Not to be missed!

Hello, if you happen to be in the Rogue Valley this weekend, please stop by the ClayFolk Pottery Show that takes place at the Medford Armory the 20th-22nd. The Armory will be filled with potters and clay artists, we will have live music on Friday night, and a kids play area during the day on Saturday and Sunday. Also on Sat and Sun will be live demonstrations by talented potters, you can find the list on the clayfolk.org link above.

Lithia Artists Market at the old Ashland Armory on Thanks Giving weekend, November 27-29. Head on down to the Thanksgiving parade in Ashland on Friday the 27th, it seems to start around dusk, watch the town get lit up, then head on over to the armory for some music, crafts and hot food. We have just the most wonderful local musical acts, really good food, and of course your favorite local crafts people and artists set up in the most sparkly room in the whole valley. The room just has a good feel on this day, come by and see us, and get ready to get that delicious christmas feeling all around and inside you.

I will be at both of these shows. Pictured above is a mini bird house, behind is a vicious house pet.

Turtle Bay

If you happen to be in Redding California this weekend, hey, I will be too! I will have my booth set up at the Turtle Bay Art & Craft Fair, Sept 26 & 27. Turtle Bay is a beautiful park with many attractions, including a museum, gardens, exhibitions, and a glass bridge that is unique in all the world. Check out the link to the site, you will be surprised at what they are offering.
***Pictured above: nobody knows what they are, but they have been seen adorning poles and posts throughout the Pacific Northwest, soon to be seen in Northern California gardens.

Gazing at Morning Glories

"Morning Glory" Restaurant in Ashland is a favorite among locals. If you want some satisfaction in this world, with an excellent cup of joe to wash it all down, this is the place. Not one to skimp on portions, ingredients or calories, owner/chef Patty Groth serves her comfort foods almost dangerously hot from the kitchen. My husbands favorite is her crab burger, which is an oozing splendorous thing to behold, even to a vegetarian like myself. Once he starts eating this thing, there will be no more conversation.

.....Pictured above is my friend "Nora", one of the many "lifers" that work for Patty.

Ashland Air - Elixer!

Terracotta Finial with unfinished paintings

The summer at the Lithia Artisan's Market in Ashland Oregon has been a long one. It has been hot but also splendid. If you have not been to Ashland Oregon in your life, "get thee to the town of Ashland"! Here you will find the countries longest running Shakespeare festival, but even better than that, a feeling of wellbeing and happyness, joy for no apparent reason. It is one of those special places on the earth that make you happy to be alive. It will clean you and make you fit for society again. When you leave, your only goal will be to get back. The tourists of this town are as pilgrams, walking the streets, enjoying the pleasures of local wine and gourmet meals, reveling in the human drama that unfolds on the festivals many stages.

Viola.....Violas

This is a picture of one of my hanging planters (15$). The violas are just so profuse right not, it is hard to stop looking at them. I get this effect by replacing the potting soil every season, and putting in some fertilizer. This pot is going to look great in my booth at the Lithia Artisans Market in Ashland Oregon this weekend.

I had a blast at my seconds sale last weekend, I wish that I could do it every weekend. One customer was able to buy 17 items for 54 dollars, which I was shockingly impressed with! I even surprised myself, by picking out some of my own pottery, to keep for myself! I got 5 tricked out rice bowls that I am never going to make again, I was quit tickled to find these hiding in a box.

Yard Art Galore!

One of my long time customers from Portland sent me this photo of her growing collection of my birdhouses and flowers. She put the birdhouses on copper pipe to get them up high. People have been telling me for years that they have like 10 of them in their yard, which I cannot imagine they are telling me the truth, but finally here is the evidence.

Ashland Seconds Sale

Hello, I will be having my pottery 2nds sale on Saturday May 23 at the Lithia Artisan's Market 10:00 to 6:00, in Ashland, behind the plaza, on the creek.

I have had a number of bad firings that have created some very "rustic" looking pottery, but it will all be to your advantage, as you may not even be able to figure out what I think is wrong with it! I have seconds of the mini-birhouses, birdhouses, flowers, discontinued stuff, experiments. I will also have my regular, non screwed up pottery (so called), as a contrast to the vast and alarming price difference. I want to get rid of this stuff, so it will be priced to move.

Thanks to all who stop by and visit our market, to buy things or just to take in the wonderful feeling of the place.

Hot Cakes

This is my major "Hot Cake" item in my booth at this time. Having made more than 8,000 of these little bird houses that go on a stick, I can tell you that their popularity has not wained since my fellow potter Debbie Dean convinced me to make them more than 10 years ago.

Hammering the Cramps

"Hammering The Cramps" is a song from an indie soundtrack called CHICAGO CAB MUSIC, by SparkleHorse......it's a rockin tune that my husband put on a mix-disc we play in the car, a fantastic song to drive fast to. I made the trip from southern Oregon to Portland last week for Ceramic Showcase. A show with over a 150 potters sharing a giant hall. The scope and depth of the talent in the room would be hard to put into words, you will simply have to go yourselves, next year April 30 - May 2. It is a 5 day ordeal, and basically by Sunday, every system in my body was breaking down, accept for my sense of humor. The show was a definite bright spot in an otherwise tragic economy. It felt like the good people of Portland wanted to get out and finally spend some money, having been really really good since Christmas. My sales were up from last year 25%, wow! It was a too brief Shang-ra-la however, that I woke up from the instant my van started sputtering on the way home. I turned down the blasting reggae music to have a listen, yeah, no gas. Apparently, you have to look down at the dials once in a while, instead of singing and dreaming up pottery schemes. Luckily I was near an exit ramp on I-5, I was able to ditch the green pottery van there and walk to a friendly Starbucks, where I was greeted with the kind of cheerfulness that I desperately needed. Back on the road, I went strait back to the blasting, the Reggae, and the will-full indifference to worldly concerns.