888.822.1982

open Monday – Saturday 10-3:30

Closed Saturday, December 23-26th

We will re-open on Wednesday, December 27

Our Services

One of the things that sets Bracker’s apart from other suppliers is our expansive service offerings.  We provide equipment diagnostic services, including kiln & wheel repair (or any ceramics equipment), custom firings, glaze mixing, technical consultations, clay and glaze troubleshooting, district or one-on-one training/in-service, professional development lectures and workshops, & custom services.

Our most in-demand…

Repair Services

Dave is HIGHLY in demand, both for his local kiln diagnostics and repair service, but recently, Dave has been sought after nationwide to provide remote support via video chat and email exchanges.  The best way to get on Dave’s schedule is to fill out his repair service request form, which includes several bits of information that Dave will need to diagnose your problem.  If you are within about 60 miles of Brackers and you know you want Dave to come to you, you can request an onsite diagnostic here.  If you live further away and know you want a remote session, click here.  If you don’t know what you need, start here

Currently we offer bisque firings (usually to cone 04, but we also go to 01), and we do low fire and mid-fire glaze firings as well.  We are looking into low-temperature metallics, lustres & decal firings at 018.  Please do let us know if you are interested in that.  Pricing is based on the weight of your pieces to keep things simple.  $15.00 minimum fee charged up front on our online store, fill out the form, order the service and then bring in your pieces for the final total.

 See all the pricing details here

We now offer Glaze Mixing Services here at Bracker’s! Provide us with a recipe (in grams) and we can dry blend it for you. Each dry blend glaze recipe will be returned in one clear plastic bag with the glaze name and date mixed written on it. For more information, click here

Before that recent unpleasantness known as “the pandemic” we enjoyed hosting workshops a couple of times a year.  We are now looking into new and exciting workshop formats and opportunties.  Stay tuned! 

Even before Covid-19 shut down many clay centers, we were often asked to provide unique and individual services to meet a variety of needs ranging from one on one throwing lessons to valuation services for estate sales or legal proceedings, to in depth analyses of glaze or clay body formulas or what raw material will best represent “wild old west” dust on a film set (no kidding).  

We have always provided a vast array of free information and advice and we will definitely continue to do so.  From maintaining a website full of resources you can read/watch/download/click on to providing answers in store or over the phone, we are still committed to excellent customer service and in most cases, a 5 minute explanation is all someone needs to solve their problem.  

We have realized though, especially with the amount of home-studio work now happening, that some people want or need more in-depth and personalized answers, examples, demonstrations, or solutions.  So here we are…

In order to continue to provide excellent service to all of our customers, we are asking that these more in-depth Q&A sessions be scheduled in advance, whether here in our store, via an electronic/remote (zoom, facetime, etc) connection.   During your session, we will be completely focused on you and your needs.

For larger districts with multiple buildings and lots of equipment to track and maintain, Dave offers full-district service and support.  This usually starts with a district-wide diagnostic of all equipment in all buildings (or just those specified by the district itself to be designated for this service).   All equipment is entered into our tracking system with complete information on location, building electrical service, equipment serial numbers.  Current working (or not working) state is included and all future repairs are tracked here as well.  One or more district personnel will be invited to view and interact with this tracking system.  If you are interested in working with Dave to maintain your ceramics equipment in your district, please let us know

One of the things that sets Bracker’s apart from our competition is our dedication to teaching.  Prior to founding Bracker’s Good Earth Clay, Bill Bracker was a University Ceramics Professor and Anne W. Bracker had also completed a degree in education.  With their background in education, the two of them set the standard for all the staff that has followed.  We don’t want to just sell someone “a thing,” we want to make sure you understand how to use it, and we’re more interested in building a relationship with our customers.  (In fact, when Cindy Bracker married David Sturm, about half of the people in attendance were Bracker’s “customers” who had become close friends)

Our devotion to teaching also translates to “teaching teachers.”  For that, we offer a wide variety of in-services and professional development sessions, and even workshops directly with you and your students. If you teach in a large district and want to discuss professional development opportunities, let us know.  We are also working on hosting some online PD sessions for teachers in smaller and more remote areas who want to augment their previous education and experience with teaching ceramics!

Our most popular…

Raku Workshops

We have a lot of options for inservices and custom workshops, but there are none more popular than our Raku events.  We’ve customized our popular raku firing event for a wide variety of audiences, from demonstrations, to participation, to education, at our place or yours!  Before the pandemic, Bracker’s hosted 2 firings a year (spring and fall) and look forward to the return of this great event.  Click here to learn more about Personalized Raku Workshops

Our Newest…

Online teacher support

Are you new to teaching clay and need some help?  Do you live too far to come over?  is it too long to wait until the state art education conference happens?  Do you have questions now?  We are building a series of new posts designed especially for new ceramics teachers.  Our first post will be dropping on August 21st!  Watch for it right here!  

Our most popular…

Raku Workshops

We have a lot of options for inservices and custom workshops, but there are none more popular than our Raku events.  We’ve customized our popular raku firing event for a wide variety of audiences, from demonstrations, to participation, to education, at our place or yours!  Before the pandemic, Bracker’s hosted 2 firings a year (spring and fall) and look forward to the return of this great event.  Click here to learn more about Personalized Raku Workshops

Our Staff

We have an AMAZING group of people here.  Each and every person here is smart and hard-working, but what is most beautiful is how everyone out here fits together.  WE ALL LIKE EACH OTHER! We have an absolute dream team right now.  If pottery supply was an olympic event, this group would be gettin’ the gold.  (And having a blast while doing it)  Let me tell you a little about who’s behind the scenes taking care of your orders and needs:

 

Jeanette

 Working here since July 2007

Primary Roles – Customer Service manager

Fun Fact – Her nickname around here is Babs.  Most people don’t know why at this point and just accept it, but it actually goes back a long way to Jeanette’s early years here and the last “dream team crew” we had…if you dig deep enough in this website, you might find the backstory….

Probably everyone who has been a customer for more than a couple of minutes already knows Jeanette and knows that “customer service manager” is just one tiny corner of all the things Jeanette knows and does. She started here shortly after she received her BFA in ceramics from Northwest Missouri State University.  She started out in shipping & receiving, then started helping customers, from time to time she works in the warehouse.  She also mixes clay, fires the kiln, and does a good bit of managing the staff.  Basically, Jeanette does it all!  

Julie

Working here since June 2018

Primary Roles – Deliveries & Warehouse order fulfillment

Fun Fact – Julie likes Manga and computer games.  She had a much longer quote that MAY have been in a somewhat foreign language and may also have been a complete practical joke.  Either way, i can’t remember it to type it in here.

Julie is one of our few pre-pandemic people here.  Throughout that challenging time, we all had a lot of things thrown at us.  So many changes in short time, and Julie adapted to all of them, all while keeping her wry and dry sense of humor intact.  In addition to driving the BIG TRUCK and moving around literal tons of clay with the manual jack like it was packing peanuts, Julie has also trained most of our current warehouse staff in how to drive the forklift, build and order, follow procedures and in general, do good work.

Eric

 

Working here since October 2021

Primary Roles – UPS/FedEx Shipping & Receiving

Fun Fact – Eric has, at different times of his life, gone by two different names, so half of the world (well, at least the town), knows him as Jack and the other half as Eric.  We mostly call him Eric, except when we are counting employees who’s names start with J.  then we call him Jack.

We really lucked into finding Eric. Sometime mid-pandemic I was at the bank getting my signature notarized or something and talking to my banker about how understaffed we were and that I couldn’t find anyone. Enter Eric. He had retired from his time working as terminal manger at the UPS Lawrence service center. It just doesn’t get any more perfect than that!

Kylynn

 

Working here since September 2022

Primary Roles – Clay mixer for Kansas Clay

Fun Fact -My dad and i were both born on the same day of the year, and we are exactly 30 years apart!  

Kylynn is a graduate of Free State High School, right here in Lawrence!  She started as a part time clay catcher for our sister company, Kansas Clay, but we quickly learned how amazing she is and pulled her in full time.  She is very serious about clay quality, and we have her train ALL of the new people who work back there even occasionally.  Clay is an interesting beast and the weather can be a huge factor.  One particularly humid day, the clay was just not behaving itself and Kylynn came up front and told me “If buff was a person, we’d be FIGHTING today”. (and i’d put my money on Kylynn to win!)

Rachel

Working here since January 2023

Primary Roles – Resident Artist & Customer service

Fun Fact – “I like clowns- the happy ones, not the scary ones… OH but I CAN watch the movie IT and laugh now, because i’ve already had all my nightmares about it” 

Rachel is a recent graduate of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX.  She moved away from her entire family and group of friends to settle here in Lawrence KS and be our first artist in residence.  In addition to her residency hours, she works here as a full fledged employee, and although you will usually find her up front helping customers pick out glazes, she also knows how to build a pallet, mix clay, and her FAVORITE thing, make casting slip.    As a bonus to us, she keeps us all on our toes as the commander of chaos and crazy fun.

Joseph

Working here since January 2023

Primary Roles – Warehouse order fulfillment, part time student

Fun Fact – Joe wants to know….”Is your bar of soap always clean?  because what if you use it to clean something that’s dirty?  Then is it still clean?  Where does the dirty go?”

Joe is always keeping spirits up around here by posing questions like that or pulling ridiculous pranks.  He has definitely gotten EVERYONE out here at least once with his antics.  So we asked him:  “Do you prefer Trickster or Joker?  His response was Joker…but with an e: the Joe-ker.  Yep, that fits.  Welcome to your new Nick-name Joe!

Alexis

 

Working here since May 2023

Primary Roles – Customer Service, Repair Service Coordinator

Fun Fact – I love paddle boarding, reading, and geocaching.  I’m also a writer and anticipate publishing my first book next summer.  I’m also a complete docu-junkie

Alexis is finishing her degree in Organizational Management and Marketing.  She is INCREDIBLY organized and detail-oriented.  To “reward” her skills, she was recently put in charge of Dave’s repair schedule and followup.  Best of luck, Alexis!  (you are going to need it!). Alexis will also be taking over Bracker’s marketing and using our company as her capstone project for her degree.  We are so fortunate to have her expertise and her detailed efforts!

Jake

Working here since May 2023

Primary Roles – Warehouse order fulfillment and part time student

Fun Fact – I like tabletop (board) games andI have a lot of those, but also i can solve a rubiks cube in 30 seconds.  I have a box full of Rubik’s cubes….I have a 4×4, a rubik’s snake, a dodecahedron – that one i can’t solve in 30 seconds, it would take me longer, but the standard 3 x 3, yeah.  30 seconds, that was my main hobby in high school.

In addition to working for us, Jake is working on his degree in computer science.  He’s very smart and he’s also very funny.  When asking him for his fun fact, or if he had a funny nickname (that he wanted to share) he told the story of how, for several years, his girlfriend’s dad thought his last name was Spaghetti (it’s sanguinetti), he embraced it and now we, too, call him Jake spaghetti.

Savannah

Working here since June 2023

Primary Roles – Customer Service

Fun Fact -I have lived in 6 states.

When we saw Sav’s application and resume come in, we were instantly interested.  When she walked in the door and said “don’t let my frame fool you, i’m a power lifter,” it pretty much sealed her fate.  Not just because she’s physically strong (obviously a plus out here becuase EVERYTHING is heavy), but she is incredibly confident.  Sav recently earned her degree in Psychology with a minor in Ceramics from Baker University.  Sav is often the first to jump in and try to answer a question, solve a problem, or propose a new improvement into our methods/madness, often with a flowchart.  She can even keep Dave in line! 

Jason

Working here since July 2023

Primary Roles – Deliveries & Warehouse order fulfillment

Fun Fact – “My head is filled with fun, useless trivia. “

Jason applied for a position here after retiring from a long career in teaching.  He holds a masters and we felt that he was WAY overqualified, but fortunately, he agreed to come join our team anyway.  We are so excited to see what his enthusiams, experience and energy will bring to our team!

Dave

Working here since July 1995

Primary Roles – Repair Tech & Manufacturing Manager

Fun Fact – Well, it’s not always FUN, but Dave is married to Cindy…?  hahah just kidding.  Cindy is LOTS of fun to be married to….always!

Rocketed to earth as a small child and found under a feldspathic rock, Dave is known to some as Captain Feldspar.  To most people he’s

“The Kiln Guy” or “Kilndoc” or maybe “That guy with the long hair that fixes stuff” or sometimes Dave Bracker (be warned, he rarely answers to that one). Dave has been fixing kilns and other ceramics equipment for more than 25 years now.  And for the last few years, you can add industrial clay mixing equipment to the list.   Dave is the president of our sister company, Kansas Clay, and with that great power comes the great responsibility of keeping everything working. That’s a tall order!

Cindy

Working here since birth, give or take

Primary Roles – keeping everyone on their toes by jumping out from around corners to see who frightens the most easily, (hint, it’s the one who’s always CLOWNING around)

Fun Fact – For fun, Cindy likes to ride her bike and grow things in her garden, so between that and clay things, she’s pretty much always dirty, sweaty or both.  She almost never looks like this picture.  that was a rare clean moment.  

At around 12 Cindy was putting together promotional packets of catalogs for teachers, washing out slip buckets (ew) and assembling North Star Slabrollers.  During high school, there was summer and saturday work of filling orders and counting inventory, which paid out some nice cash for a high school kid to spend.  While in college and seeking a degree in music (with zero plans to go into the family business), slowly Cindy fell in love with the world of clay.   In the years that followed, Cindy learned nearly all aspects of the business and in 2017 became our President.

Community Involvement

We believe in the importance of being an active and giving participant in our communities, both our physical area of residence and the greater ceramic ecosystem.  We both volunteer our time and donate resources to a variety of organizations, events & projects.

Bill Bracker Wheel Donation Contest

William

Good Earth Grant

Across the country there are schools that are having to make difficult decisions about budget and curriculum.  Unfortunately, clay can often be one of the first things on the chopping block.”  So we are establishing

NICE at NCC

Northern Clay Center’s MN NICE program strives to support emerging artists both artistically and professionally.  Bracker’s is proud to sponsor an artist from our region to go take part in one of thes unique 8 week opportunities

Anne's Teapot Collection

We have many of Anne’s teapots on display here in our store, but if you live too far to see them in person, you can click below to see them online! 

Our Products

We are also very proud to offer a wide variety of ceramics supplies from trusted brands.  We work very hard to maintain a high level of inventory to make sure that we have what you need when you need it.

clay

We’re all united by our common bond of clay.  Though some of us love low fire while others meander toward midfire,  and also all of those atmospheres…wood, salt, soda, even raku, and of course all the die hard Cone 10 Reduction folks out there, WE ALL NEED CLAY.  We are proud to offer a huge selection of clays from a variety of brands.  We are fortunate to share a warehouse with  Kansas Clays, manufacturer of Flint Hills formulas as well as many new and exciting recipes. We also keep quite a few Aardvark, Laguna and Standard clays in stock.

Kilns

We sell ConeArt, Skutt, Paragon & L&L Kilns & vents.  We keep several common kilns in stock.

Firing Supplies

Shelves & Posts, Stilts, Cones, and safety equipment, we have the stuff you need to keep you fired up!

Handbuilding supplies

Plaster molds, wood forms, texture rollers, paddles and more.   The wheel is just a tool for making round things.  What else can you do with other cool tools and your hands?

tools everyone needs

We love tools….old ones, new ones, shiny ones, dirty ones.   Kemper tools were the first brand we started to stock, and originally “displayed’ them all in metal coffee cans which were contained in big styrofoam boxes.  Since those early days, we’ve added Dolan & Dirty Girls, Giffin & Groovy, MKM & Mudtools, Fluters & Falcon Tools, AMACO & Trim Gin, Chinese Clayart & Xiem, and a host of other miscellaneous finds.  We add more all the time, so you never know what new tool you might find in our store….in person or online!

Wheels & Accessories

We sell Brent, Pacifica, Shimpo & Skutt wheels.  Many of these wheels also have awesome accessories like leg extensions, work tables, and of course stools!

Bats and throwing supplies

We sell Brent, Pacifica, Shimpo & Skutt wheels.  Many of these wheels also have awesome accessories like leg extensions, work tables, and of course stools!

Tinman

Because we’re in Kansas, and this is where Dorothy & Toto Shop, of course!  (Sorry, Tinman is not for sale)

Glazes & Underglazes

We carry AMACO, Coyote, Mayco, Spectrum, Laguna, Opulence, & Coleman Glazes

Underglaze Transfers

We carry AMACO, Coyote, Mayco, Spectrum, Laguna, Opulence, & Coleman Glazes

bulk materials, chemicals & colorants

We get raw clay in from mines located across the country.  We have Kaolin from Georgia & Florida (and ENGLAND! and NEW ZEALAND!), Ball Clay from Kentucky & Tennessee, Feldspar from South Dakota, Fireclay from Missouri, Talc from Texas, Silica from Illinois, Shale clays from Ohio, Kyanite from Virginia, plus we have a complete array of raw chemicals and colorants from Alumina to Zirconium.

Extruders & Slabrollers

Northstar Extruders and extruder dies are the best way to augment your artwork and your studio without a huge space requirement.  North Star & Shimpo Slabrollers are great because they can also double as work table and allow you to create amazing slab creations.  Even a wheel thrower can appreciate an extruded handle or spout, or a funky slab addition or accent!

Come Visit!

Our 25,000 sq ft warehouse with over 5,000 sq ft of retail showroom space is situated just off of I-70 (East Lawrence Exit #204) making us a convenient jaunt from Kansas City, Topeka or even further away.  We have people who come down from Des Moines, Omaha & Lincoln and as far as Fayetteville, Tulsa, & Oklahoma City.  Lawrence is a lovely place to visit and spend some time.  Be sure to ask us about recommendations about where to stay or where to play!

– OR-

Let us come to you!

 

Our 10,000# truck travels to Kansas City, Topeka, Lincoln, Omaha, Columbia and occasionally Des Moines or Joplin.  For customers who don’t need a ton (literally) of clay, we work with the locations who are getting a ton or more to allow pick-ups of smaller orders of anything to some glazes and a box or two of clay up to a dozen or so boxes or larger material orders.  (Once the delivery route and stops are determined, we will provide you with pickup location options based on what’s closest to you.)  We try hard to keep delivery costs down for everyone as much as possible and also be environmentally conscious with the carbon footprint of that big truck.  We’ve set up our online store to calculate delivery costs as well as the delivery stop pick up cost, but if something doesn’t seem right, please let us know!    

Bracker's Good Earth Clays

 Live to far away to shop in the store?  You can call us to place an order, toll-free 888-822-1982.  You can also shop online at our ecommerce site, shop.brackers.com.  We have excellent shipping discounts with FedEx Freight and can ship large orders to your door.

Our Latest news

Every so often, we have an event or announcement to share, outside of our monthly newsletter.  Here’s the most recent post, or you can click here to visit our archive of past posts

Gift Certificate Matching for schools

Do you know an art teacher with a limited budget who buys extra materials with their own money to ensure students get a great experience with art?  I think we all do, they are everywhere.  Last year, we started the Good Earth Grant to give teachers an opportunity to ask for things they desperately need in order to maintain their program.   But wouldn't it...

The Good Earth Grant: Round 3

It started with the wheel. Our William Bracker Wheel Donation, that is.  But last year, Dave asked me "does it have to be a wheel?  There are a lot of schools that have needs that aren't a pottery wheel.."  I couldn't break with tradition and not donate Bill's beloved Brent wheel, but his words stuck with me, because he's absolutely right.  Across the...

Think outside the box project

Last weekend was the Autumnal equinox. Days are getting shorter, nights are getting longer...Halloween looms closer and around here, we're ready to bring on the dark! Dark clays, that is! We put together a great project pack for you featuring our DARK clays, some LIGHT underglaze transfers, the new GR Wallie forms and this challenge - WHAT CAN YOU MAKE...

New to Teaching Clay

*Ring Ring....Ring Ring* "Thank you for calling Bracker's Good Earth Clays, this is Cindy, how can I help you?"            "Oh hi Cindy, I'm a teacher in [small town in the middle of America] and I'm new to teaching Ceramics. I don't know where to start.  Can you help me?" Does this sound like you?  Then you are in the right place. This post will jump...

Good Earth Grant – round 2, Local focus

Last year was our inaugural year for our Good Earth Grant....and when we announced it, I remember that i wrote "Across the country there are schools that are having to make difficult decisions about budget and curriculum.  Unfortunately, clay can often be one of the first things on the chopping block."  So we are establishing The Good Earth Grant We gave...