More of That

I am completely buzzing with creative energy for the upcoming holiday season and a true launch of my first official website. I am busily creating a brand new batch of larger-sized cups for sipping abundant amounts of coffee and tea. Also, wine cups, cider and sun tea tumblers and so much more.

How inspired I am, by this intoxicating sea air that draws me back to its salty waters every morning. My daily starts have settled into this misty, cold routine and I feel alive! Nothing returns me to the present and Self (with a capital S) and to the deepest gratitude and wonder like a salty river plunge! It’s a precious and abundant life.

These days continue with as many hours as I can squeeze out of them in my humble garden studio to enjoy creative contemplation and periodic visits from my family as they come and go. I am a lucky one and count the generous blessings I have every day.

So what am I making for you and your holiday festivities? I am obsessed, currently with square plate sets and with single-person salad bowls. I love to pile some favorite greens into a bowl and slap some pepitas and saurkraut and a pile of protein all in there and stir it around, creating the perfect fork-full for every bite. Simple pleasures are the best.

And as always, driven by the next favorite beverage and its perfect vessel, I am making generous, low, wide latte cups to fulfill requests from beloveds and to satisfy my markets. It seems I’ve been in a cappuccino phase and those are small so I’m doubling down for this round. These will have speckles and simple satin glazed surfaces as well as some carved, inlaid and painted birds and bushes, winterfruits and favorite forest finds. Oh my.

Tonight I came down from my studio and stood with my teenage daughter out on the porch in the weather; wind through the trees rustled and waves pounded the shore below. Not freezing but cool, not dumping but misty on our cheeks that had gotten rosy by the fire. We stood in silence and just listened to the world existing. I told her I feel the most alive out in the weather when it’s a little wild and unpredictable. It reminds me that while we are living our lives, this is always happening: Animals are hunting and waves are crashing, wind is whistling around homes and trees, the river is flowing in and out, breathing with the ocean. We exist, so much in our heads while this amazing world is doing its own version of living all around us.

I have a childhood memory of sitting out on our porch, growing up in Elk. A storm was whipping the cypress trees into a rustling tizzy and the wind was making the power lines howl overhead. I sat on the tiny rickety porch of our tiny rickety coastal home, under the awning snuggled into the side of a cozy adult and watched it all happening out there. I took it in with a deep sense of comfort from the cool semi-shelter of my front porch, knowing the safety of home was through the door right behind me. There was no better place to be in that moment. It is a memory that brings me the deepest sense of marvel. I do love a good winter storm.

Thank you for visiting my new website and for reading my inspired ramble. I’m a couple weeks away from my first kiln load of the season, leading up to my first in-person sale of the winter and I’m so excited to see you and share with you. Check out my Makers Markets page for all the details. I also have a few Select Stores sprinkled along the Mendocino Coast, between Elk, Mendocino and Fort Bragg that you can visit if you miss me at the Markets. Very soon I’ll be launching online sales. I’ll be keeping you posted as this step progresses.

I intend to go gratefully out in the world and do something kind for another: Donate to or volunteer for an organization that is making the world a livable, even good place for all beings. We need connection and kindness. More of that, less of the other.

Its a privilege to have this life. I know it in my cells every day.