You know how I LOVE rusty metal… so this turned out to be a fun stop during my drive home from Minnesota yesterday! Part of the fun of a good road trip… being able to stop to explore the local “attractions” as a fun diversion along the way!

After picking-up my new clay at Continental Clay…
I also took a little side trip to a friend’s pottery studio.
Lucky for me, she’s not a big fan of reclaiming her own clay?!
So I loaded several bags of dried porcelain scraps into my car
before heading home. WHOO-HOO!!!

Just break it up… add water… soak.. a little labor… FREE CLAY!!!

After a FULL day of Pottery Touring… yes, we made it to ALL of the stops… Sarah, Jules & I went out for a great dinner at MASU… I’m not good with directions, but it was “somewhere” in the Minneapolis area?! Great food, great friends and a great day full of pottery!!!

So I “may” have done a bit of shopping up at the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour… like this great sgraffito jar made by Matthew Metz. Just one more for my already overflowing collection of his work!!!

You can follow Matthew’s work on Instagram… @metzpottery

So many pots, so many techniques, so many talented potters! Over the course of the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour, we saw so many amazing pieces of pottery. But I will say that my favorite pieces were the exquisite pots by Becky Lloyd. I have followed her for years on Instagram, and her work was even more AMAZING in person!!! Such intricate details & sgraffito carvings. The shapes. The forms. The patterns. The CRAFTSMANSHIP!!! Be sure to follow her on Instagram – @beckylloydyogamama

During the St. Croix Pottery Tour, it was great to see some beautiful “sangam” pottery by Minsoo Yuh. We tried this technique last year in my Surface Decorations class… and great to see how it’s really done by a master! Much better detail & smoothness than when we tried it in class. Ha!!!

Basically, you stamp patterns all over your clay. Then add a layer of thick slip over everything and let it dry to leatherhard. Then you carefully “shave off” the top layer of slip to reveal the clay body surface and the “now-slip-filled” stamped impressions.

Beautiful pottery everywhere around the tour… but Spring is just making its way to Minnesota! So there were a lot of wonderful natural surprises to found on the tour as well.

This weekend was the St. Croix Valley Pottery Tour! So great to go up for the tour – finally back in-person after two years of “virtualness” due to the pandemic. So much wonderful pottery everywhere, as well as time to chat with the potters. Time to touch the pottery, bask in the creativity, and to take some inspiration & ideas back home… as well as a “few” purchases along the way! We had amazing weather with beautiful blue skies and wonderful Spring temps in the 70’s!!! Huge THANKS to all of the studio hosts, the organizers and all of the potters who participate in this wonderful event… it’s a HUGE undertaking and they make it look so smooth & seamless! Kudos to you all!!!

So maybe I should learn better???… that sometimes Siri doesn’t know everything!?!! So when I got to Minneapolis, I asked Siri to give me driving directions to my friend Sarah’s home… and Siri gave me directions right away. So I followed them blindly, saw a few familiar sights along the way… and ended up HERE!!! At Sarah’s Studio location… and NOT her home! Siri was wrong… again… and yes, this is the SECOND TIME I’ve made this mistake!!! Ugh.

Driving north to Minneapolis last Thursday was so much fun… I love a good road trip… especially when you’re driving into the sunset. Plus great tunes on the radio & snacks on the seat next to you!!!