This is submitted to be considered for the Small Business Report:
Earthborn Pottery is a new and unique product that was introduced to the food and hospitality industry in 2003. Handmade and high-fired, Earthborn pottery is organic by nature and by design, providing custom-made products that stand out amidst the ‘round & white’ monopoly of tabletop merchandise. Leeds, Alabama is home to Earthborn Studios, just outside Birmingham, Alabama.
Our first ‘trial by fire’ so to speak, was to design and develop the banquet service ware for The Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. On the heels of that project, Chef Martin commissioned Earthborn to create the tabletop for Sensi, which opened in January of 2005. We continue to supply several MGM properties and many other restaurants and clubs with Earthborn pottery.
Please take a look at the attached images for a better understanding of what Earthborn pottery is all about. The product has been tested in England by Steelite for all the quality and safety concerns that attend tabletop products. The clay is totally vitrified and extremely durable. The abrasive-resistant glazes have depth and dimension and are industrial dishwasher, microwave, and oven safe. In short, the product is beautiful, original, and restaurant sturdy.
For more information, please visit our website at www.earthbornpottery.net., or pick up the phone and give us a call. An article published entitled “Body & Soul” by Ceramic Industry magazine gives the whole story of how this basement-born business has grown to serve a very special niche in an ever-expanding, specialty chef-driven market.
Earthborn Studios, Inc. is a Certified Woman Owned Business. This helps corporations meet their goals of supplier diversity allocations.
Thanks for your time, I look forward to talking with you soon.
Tena Payne
Owner/Designer
Earthborn Studios, Inc.
Tena Payne has been a dedicated and accomplished potter since the 1970’s. She has been actively involved in the leadership of the local clay community and is a charter member of the prominent co-operative fine-art gallery, Artists Incorporated. Tena also serves as the alternate Alabama representative to the American Craft Council. In the late ‘90’s Tena was commissioned to create functional restaurant pottery by Birmingham’s renowned chef, Chris Hastings of Hot & Hot Fish Club. This huge success grew to what is now Earthborn Studios, Inc. which has restaurant and retail installations around the country.
In 2003, Tena jumped out of corporate advertising to incorporate Earthborn Studios and pursue the dream of bringing this elemental expression into the world of hospitality on a much broader basis. Now a small band of artists work together to bring this understated elegance to tabletops everywhere.
An exclusive line of pottery by Earthborn Studios, Inc., was placed into service during May of 08 at Sushi Samba Las Vegas and Sugarcane, Miami in January of 2010. Brock’s at The Renaissance at Ross Bridge began using Earthborn in August of 2009. Springhouse at Lake Martin chose Earthborn as their singular tabletop line early in 2009. Jia, a fusion-type restaurant located at the Beau Rivage Biloxi, MS introduced her work in November of 06. Earlier in January of 2005, the AAA Five Diamond award winning Bellagio Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada placed Earthborn pottery on their banquet line consisting of large buffet-ware for the 50,000 square foot banquet hall which includes platters, bowls and other vessels. The next project, commissioned by Chef Martin Heierling, debuted at the grand opening of Sensi, in the newly constructed Spa Tower at the Bellagio. Earthborn pottery is the perfect tabletop companion for these posh, upscale, organic environments. Tena continues to work with chefs all across the country.
Earthborn Studios, Inc. is a certified member of the WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council). The artists of Earthborn Studios infuse every piece of pottery with creativity, their love of life, and the joy of living in a beautiful world.
Earthborn Studios, Inc. Birmingham, Alabama 205-702-7055