After traveling the show, and taking in the over 600 artist booths, glazed over & dazed,
but still in the holiday shopping mood… I decided to go back to visit my new “favorite”
ceramic artist in the show. None of the pottery really took my breath away… except for
the crystalline glazes of Anne Gary. But I’ve seen her work before at Art In The Barn.

But there was one new ceramic artist there who was doing great things with clay!
Combining more traditional woodcut print block techniques with clay to create some
wonderful imagery & sculptural works. Indiana artist Zach Medler takes his own whimsical
views & drawing styles to create individual pieces, as well as larger installation pieces.
He has a great story, passion for his work and obviously enjoys what he does! And so do I.
I especially loved his textures, patterns, colors, surface and whimsical quality!

I love meeting new artists and supporting them if I can. So there I was, chatting it up
with Zach and trying to figure out what I was going to buy. And I was enamored by his series
of buildings that were along the top of his display. I was torn between the holiday decorated
houses… or go for the year-round, non-decorated buildings. Then he started telling me the
story of his grandmother, how she collected holiday houses, how he now lives in his
Grandmothers house… and look here, THIS house is his Grandmother’s house!!! Sold.

So the decision to go holiday houses was done. And I knew I had to get the one that
represented his Grandmother’s decorated holiday home. But one wasn’t enough.
You know groups of three always look better. You can’t have a collection of just one piece.
So I was going to get three. But which ones? Looking. Comparing. Lining up. Rearranging.
Analyzing. But somehow I couldn’t make three work out. Something always looked off.
But if I bumped it up to five… somehow it all fell into place. So there it was.
My new collection of FIVE HOLIDAY HOUSES!!!

Like I said, the first one coming home with me was Zach’s Grandmother’s house…

After a long weekend at the “One-Of-A-Kind Show”… it was refreshing to have made a new
clay friend named Zach Medler. And great to have added a new “collection” to my already
overflowing home. Some of you have seen my home and my many collections.
I really didn’t need to start another one. But I do have a great fireplace mantle…
and it needed some great ceramic holiday houses by a great ceramic artist, right?!