You Aren't Just Buying a Thing...

I've seen this meme posted on facebook every once in a while and I could not agree more. Another season of art festivals and farmers markets is upon us. I feel excited to have the opportunity to sit in the sun and meet and greet potential customers of my pottery and occasionally my novels. To give you an idea of how I came to be a potter, let me educate you with some of what has gone into it. I first began creating pottery in earnest when I was in high school. I am now 56 years old, so that was a long time ago. I would spend hours every day in the art room at Orem High School each day learning the craft. I'd start each practice session with a stack of baseball and softball sized pieces of carefully wedged clay. And try to first center the clay, then pull it into a form. It took months before I kept anything I made. Most of those attempts were failures. Eventually, I began to get pieces that I felt were worthy of taking to the next level, that of firing twice in the kiln, once bisque and then glaze fired. Even then, when you opened the door of the kiln, often what I found as a beginning potter was more failure. Only in learning an art, there is no failure because everything we do helps us learn to become better and better. With every single piece of pottery I've ever made, I can honestly say that I put my all into it. I love that my pottery graces the homes of people all over the United States (a few pieces have ended up in other countries even).

For my high school graduation present, my parents helped me buy a potters wheel. It was expensive, around 600.00 at the time. But considering many pay that much for a phone, I can't complain, especially considering I'm still using that same wheel. There isn't a whole lot of technology involved. It just has to be sturdy, smooth, and revolve fast. For a while, I used a friend's kiln to fire and then the teacher at Provo High lived near me and he let me throw pottery and fire at Provo High after hours, in exchange for helping around the studio. It was a superb deal for me and taught me how to fire a kiln by myself. I spent many long hours at night in the Provo High Ceramics lab. There was a lot of trust that went into that arrangement and I'm forever grateful. I started out at BYU art department, but after two semesters transferred to Utah State where I continued my studies in art education focusing on Ceramics/Pottery.  Finally now, I have a studio in Avon, Utah where I can make and fire my pottery. And to this day, I put my all into each piece that I make. I'm sure most artisans that you meet will have similar experiences of how they learned their craft. So next time you are perusing the wares at an artisan market, remember that and enjoy the experience. Treasure the things that you buy, knowing a little more about what has gone into the creation. 

Paradise Pottery Artist Sale and MORE!

Marilyn Krannich's Soup Tureen

Browsing Jeani's Wares

Plan on coming to our Paradise Artists Holiday Sale. Saturday NOVEMBER 20th from 10-5. This year there will be four of us: Marilyn Krannich--Great Functional Pottery, Jim Parrish--Fine art Photography, Me--Potter. I have some new things this year--Funky little handmade bells, my usual stuff and my novels. And we're once again being joined by Jeani Anderson-Jenks. Jeani will bring her hand-dipped chocolates, mittens, aprons, felted purses, jewelry and more.

One of the highlights of the day is Dale Major and his family will perform at NOON. Erin has a voice like and angel and plays the fiddle. Jake plays the bass. Dale does about everything and is a premier performer. They are great to say the least and we are so lucky that they come. I hope all of Paradise comes out to hear them. We'll of course have refreshments and good deals too.

Now write down a few more events. On Saturday November 27th 10-4, I'll be doing a "Come Write on my Studio Wall sale. This sale will be FUN! Please bring a quote that inspires creativity. Maybe something from a writer, artist, or philosopher. Write it on my wall and you'll be entered in a drawing for pottery. I'll provide the pens and even have a quote book just in case. Also everyone who participates get a handmade magnet for their fridge. If you can't make it that day come on Dec. 11th for a repeat. My studio will be open for business during daylight hours starting November 22nd through the month of December if you want to stop in.
On December 3rd and 4th--starting Friday during the gallery walk at 6-9pm. All day Saturday--I'll be at the Winter Gift Market with my pottery and books.The Winter Market will be held in downtown Logan and the Bullen Arts Center on 43 South Main.

How to get to Paradise Pottery. We're about 6 miles south of Hyrum. Go south past the old church to the 4 way stop sigh. Turn right and head south past the Avon sign. The road bends and comes to a T intersection. At the T turn right, but don't straighten the car completely out before turning left onto a dead end road  (11000 S).  Go past about 4 house on the north side of the road and turn onto a dirt lane to my bright yellow studio. It's a gorgeous drive but be careful of all the PIPELINE traffic.

A Tale of Two Avon's

Recently I spent a week in beautiful Avon, Colorado with my son Trevor and his wife, Joanna, and their one year old baby Isaiah to celebrate the baby's birthday. If you don't know where Avon is, it's just outside of Vail where my son teaches high school. The ironic thing is that while my husband and I now live in Paradise, Utah--we are building a home three miles south of here in Avon, Utah. So I thought I'd compare the two Avon's. Our Avon currently only has around four hundred people while Avon, Colorado has more than ten times that amount, still a pretty small town. Even in the winter, with the ski season in full swing the town only boasts ten-thousand people. Both Avon's are kind of in the mountains. My son lives in a condo on top of a shopping district. Nothing like having a hankering for authentic Mexican food and finding it just down the stairs. In our Avon, it would be about a eight mile drive and then some for a really good restaurant.
Both Avon's offer outdoor recreation. Skiing in Avon, Co. would be carrying your skis outside your door, taking a short walk to Beaver Creek Resort--the closest, or hopping on a shuttle and going to any number of other resorts. Skiing in Avon, Utah means piling the skis into the car and driving to Beaver Mountain, about a forty-five drive.
Fishing is available in either town. We have Cinnamon Creek and The Little Bear River. They have the gorgeous Eagle River and Beaver Creek. I have included a picture of me by Beaver Creek in Colorado. Hiking is available in both towns. However, we took a hike while in Avon, Colorado. We had to drive to the Beaver Creek Lodge, get on a shuttle, which then dropped us off at the trail head. We then hiked for a mile or two before we were out of the boundary of the ski resort. Still we pretty much had the mountain to ourselves and it was every bit the wilderness that you would find deep in the Unitas or in Yellowstone National Park. And you would have to hike a long way from Avon, Utah to find anything equal to it.
I got curious and decided to compare real-estate prices. For just over two million dollars you could buy a three bedroom condominium in Avon Colorado. That really makes me wonder what the prices of the mansions were that we passed coming down from our hike. If you took our classiest home in Cache Valley and set it next to them, it wouldn't compare.
A three bedroom house in Avon, Utah would cost you about three-hundred thousand to build on more than an acre of land or so.
The temperature though at six o clock at night is still in the nineties here and is only 70 degrees there. Both towns do have their share of wildlife. We saw an abundance of deer in both towns. And we saw a black bear running right through the middle of town while we were in Avon, Colorado. The only black animal we've seen running down the street here though is our neighbors Labrador when we yell at it to get off of our property, or the black and white animal that kept my husband's clothes smelling for weeks.
One thing though we, in our little backwoods rural town are eons ahead on than liberal Avon, Colorado is recycling. In our hicksville we have curbside recycling! In Avon, Colorado you would have to be very diligent to recycle. There was a recycling center on the edge of town, but there were no in-town containers even for aluminum. I was shocked by their lack of ecological effort in this way.
But one thing that Avon, Colorado has that we don't that's pretty important to me is the baby sleeping in the back pack. So for now, we'll be traveling between the two cities for some time to come.