Meet Kay Wiemer Gerke

Kay has been creating pottery and baking gourmet bread in Western Colorado for more than 40 years.

Bent Mountain Pottery

In 1974, Kay began her career as a potter while studying Fine Art at Brigham Young University. Working with clay and finding unique ways to combine form and function were an immediate love that she has pursued since. In the mid-1980’s, she started a her own gourmet bread business in Montrose, Colorado, using the skills she cultivated in forming pots to create beautiful loaves of bread. Over more than 23 years, she became regionally renowned for her original recipes and techniques in baking. Now, Kay has decided to combine her vast knowledge of both working with clay and baking to create Bent Mountain Pottery.

This was a “light bread day” for Kay’s little cottage bread business. She made 165 loaves, bagged them, labeled them, and delivered them within 24 hours. She did this bi-weekly for 23 years and put her kids through undergrad schooling, with no loans… — This was a “light bread day” for Kay’s little cottage bread business. She made 165 loaves, bagged them, labeled them, and delivered them within 24 hours. She did this bi-weekly for 23 years and put her kids through undergrad schooling, with no loans, with her bread business and the kids working hard and saving their money.