Urban Farmer, Police Wife, Mother, Potter, Fiber Artist...Living in the Mountainwest

I graduated from Westminster College with a dual degree in Art and Mathematics. I have taught pottery and worked as a potter for over 15 years. My functional clay work is heavily influenced by Utah's beautiful landscape, and I use local clays for much of my work. I lived and worked on the Navajo Reservation outside of Blanding, Utah as part of a pottery internship, learning the traditional Navajo pottery way, and also how to bead and weave. I fell in love with Navajo-Churro sheep while living on the Reservation. I've participated in multiple national gallery shows in the past 17 years, and taught pottery for many years at the Pioneer Craft House in Salt Lake City. I'm also a full-time statistician. Sixteen years ago, our little family started with a tiny apartment garden and the vision of a simpler life. Two acres in suburbia, an 11-year old son, a 100-year old house, some deeply troubled roosters, heritage turkeys, endangered chickens, a couple of goats, some gorgeous dairy cows and a flock of Navajo-Churro Sheep later, we are fully embracing the simple life. We actively breed many endangered livestock breeds and are members of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC). We homestead in the heart of the Wasatch Mountains. The views are beautiful and the challenges never-ending. Currently, we raise almost all of our own food, including meat.

Feb 6, 2013

Finished Work and Mud...

It's been a busy couple of weeks, filling wholesale orders and making more pottery inventory. 


The Buddha pendants that I was working on last week were fired over the weekend and made in to necklaces.


I'm very excited about the raku effects I was able to get on such a small clay canvas.


The latest batch of "vignette" pendants turned out really well, too...


Everything is muddy as we seem to be stuck somewhere between Winter and Spring. The ducks and geese are the only ones enjoying the ever-present water and mud.

The turkeys are not impressed.


The Russian Orloffs are smart enough to stay roosted in the rafters high up in the barn, where it is dry.


Pregnancy checks on cows over the weekend confirmed that we are still percolating many healthy calves.


Is it starting to look more like Spring where you live?

8 comments:

Michele Matucheski said...

Wow! The little Buddha heads look like antique glass ornaments! Neat effect!

February 06, 2013
JUDI TAVILL said...

where can I buy a buddha head pendant!!!???? love!

February 06, 2013
cookingwithgas said...

those pendants sure are nice.
We have had the best weather the past few days, but we are going to have some massive rain here tonight. Winter is not over yet.

February 07, 2013
smartcat said...

The Buddhas are fascinating.....I would like to hold one in my hand.

We're expecting a blizzard tomorrow!

February 07, 2013
Kings Creek Pottery said...

Wow! They came out great- all of them! Sorry to hear your fowl are not impressed, really... they can be so uppity ;)

February 07, 2013
Kings Creek Pottery said...

P.S. snow storm coming, expecting a foot...

February 07, 2013
Lori Buff said...

The Buddha heads did come out great. Well done. It was looking and feeling like spring yesterday but today is back to cold and rainy.

February 07, 2013
Laurie said...

Well, mud and daffodils, but otherwise not so much. The Buddha heads are wonderful!

February 07, 2013

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