The Pot Shop

09/05/2026

Facing the Jury
This week I had the honor of being on a jury panel for an art gallery show. I had never sat on this side of the table so it has been interesting and informative to see things from the other side.
Juried art shows are one of the ways we artists get our work out into the public. We look at show listings, ‘call for artists’, which are probably similar to acting audition listings, and decide which ones feel like a good fit for what we do.
After we narrow down the choices to what fits our work, we then decide if we have a particular piece or two that are an especially good fit for the theme of the show. Then we have a look at the juror. Is it someone whose work we know? If so, would they like ours? If we don’t know their work, we look at their bio and think, would this person choose my work? Notice it’s not personal – the juror will never know that I entered specifically, they just have a look at the exact piece I’ve entered and choose it or not.
So, if all that seems to be a likely or even possible match, we send off our entry fee and jpegs, cross our fingers and hope we get picked.
This week I was the picker. All of the pieces in the pool matched the theme, which was a broad one of ‘colorful’. And all of the pieces had a pretty high level of technical mastery of what they presented. So how to narrow down the field into my picks for the show? A lot of it came down to choosing what I felt were the ‘best’ pieces – yes, my personal opinion. What resonated most with me emotionally.
Some were so outstanding technically that I had to give them a yes vote. Others maybe could have been a little better executed but their theme was really compelling so those got an easy yes as well. The rest sat in a place where very little separated the yes’s from the no’s and it made me realize how subjective the jury process really is. I’ve always intuitively known this but it was good for me to really experience this.
I guess the best thing an artist can do is to create one of those pieces that the juror just can’t pass up. Wait, isn’t that the way we feel about all of the pieces we make and love? Anyway, it’s a good reminder to have while I await the jury results from the shows I’ve entered with what I think were my best matched pieces.
For September I have a show at Edgewater Gallery featuring my new lamps. It’s so nice to see them with their shades on, in a clean space, where I can really appreciate them. The show will be up all month – or until they’re all gone – so stop by the gallery if you’re in Fort Bragg. I’ll also add them to my website store so you can have a closer look. (No pressure, that’s just the easiest place to put them since I don’t normally make lamps so they don’t have a dedicated page on my site.)
Zone-0 is also still running for the month at ACCI Gallery in Berkeley. I got to stop in the other day and there are some interesting pieces in the show. All media, not just ceramic.
So have a great week and remember that if you feel judged, it’s just one person’s opinion. Don’t let it discourage you from following your own path.
PS. The Totem Building Workshop I’m creating is coming along nicely. It will be a few more months before it’s released because I have to finish the totem that goes along with the class. If you’re interested in being on the VIP ‘Early Bird Discount’ list and haven’t already sent me your email please send it here.

https://mailchi.mp/ff829b866cb6/facing-the-jury

08/29/2026

Trend Setting

It’s interesting how some trends catch on while others fizzle out.

A few years ago, lots of trend setters were talking about how if you take 10,000 steps a day it would change your life. I did a lot of walking around that time, getting myself into shape to make my kidney donation, and I have to say that those many steps really did get me into great shape. I’m not sure if they ‘changed my life’ but they certainly made me healthy. It was good advice.

Recently I read the idea that if you thank someone every day it would change your life. Like walking, I have given this a try. I don’t manage to do it every day, but I do try to be aware of opportunities for saying thank you and it really does make my life better. I think it’s because when you voice your appreciation for something someone else has done it makes you aware of your own gratitude that the thing has happened.

Simple things, like when someone prepares a meal for me and I thank them for it, lets me acknowledge that a nice thing has happened and that someone did it just for me so I feel special. It’s a good thing. Especially when so much of the noise that comes into our days is kind of meaningless fluff or worse yet, negative noise.

But the gesture doesn’t even have to be directed at us to make us feel better by thanking someone. It’s a kindness that we can pass along to others that makes another person’s day better and somehow it makes our day better too.

I’m going to focus my efforts on being a trend setter for saying thank you a little more often for the betterment of everyone who helps make the world a better place. Maybe in the long run it will change my life in only the best of ways too.

Last week I fired a glaze kiln and it got almost to the end when I noticed the temperature going down instead of up. Then I noticed half my studio was out of power. I tried a simple fuse wiggling, fired the kiln again and the same thing happened. Half the studio went out. Luckily my handy husband arrived to save the day, new breakers were installed and I’m back in business. Most everything that went through the extra ‘almost firings’ survived the ordeal which was a pleasant surprise.

So, it’s my turn to say a great big thank you to my husband for saving the day so I could move the backlog of pottery through firing this week. It’s funny how fast a log jam happens when my work flow gets interrupted. One more glaze firing and I’ll be all caught up!

I hope the ‘thank you’ trend catches on instead of fizzling out.

Has there been a good trend that ‘changed your life’?

https://mailchi.mp/cf29846dafd5/trend-setting

08/22/2026

It’s Zone-0 and Everyone’s Invited

I imagine most of us have been impacted one way or another by wildfires in recent years. Here in California insurance rates are super high whether we’ve been personally through a fire or not and many of us know people who have lost homes.

Recently in Berkeley, they have adopted a new ordinance called Zone-0 which creates a space around the house where there can’t be any vegetation or combustibles. This means that people there have to figure out how to ‘dry scape’ this unplanted area.

To help people with this, ACCI Gallery in Berkeley is hosting a show called Zone-0 featuring different artworks that could be used to enhance this non-planted area. What a great way to inspire some creative solutions to beautify homes while creating a safe zone at the same time!

I was delighted when the gallery reached out to me to see if I would like to have a couple of my totems included in the show. My totems look fantastic in any yard, so of course I said yes. It’s fun for me to see my totems in a new setting – somehow, they look different when they are out in the world mingling with other artworks. Kind of like how we don’t always recognize people at first when we see them at a party because we’re not used to seeing them all dressed up. The totems don’t get dressed up of course but they do get dusted off for company.

The show opens tonight (August 22, 2026) and runs through the end of September. If you’re in the Berkeley area, I encourage you to stop in and be inspired. You may leave with a new piece for your own garden or else with some great ideas for future projects.

It’s interesting how creativity can blossom when there are restraints on what we can do. Working with only non-flammable objects and bare earth, rock or concrete as a base can really make a space look sparce. But imagine a dry river bed created with round rock or crushed glass populated with colorful leaping fish sculptures running down it. Or a selection of totems and towers with joyful colors and whimsical animals there to greet you when you pass by. Big boulders with birds perched on top… this really can be a wonderful opportunity to turn a hard-to-follow rule into something fun to enjoy.

Sometimes I find designing easier when there are some constraints. When you can do anything it’s hard to make choices but when you are looking for ways to make something interesting by doing clever things within boundaries, I find that more interesting things happen.

What’s the expression – thinking outside the box? You first need the box to do this. So, if concrete is the box, let’s bust through with rivers and boulders and water features. Just don’t forget the sculptures that bring the human touch to it all.

What a joyful way to keep our homes fire-safe!

https://mailchi.mp/1258e0e11ccc/its-zone-0-and-everyones-invited

08/15/2026

Going Batty!

All week I’ve had a bat flying around in my house around 10 o’clock and each time I’ve patiently opened the door and let it fly out. I’ve been careful taking Charlotte out after dusk not to let anything swoop in, but come 10 o’clock…a bat starts flapping around and swooping through my rooms. I think it’s the same bat!

The trick I’ve found to getting it out is to run around closing doors until it’s trapped in one room and then open the door or window in that space. Then bravely stand there while it swoops around for a while, always turning its direction at the last second before it could fly outside, and not flinching too bad when it swoops right at me, until one pass actually takes it out and away. Then slamming the door or window shut before it can swoop back in – yes that has happened!

So, with this bat I’m not sure how or why I keep finding it in my house. Hard to say that it’s the same one for sure, but it seems like it must be the same one or a huge coincidence. Let’s see what happens tonight, I do hope it’s moved on and found other places to fly.

The bats seem to hibernate over the winter and be most active in the summer months. I guess that’s when there are the most mosquitoes to eat so that makes sense. I feel like I’ve finally come out of hibernation myself after the long winter season of the broken wrist. The past few weeks have finally felt like I'm back to being my usual productive self.

I’ve made a lot of functional work to refresh my offerings in the studio gallery and am busy working on a few totem poles for the on-line workshop I’m filming. It all feels so good and I am so grateful to finally feel all the way back. Last fall when the doctors were telling me it would take a year to fully recover it was pretty disheartening. I know I’m still not 100% as there are some things that hurt to do but what I have gotten back is amazing to have. I’m looking forward to that one year mark!
So, for everyone out there who is recovering from one of life’s little unfortunate twists of fate, don’t lose heart, keep doing what they tell you to do to get better and have faith that things will work out in the end.

Most importantly, don’t let it drive you batty!

Any good bat stories out there?

08/08/2026

The Joys of Teaching

It’s been a while since I’ve been a teacher. For many years I taught a pottery class on Thursday nights at my studio, we called ourselves The Thursday Night Club. I always had a great group of students and we had so much fun together. As the group changed and aged, we eventually changed to a daytime class. It never got a new nick name but it was still lots of fun and always a building block of lasting friendships.

I also taught for many years at a group home for boys. That was a true adventure working with those young men as they made their way through high school. We had some creative escapades together and I hope that now that they are all grown up, they are doing good things out in the world. I felt so privileged to work with them as they created art projects they were proud to have made. There was a real sense of accomplishment for many of them that was important to experience and I was glad to be a part of making that happen for them.

The part I loved most about teaching was that in showing students how to do things I was constantly learning myself. Taking techniques that I used one way on my own work and altering them to fit a student’s project. Or using techniques that I had learned along the way myself but didn’t use in my regular practice to guide someone through what they wanted to make. Figuring out how to help with each new project always kept me stretching my own thinking and imagination.

I still have so many little tools tucked away in the studio that are perfect for ‘that certain project’. It’s fun to be able to dig out something to make dragon skin or a crocheted texture. A batik stamp that makes a beautiful pattern or a carving tool to do fine detailed work… I miss having students around to prompt me to use all of this inspiring stuff on a more regular basis.

I stopped teaching when my own work expanded and took over the studio to the point where it was difficult to fit others into the space. But now that some years have passed, I miss that camaraderie and the inspiration of teaching so I’ve decided to try my hand at making an on-line workshop sharing what I’ve learned over the years about making totem poles.

I’m about half way through laying out the course and have started filming the videos that will go along with it. This week I’m sharing a little clip of one of the lessons. It is uncut and unedited but it will give you a glimpse into my teaching style and what the workshop will be like.

I don’t think on-line lessons can ever truly take the place of being at an in-person workshop, there is a special synergy that happens when people gather together to create, but I’m hoping to make mine feel as much like being with me in the studio as I can.

I hope you enjoy my little video clip and if you’re interested in hearing about a discounted pre-sale opportunity for the workshop when it’s ready, email me here so I add you to my VIP list.

Enjoy!

https://mailchi.mp/d953e3684d9d/the-joys-of-teaching

This is an unedited piece of my totem building workshop so you can ...

08/01/2026

The Lunch Date
We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant for Taco Tuesday. The waitress and I had a discussion about the difference between the Taco Tuesday Special and the regular taco dish on the menu. I settled on the menu version so I could have rice and beans with it. When my meal arrived, it was a tostada. Hmm, not tacos? The waitress was full of apologizes for writing my taco order down as a tostada on her order pad. I guess sometimes things just take a different turn than what was expected.

That’s how much of my life has felt lately, lots of unexpected things happening that send me flitting about like a hummingbird. So, this week I’m sharing my hummingbirds. I have two sculptures that feature them right now and they seem to be having a little conversation with each other on my shelves.

At my daughter’s house she has some arches made of wire fencing that create a lovely pathway. The hummingbirds love to come and play in the sprinkler and perch on these wire arches to rest or have a little bird bath as the sprinkler passes overhead.
I like to watch the little guys while they are so busy buzzing about. It’s hard to believe they can get enough to eat to keep up all that energy. I get tired on their behalf just watching them.

My first little hummer sculpture is a simple bird perched on an oil can. He’s the hummer who just needs a little quiet time away from the buzzing of the flock. I think we all need this downtime sometimes to rest our minds and recharge our batteries. So, this guy is my reminder to give myself that gift of respite.

The second hummer is perched on a miniature chair which holds a basket of flowers. An excellent place to stop for lunch! I always like a good lunch date so maybe she is waiting for a companion to come and join her. I always find lunch to be more enjoyable and delicious when I’m having it with a friend.

I think there are enough flowers in the basket to share so I do hope she has a companion join her soon. Maybe she’ll invite the hummer on the oil can!
I found both the chair and brass basket in my antiquing travels. I thought I’d have someone sitting in the chair holding the flower basket but when the idea struck for the hummer to be on the back of the chair instead, I liked it.

I do love the play of scale that sometimes happens in these mixed media pieces. This piece reads right because the hummer is about life size – perhaps even a little larger than life. The odd thing is that this somehow makes the scale of the chair seem ok. The little vignette all hangs together without us wondering if it’s a giant hummingbird or a tiny chair – well maybe it hangs together because we already know it’s a tiny chair. Either way, I think it’s a sweet piece!

Have you invited a friend to lunch lately?

https://mailchi.mp/78e6d6e52bf0/the-lunch-date

07/25/2026

The Nut Bowl

Growing up we had a bowl that sat on a side table in our family room that was filled with a variety of nuts still in their shells. I remember friends coming over and nuts being cracked and eaten while we visited. I also remember snacking out of that bowl between meals. Hazelnuts were my favorite. Hard to crack but delicious. I guess that’s why Ferrero Roche now dips them in chocolate to make those delicious holiday chocolates.

Now days, when we want a snack, it’s common to reach for a bag of chips but back when I was a kid my mom rarely bought those types of snacks, we snacked on nuts or fruit. They made for an easy snack. Our nut bowl was a low wide wooden one with a place for a nut cracker and picks in a holder in the center. It let you see the full assortment of nuts to choose from.

My mom also had a second fancier nut bowl that came out for dinner parties during the drinks and appetizers portion of the evening. It was a round wooden ball with an oval cut out opening in the front. It had a special matching ladle for scooping out the nuts. Fancy salted mixed nuts went into this bowl and it was such a treat to scoop out and eat the cashews – my favorite of that bunch.

It’s funny to think about how many of the things that are so available to us today were actually treats 50 years ago. I’m still a nut-girl, chocolate covered almonds being a personal favorite, but as a kid, I’d never had them as a regular snack like I do now.

Certain fruits and vegetables were only in the store when they were in season. In the winter we had a lot of broccoli and root vegetables on the dinner table. Artichokes and peas were a huge treat when they came around and squash was for summertime. Same with the fruit selection, berries and stone fruits were for the summer and in the long winter months we had mostly apples and bananas. I guess that’s why the nut bowl was such a treat.

When I was cleaning out my mom’s house I came across that fancy round nut bowl from long ago. Turns out it was a teak bowl from Sweden. Midcentury modern I suppose. Anyway, I saved it to hold a sculpture and I knew right away how I would use it. It would be a woodpecker nest. So, I’ve nestled two babies (perhaps my brother and me) into the interior of the bowl and put the mama on top guarding us from predators and other dangers, just like my mom took care of us. It’s a sweet piece and I think fondly of my childhood and my mom when I see it.

I think this is a nice new purpose for that piece of my past. The woodpecker family fits it just right.

Did your family have a special occasion dish?

07/25/2026

I HEREBY DECLARE THAT I DO NOT GIVE MY PERMISSION FOR FACEBOOK OR META TO USE ANY OF MY PERSONAL DATA.

07/18/2026

Turning back the clock

Last weekend I went to a party that was mostly made up of college kids and I had a blast. Their enthusiasm and energy took me back 40 years to a time when life felt wide open and full of possibility. It made me realize that, while much of my life has settled down and I’m no longer wondering what I will be when I grow up, my life in the studio still has that excitement of my early years. There is a sense of wonder and adventure every time I set out on a new project or experiment. It wasn’t until I got home that night that it dawned on me that I was actually the oldest person at the party. That was kind of a surprise as I never feel ‘old’ even though my age number continues to climb.

This week I started working on a new project with the blind enthusiasm of looking forward into the unknown. I decided to try creating a virtual workshop about ‘Building Ceramic Totems’ that I hope to someday be able to offer as an on-line course. Maybe because of the party, or maybe just because, I realized that I have accumulated 40 years of ceramic experience. Tips, tricks, lessons learned from mistakes, etc. and I’d like a way to pass that legacy of knowledge along to other people on their pottery journey.

So, I’m learning a new skill set of teaching without any students in the room. It’s a little different than having an audience. For one thing, I won’t be able to look out and see if my audience is engaged or dozing off. My goal is to make the on-line course be very similar to what a person would experience at an in-person workshop with me. We’ll see how that goes. I don’t want to be like that teacher in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ who was a hoot to watch for his dullness.

Bonny Blue Bunny came out of the kiln last week so she is acting as my audience of one. She looks so alert and attentive that I must be doing a good job with my lectures!

I set out to make a jack rabbit but this bunny has softer curves and doesn’t quite have that quick-off-the-starting-block look that I think of with jack rabbits. That’s ok, I think she’s quite sweet and she makes an excellent student.

She was calling out to be blue when it came time to glaze her so that’s how she got her name of Bonny Blue.
Have you taken an interesting class lately? Any tips for me?

07/11/2026

Star Search
I grew up watching Star Trek on television. It was on one of the 6 channels available at our house (2,4,5,7,9,36). What a change from the massive number of choices on television today!
Back then it was exciting to travel along each week with Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise on their mission ‘to boldly go where no man has gone before. To seek out new life and new civilizations.’ They certainly found a variety of life forms out there in the universe! It must have been a fun job to think up those various creatures and cultures and the problems the crew encountered and overcame each week.

It’s interesting how similar some of their gadgets were to ones that have become part of our daily lives. The ‘communicator’ has a lot in common with the cell phone in my purse. We don’t quite have the mobile scanner that Dr. McCoy always used but I bet it’s coming soon with advances in AI.

The search to understand the sky goes back as far as recorded history with early astronomical records dating back to the Babylonians around 1000 BC.
Astronomy was used by early cultures for timekeeping, navigation, spiritual and religious practices, and agricultural planning. Ancient astronomers observed and charted the skies in an effort to learn about the workings of the universe. I wonder if they too wondered if anyone else was out there?

This week I finished my new sculpture that gives a nod to the astronomer in each of us who has looked up to the stars in wonder. If we could ride along on the Starship Enterprise, what adventures would we have?

This sculpture combines a Folk Art style wood cabin, a ceramic rabbit I sculpted and a vintage egg be**er. I collected the cabin a while back. It had a broken roof and the window paint was faded so it needed a little TLC. It wasn’t until I stumbled across the egg be**er that I knew someone would be sitting on that roof searching the cosmos.

The egg be**er looks like a sci fi device that could be used for sending out some kind of signaling waves into the atmosphere. At first, I wasn’t sure who the animal holding it should be. In the end I decided on a rabbit because I liked the idea of the ears flopping back to carry on the gesture of looking heavenwards.

Back here on earth I’m still searching for the perfect name for this sculpture. Some that come to mind are:

Star Search
The Astronomer
Skywatcher
Searching the Universe
Star Link
Signal Check
Making Contact

I’d love to know your ideas for what I should call it. Share your suggestions here

Beam me up Scotty!