Category Archives: Uncategorized

Raku-fired a goddess yesterday. She’s crafted from Raku clay that came from Rovin in Ann Arbor. The cranberry glaze didn’t quite turn out the way I’d hoped it would, but I love the blue in the turquoise in the patterned squares. Going to have to get more productive this winter.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you’re all in a happy place, celebrating in meaningful ways all that you are blessed with and thankful for. Today, Dane and I celebrated Thanksgiving with his family. Of course, we Facetimed my side of the family as well. I’m so grateful for the whole lot of them – my husband,Continue reading “Bouncing back”

I must have been born to play with clay. There’s something about the ooey-gooey goodness of it that speaks to me. Sculpting is an altogether different kind of clay play, but just as incredible. I had the opportunity to give it a go Tuesday last week (Nov. 19) at The Florence Studio. The studio isContinue reading “My adventure with a pregnant torso”

Meet Salvatore Mirenda, owner and master ceramicist at La Galleria Nuove Forme d’Arte in Montelupo Fiorentino. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting him and, more important, learning from him how to make a vase – about a fifth the size of one he’d already made, which I used as a model. But first IContinue reading “La Galleria Nuove Forme d’Arte – Montelupo Fiorentino”

Made it home from Firenze, safe and sound. The only missing ingredient on our trip was the comfort and familiarity of family and friends; the ones you’re reminded of when you see a certain something or who would have loved to have experienced taking a class with you (you know who you are); or theContinue reading “From Firenze with love”

In about 120 hours (or five days), Dane and I will board a plane for Florence, Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance. We were married Aug. 13, 1994, and this trip is our belated celebration of our 25th wedding anniversary. I lived in Italy for years and used to be semi-fluent in Italian. Not havingContinue reading “Countdown: Firenze, Italia”

Guess what arrived in the mail today? My maker’s mark! To say that I’m excited is an understatement. I couldn’t wait for it to arrive in the mail, and then I couldn’t wait to stamp it into something. So I pressed it into the Warrior Goddess that I started two weekends ago. This is myContinue reading “Leaving my mark”

On weekends and as many evenings as possible, I am a potter. During the day, though, I am a public transit marketing executive, which includes oversight of three departments: an eight-person Marketing team; a one-person grant-funded program (Clean Commute Options); and a 15-person Customer Experience unit. I’m also my employer’s public information officer. It’s aContinue reading “The city that doesn’t sleep”

Dane took a photo of the crow I made this past winter, which doesn’t look like a crow, really, but he’s my first stab at a crow. I’ve got another concept twirling around in my noggin, so more to come! Speaking of concepts, I also started working on a new teapot – and then IContinue reading “Sunday fun day”

Ahh, simplicity. That’s what I love about these plates. They are unobtrusively simplistic. Nothing about them grabs your attention. They are the perfect backdrop for whatever sits thereupon. They started as thick, beefy slabs of clay; stretched, rough-hewn edges juxtaposed against what would soon be a smooth, glassy surface. That surface is Shino – oneContinue reading “Made for sushi”