HalfMoonPottery.com    Pottery by Dana & Greg Ammer
HOME Pottery Misc .pdf Photos Contact	Welcome! Look for us at the Carolina British Classics Oct. 2. Look for us at the Craftsman Classics Nov. 12-14. Check the Contact page for more information.   Look for our entries in the SC State Fair Fine Arts Exibition Oct. 13-24.   Welcome to our site.  We hope you find something that you like.  We have made hundreds of face jugs, each unique and we have sold them as far away asCalifornia, Canada, and South America.  We continue to participate in shows and events.  People constantly tell us how colorful and interesting our jugs are.  Most are thrown jugs, but some are handbuilt.  Please check our site for some jugs that have been customized into lamps “Fright Lights.”  (don’t worry - no pottery jug has been harmed during this process.) Dana’s favorite is the face jugs, but Greg loves to make pottery fish (for which he has won awards) and puzzle bowls. We credit our wonderful luck with our pottery to Peter Lenzo, teacher and friend, Dana’s mother, who for an entire lifetime, encouraged her to use her creativity.  Also, thanks to many wonderful friends for their encouragement and ideas, and all of our many wonderful customers who make it possible for us to continue working with clay and ‘playing in the dirt.’ Since February of 2010, we have some of our creations in Belladonna’s on Pendleton Street in Columbia, SC.  Also, please check to see our other locations (Frame Shop, Columbia, SC; Bringing You Baskets, Lexington, SC; The Frame Shop, Columbia, SC; and P.J.’s Gifts, Dublin, GA.) We will be doing this well into our retirement, so look for new stuff on a regular basis.                          Dana - "I started taking pottery classes in 2004 at Southern Pottery (owned by Peter Lenzo) on Rosewood Drive in Columbia, SC.  It wasn't something that I thought about doing, but it all came about because of a flyer that my brother brought over to the house.  To make a long story short, I took classes under Peter for a couple of years (!!!) and actually got my very talented husband interested in it.  Greg was a 'natural' on the potter's wheel (as I knew he would be), so I 'let' him start 'throwing' the jugs on the wheel, and I just made the faces.  We have even turned about a dozen of the  face jugs into 'Fright Lights.'  They make awesome lamps.  Making face jugs is my true love (besides Greg) but we have evolved into making puzzle bowls. We have 'borne' about 300 face jugs, and we hope to continue making them even better.  Many of the jugs have won ribbons in the SC State Fair throughout the years and even two were juried into the SC State Fair Fine Arts Section (2007).  The jugs range in size from 1" (mini jugs) to 15" tall and have been sold to people in many states all the way to California, Canada and even South America.  We have a pottery studio set up in our home with our own wheel and kiln.  We are constantly learning together and trying new things.  We have been blessed to have so many friends to make purchases and spread the word about our pottery."             A Face Jug History Face jugs are sometimes called "ugly jugs."  Face jugs were first made in the early 1800's by slave potters and others in the Edgefield district of South Carolina.  They had bits of porcelain or white rocks for eyes and teeth.  Moonshine was traditionally stored in face jugs to differentiate them from other jugs. Children were told the "boogie man would get them" if they touched the jug.  Kaolin clay was combined with the dark stoneware clays on the jugs to make features that mimic human eyeballs and teeth. The southernUnited States has been the world's most prolific region for face vessels. Famous potters - Craig, Meaders and Brown, now deceased, could hardly get 25 cents for their jugs, but now one of their jugs are selling at four and five digit prices.                                                               Hit Counters
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