I am now gearing up for holiday sales. The past week I have started making functional goodies for the kitchen, beginning with mugs, which seems to be everyone’s favorite! This coming week I will be making batter bowls, large serving bowls and more soup bowls.

So excited, I have been talking about making more instructional videos for the past three years… finally they are here! The first of the series is all about learning how to make mugs and handles. This is a series focusing on three different styles of mugs, with three different types of handles.

Springtime in western Massachusetts means it’s time for the Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail. This year it is postponed a little bit due to COVID and will be held outdoors in June.
The Pottery Trail is a much anticipated yearly event for the past 17 years! I have been a host potter since the Trail began as one of the founders of the event.

A pottery seconds sale for me is about making pottery available to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. I like to make my pottery available to any one that wants it. In selling my seconds I am able to get handmade pottery into the hands of more people. Even if it’s only one little special bowl- that little bowl just might have the potential to bring a little joy to that person each day.

Exciting news for all of you Massachusetts pottery lovers! I am having a SECONDS SALE on TAX FREE WEEKEND!!! August 29th from 10am - 4pm. All pottery will be priced from $5-$50... with no tax!
Of course if you come from another state it's still tax free!

I have been busy doing a little video project, (A Virtual Studio Tour, AVPT Potters) documenting the nine host potters of the Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail.

As the weight of the world is so heavy on all of us right now with COVID19… we can all use some distraction… something to lighten the load. Being a maker is how I find my peace, so I thought it would be nice to share how I make things in the pottery studio.

So happy to be invited by Ceramics Monthly to write an article on my studio and studio practice! The “Studio Visit” section of the Ceramics Monthly has always been a favorite of mine. Each month when I receive my issue of the magazine one of the first articles I read is the Studio Visit.

I made a little video the other day on how I throw these little cups off of a hump of clay. Centering a small piece of clay from the larger lump of clay makes the process go a little faster when throwing clay that is a pound or less. I want these cups to have loose gestural lines that show the movement, fluidity and the softness of the clay.

Fun Stuff!
Northeast Solar came by and did a little video on me. I am so happy with the solar array they installed two years ago. It truly helps my pottery studio to run!

So you’ve made a beautiful little creamer, or gravy boat, or large pitcher. The spout is high enough above the rim of the pot to give it some grace, and to allow for it to properly function. The only problem is how to trim the darn thing! This can be a real obstacle when trying to put the finishing touches on a pitcher.

There has been a bit of a change in the past couple of years with e-commerce since Amazon has taken over the online shopping market. Free shipping is something that many shoppers are getting used to… but do we ever question this? Being the ever so practical person that I am, I have always questioned it. I always thought, well obviously they are raising the price in order to give free shipping.

Learning pottery at the wheel can be really difficult. It takes good eye hand coordination and lots of patience. Students learning pottery these days have plenty of information at their finger tips through Instagram, Youtube and Facebook. When I was learning back in the 1980’s we had books.

Every couple of semesters I have my pottery students make a pot at the potters wheel while blindfolded. This is always a fun night with lots of giggles, which quickly turns into serious business once the hands touch the clay.

How do you make a lid from an enclosed form on the potters wheel? This is a question I get asked often when people see my salt cellars and sugar jars. I've made a new "Quick Pottery" video on the first step to making the enclosed form.

The annual Asparagus Valley Pottery Trail is a tour of nine studios with over 20 nationally recognized potters. Easily reached from Boston, Hartford, and the Albany area, the free, self-guided tour winds along the beautiful back roads and scenic historic towns of the Asparagus Valley, a local name for the upper Connecticut River valley of western Massachusetts.

I discovered something by mistake, (which often happens:)... I made these little dipping dishes for soy sauce, olive oil etc, but found another use for them as a mug topper!

One of my customers asked me if I juice lots of citrus fruit. Not really I said, mainly just for Margaritas! It's just that I love the challenge of making difficult forms such as citrus juicers.

You and a friend walk into a potter's studio, or a shop that sells handmade goods. You gravitate to the beautifully crafted porcelain mug... it is quiet just like you like your mornings. It's light green celadon color is deliciously soft looking, and has a translucent quality about it. You pick it up... oh so comfortable. You look at the price, and you put it back down, and say to yourself, I can't spend $45 on a mug.

As a potter I use quite a bit of electricity to fire my kilns, and that bothers me.  I've always wished I could fire my kilns from the power of the sun using photovoltaics... but thought it was impossible since a kiln fires for about 15 hours using a great deal of electricity during that time period.