots of Land Art pieces.
I had long hoped the join some part of the Land Art movement though I had not exactly decided what my work would or could be until perhaps now. But, like I mentioned I am simply experimenting and bringing you along for the ride. I imagine that this project will take on many forms as we work through the materials and meanings.
So there are a few levels to this project. Besides loving Land Art, I have also loved Urban Exploring. I grew up in Bergen County, NJ not far from many abandoned buildings in Newark, Yonkers, Thiells etc. Perhaps my love of urban exploring is a bit romantic. Most of the time I have a limited knowledge of what the buildings were used for so I get to really play with the life I imagine was lived in them. At the core of it I love the way nature reclaims the spaces for herself and I love being able to experience it. I had visited many of the same buildings over and over again so I was able to witness how they changed and decayed. The colors, the smells, the silence, the isolation, the history, the plants, the fear - I could go on and on about why Urban Exploring won my heart so many years ago.
Fifteenish years ago my friend, Michael W Sullivan, a photographer (check out his train photos - they are amazing!) and I, the “model” would set off to explore these buildings together. Yes, I was “modeling” in abandoned buildings. I don’t think I really wanted to model but I for sure wanted to be in those buildings. Sully and I were each others looks outs, safety nets and body guards. Our experiences were incredible. Feel free to check out younger Nicole in Sully’s photos - Yonkers 2008, Yonkers 2009, Yonkers Halloween 2009, Newark 2009, Yonkers 2010, Newark 2012, Winter 2013, Halloween 2014. So wild to go down this memory lane. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share these but dang, I’m proud of these experiences and the fearlessness that I possessed - I climbed chimneys, train bridges, broken ladders, hung out of windows, submerged myself in coal dust (bad idea) etc. I always loved stumbling upon items left out in the fields or woods. Which brings us back to the project at hand…
Anyway, Our studio in an effort to reduce our carbon footprint has been set up to run on Solar Energy, we gather rain water and utilize discarded packing materials collected from our small town. With that idea I’ve been collecting both our old pottery along with old tiles, glass and other folks broken pottery. It has sat in the studio for years until now.
Pottery before being fired can be broken down and reclaimed for reuse but once the pieces are fired in the kiln they are no longer able to be recycled. It’s kind of annoying and a waste so I’ve collected what I can of fired pottery to create something else - mosaics. But not just any mosaics - large scale mosaics that will hopefully be placed in the woods. Right now I am testing materials. What will provide the piece with the strength to survive the elements and still have the overall visual appearance that I want.
The image below is the very first test…
Nicole's Pottery Tools & Equipment
Learn about the tools & equipment that we use in our small batch pottery studio in the catskills mountains
I get asked pretty often what equipment and tools I use in the studio so I thought it would be helpful to make a journal entry with all that information. I’ll continue to edit and add items along the way. Please don’t hesitate to ask me questions about this list.
Equipment:
Skutt KM 1227 Kiln - I bought this used. Check out my PURCHASING A USED KILN - WHAT TO ASK AND LOOK FOR
Wheel Throwing Tools:
Handbuilding Tools:
Filming Tools:
Fresh Peach Tart
Simple Fresh Peach Tart served on a Wild Bower Speckled Ceramic Platter
Peach Tart served on a Wild Bower Studio Handmade Speckled Ceramic Oval Serving Platter
What an insane summer! Typically our April is super rainy but the summer has really soaked us. So our normal exploration on the weekends have been washed out quite regularly, which means that we haven’t been “picking our own" in quite a while! Well, ask/wish and you shall receive. We happened to be at the right place at the right time to receive a beautiful bag full of freshly picked peaches just waiting to be transformed into something sweet and delicious though I could have probably eaten each peach on their own.
We did a poll on our Instagram page to see what folks thought we should make. One of the big winners was the peach tart. Simple and sunny we found our Peach Tart recipe from Food52. I didn’t follow their crust recipe because I had plans to make pies and quiches so I just made extra pie crust but I did follow the rest.
Peach Tart served on a Wild Bower Studio Handmade Speckled Ceramic Oval Serving Platter
Peach Tart served on a Wild Bower Studio Handmade Speckled Ceramic Oval Serving Platter surrounded by Sun Ray appetizer plates and textured side bowls
The Best Zucchini Bread
Recently, as I start the pile of veggies, I’ve found myself getting to a point where I say “What am I going to do with all this?” Today that question was focused on our Zucchini haul.
Zucchini Bread served on Wild Bower Studio Sun Ray Serving Platter
When you start a garden there are so many moments where you wonder what will happen and if the garden will be a success. Will we get even one tomato or one squash? Well, we’ve officially surpassed our expectations. Every few weeks a new veggie starts to ripen and thus a new question starts to unfurl…
Recently, as I start the pile of veggies, I’ve found myself getting to a point where I say “What am I going to do with all this?” Today that question was focused on our Zucchini haul. The green gourds sometimes get lost behind the big leaves so we’ve had a few unexpected “monsters”. Some have grown larger than my forearm!
I tried to go through all of the recipes that I’ve made in the past to figure out my plan of attack. So today we made Zucchini bread, which should honestly be outlawed - it’s so dang good and more like cake than bread.
Zucchini Bread served on Wild Bower Studio textured ceramic dinnerware & Sun Ray platter.
I’m a simple potter and while with cooking I can confidently ad lib, baking on the other hand I tend to find sticking to the recipes (to start) helpful for success. After a quick search I discovered Mom’s Zucchini Bread recipe. Best part it has over 9K 5 stars reviews so you know it’ll be good.
We made this recipe twice, the first following exactly and the second adding some nutmeg, ginger and allspice to the mix. Both were delicious and for sure a treat you’ll want to share with your friends and family.