Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re no strangers to plants. Whether you’re a loving plant parent or should never be allowed near a growing sapling, you’re sure to have seen the plethora of beautiful flora growing in our region.
Morgan Jones knew these plants well too, growing up around them in the San Juan Islands. Upon visiting Tucson, Arizona her love of desert plants started to grow. Upon returning to Washington in 2018, she came back with several desert plants, an ignited interest in pottery, and an idea for a business.
Dry Dock Goods originally opened out of a small storefront in Anacortes, functioning as a space where Jones could work her remote position and showcase her collection of plants. The small selection of plants soon grew to include more than 50 species of desert plants, her own ceramics, and goods made in both Tucson and the Pacific Northwest.
While the storefront eventually closed in 2020, Jones continues to operate the business out of her home’s greenhouse in Burlington where she converted her basement space into a pottery studio.
“The business has completely morphed into me selling my own products almost exclusively,” Jones says. “I was not expecting Dry Dock Goods to go into that direction where it’s now a pottery business, dabbling with some plants, but it’s pottery first and foremost.”
Since opening, Jones’ pottery selection has grown with products ranging from mugs and tumblers to planters and scoops. While her favorite items are those made in a soda kiln, the most popular items are the ones that feature barnacles.
“I cannot hold onto barnacle mugs, they’re just gone,” Jones says. “I’ve gone down to local shipyards and taken impressions of barnacles, and then I hand-carve them and people love them.”
It’s not just the barnacle mugs, all of Jones’ work is handmade and hand-carved, including the textures, designs, and glazes. Individual pieces can take anywhere from four to six weeks to complete as the process is quite intensive.
First Jones comes up with a design, then she makes a template, fires it in a kiln, decorates and glazes it, fires it again, and finally sands it. The most important and painstaking part is the drying process as moisture level is essential for items to have longevity.
Jones runs Dry Dock Goods alone, with the help and support of her mom. While she says running things solo has definitely meant limiting her growth, having Dry Dock be a smaller business has allowed her to branch out while giving the business the focus it needs during busier months.
That being said, Jones says future plans may include acquiring a wood-fire kiln and the migration of Dry Dock Goods to be fully “off-grid.” You can find Jones’ work online via the Dry Dock Good website and at select local markets like the Skagit Valley Master Gardeners Plant Fair. Burlington, shopdrydock.com
