Peterborough Examiner Referrer

A downtown place to Gather

‘I’m born and raised here so I’ve always been a fan of the downtown,’ says owner of new pottery and home decor store

TAYLOR CLYSDALE

Dustin Johnston is a crafter who makes pottery, while his partner Jennifer Moher started painting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the two concepts came together, it became Gather, a new home decor and ceramics shop in downtown Peterborough with an emphasis on natural materials.

“We initially wanted to open a pottery shop for his stuff, but over the pandemic I started making textured art,” Moher said. “So we thought we’d blend the two together and get some home goods and tie it together into a shop.”

There’s a pottery workshop in the back, where Johnston makes all his works in-house.

There is Johnston’s pottery, alongside Moher’s paintings as well as work by her mother Anne Lawless. There’s also bouquets and floral arrangements from a local florist, which can be paired with the pottery too.

“It all really comes back to the idea of gathering at home or at the table,” Moher said. “The idea of gathering with your loved ones.”

Johnston said she was a wedding photographer for 15 years while Moher did tiling. When the wedding industry was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, she started painting and pivoted her business.

Out of work, she began doing art pieces while her partner made the frames and the business grew from there.

“I’m born and raised here so I’ve always been a fan of the downtown, I’ve had photography studios downtown,” Moher said.

Peterborough is a “cool and creative centre for arts and music,” said Johnston, noting it’s a great place to have an artsy business alongside other innovative small business owners.

“I like the idea of walk-by traffic as opposed to going to a box store and parking,” Moher said.

She’s interested in teaming up and collaborating with other local businesses and getting more items locally sourced.

“We’re trying to source Canadianmade stuff too, if we can,” Johnston said.

A grand opening was held Thursday.

Moher said she’s excited to be open for her first holiday season downtown.

And the business will evolve and grow as it continues, the two add.

“Down the road I might offer some workshops for pottery,” Johnston said.

“It’s all so fresh, and we’re still trying to feel out what (the business) actually is,” Moher said.

BUSINESS

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

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