shankin pottery

visit

It is our hope that people from the surrounding area and those traveling through will come visit the studio. Only 15 miles from a major Virginia Highway, Rt. 81,we are nestled in the hills one and a half miles up from a beautiful stretch of the Little River.

As you wind past the rocky ledges, thick with rhododendron, you turn onto Sumner Lane at Wilkerson’s Pond. A mile from the studio, now, you make your way along the edge of the meadow and down through the woods till you see us.

 

Drawn to the area in 1977, my husband Brad, a woodworker, and I built our home and studios in Floyd. We have loved the rural beauty and have found it a wonderful place to live, work, and raise our sons.

 

We built a large gas kiln which is fired about 10 times each year. It takes 13 hours to reach a temperature of 2400 *F and 36 hours to cool. Then it is ready to be opened. Each time, it is an emotional experience…..seeing this new work, with the incredible variations in glaze, the grace of the fire and the inevitable disappointments.

 

The pottery has been in operation in this location since 1982. I make a wide range of functional stoneware pots. From mugs to bowls, pitchers to teapots and……more.

To see the full range of work, please follow the links to “gallery”. To purchase work click on "shop"

To find the studio: scroll down for directions.

 

 

Come visit the studio

directions

Ellen Shankin

297 Sumner Lane NE

Floyd, Va. 24091    (540) 745.3595

Directions from Interstate 81:

  1. Follow interstate 81 to exit 114.

  2. Turn toward Floyd at the end of the ramp.

  3. Now on rt. 8, go 14.5 miles to rt. 705.

  4. Take a left onto 705.

  5. Go approximately 1 mile to a stop sign on a bridge over the river.

  6. Turn right onto Thunderstruck.

  7. Follow the river upstream for 1 mile.

  8. The road then veers away from the river around a hair pin turn (take slowly) and goes about 1 mile more to rt. 702….Sumner Lane (our road)

  9. Turn left.

  10. Go .2 miles to mailboxes.

  11. 702 then becomes our driveway.

  12. Continue 1/2 mile further bearing right where the driveway splits and head down the hill through the woods until you come to the house and studios…big grey building with a red roof.

Directions from the Town of Floyd:

  1. From the stoplight, travel north on VA-8 for 5 miles

  2. Take a right onto rt. 705/Slusher Store Rd. SE

  3. Follow steps 5-12 above