Our Story

Math and Mud” … That was Sam’s idea so where do I start. Math? No, that’s a long story and no one really likes math so I’ll address that later. Mud? Yes; Now there is something interesting to talk about. Who doesn’t want to talk about “Mud”? All of us made mud pies at some point during our childhood and some of us may have regressed and have become expert mud pie makers with our grandchildren…. or not.

Many of you are probably still getting used to me moving from teaching and working for a big Texas oil company to playing in mud every day in my studio. I know I’m not known for my creativity outside of building quilts (table runners, wall hangings, baby quilts and some full-size quilts for all my family members and some friends…. although I still have a baby quilt in the hoop for a friend’s son who graduated from college last fall - oops). And, well Brandi’s baby quilt is still not done as it is complicated with a lot of applique work and I was trying to earn my BS in Mathematics and then a MS and then I started teaching and then to the oil company……so it got put on the back burner. Brandi says now, “I’m worried if you sit down and actually finished that baby quilt.” What, like she thinks I might have lost my mind?

Back to the “Mud”. I’ve collected pottery for years and have a mug or a bowl from almost all the places we have visited as do most of you if you are reading this. We don’t travel that much so I’m not really overwhelmed with them but I have started replacing them. When I accepted an early retirement package from Occidental Petroleum, I decided to take some pottery classes because I have never sat down at a potter’s wheel and love the bowls the girls made for me in high school. So…. I was driving to Durango (120 miles round trip) usually 4-5 times a week. December 2018 - Happy Birthday to me!! Andy gave me a new Bailey potters wheel. That wheel and my own kiln (next birthday) made all the difference.

You see, before I had the kiln, I was throwing every few days and would have to haul my pieces back and forth to Durango or the next studio I found here in Pagosa Springs. I was using the studio’s glazes and learned a great deal from both instructors however, it really came down to muscle memory and accepting the fact that it is not as easy as it looks. I was also bored and had a pile of pieces I would never use or give to anyone, so when I saw the local high school needed a computer science teacher to finish out the school year, I applied and got the job. Undoubtedly the worse time to go back into teaching because just two weeks after I arrived, we went to 100% remote learning for the remaining school year. And then what did I do???? I applied for a full-time position teaching computer science. I’ll tell you more about the school year later.

Back to pottery: I’ve gone from a few hours a week on the wheel to almost 8 hours every day, processing clay, wedging, throwing, pulling handles, trimming, glazing and all the other tasks required to create a mug, bowl, planter bird feeder etc. It wasn’t until my mugs went from weighing about 2 pounds to about 1 pound (a 16 ounce curl so to speak) that I felt like I could share a mug or two with my family and a few friends. You can blame my family and those friends for encouraging me to go nuts. It was the amazing people at San Juan Soda Co in Lake City who convinced me to drop the safety net and be more creative. As a result, Andy joined in and started doing all the artwork on the mugs and bowls.

So here we are today. My first business website (never had a website when I had my western wear store, “Spur of the Moment” in Fraser) and you are here and you might be interested in my work. Thank you so much for visiting even if you never purchase anything, I appreciate your interest.