My Mom taught me how to wrap presents at a very young age.
She always preferred to put the gift in a box so that it was easier to cover, her corners were sharp and her use of Cellotape, precise. I’ve followed in her footsteps and was proud of my wrapping skills…until I met the Maestro, Pauline Cody at the Nicholas Mosse Café and Country store.
When I first meet Pauline, (above) she is busily wrapping a hamper that is bulging with pottery anniversary gifts for a customer. The gifts are arranged beautifully in a wicker basket, cellophane flies through the air only to be caught and smoothed into submission, wrapping paper follows suit, and I can’t see any Cello-tape - but surely she’s using it?
It’s like watching an origami master!
I ask Pauline, “What is the weirdest thing you have ever wrapped”. She smiles and replies, “Last week I was asked to wrap a big toy elephant and ceramic coffee mug together as a mothers day gift for a customer, that was a bit of challenge!”
Having worked at Nicolas Mosse for over 10 years, Pauline takes that kind of challenge in her stride.
She wraps collectible cookie jars and lidded sugar bowls as pottery anniversary gifts for men. Lamps (with shades) and handmade pottery vases as Mothers Day gifts, and every possible mix of pottery cereal bowls, mugs, plates and dishes, as gifts for other occasions. No request is either too big or too small!
Pauline clearly loves her job and tells me that she finds the environment both magical and inspiring. She loves the café and shops rural location on the banks of the River Nore she loves the people she works with and the customers she greets every day. But most of all she loves the colour that surrounds her!
Above, an example of Pauline's skillful wrapping - see more in Gift Sets.
“Other pottery is quite bland, but not Mosse Pottery. It’s vibrant and bursting with personality. My favourite pattern at the moment is the Fuchsia range, but I tend to collect a handmade ceramic cup, plate, bowl and serving plate in every pattern because it mixes together so beautifully.”
“My family uses our pottery every day, and I’ve found that on different days you take out a different piece because of its colour. A vibrant red serving bowl on a cold day warms the spirits, likewise a cool blue, forget-me-knot plate is just perfect on a summer day. For me, Nicholas Mosse Pottery is like ‘art in your kitchen, and it brings me joy every day”.
“Art in your kitchen that brings joy every day.”
What a lovely sentiment.
- Written by Leeann Matthews