This piece has become, over the years, my logo - for a couple of reasons.  It's perfect proportionally for a business card; but mostly because it's striking and draws a lot of attention at shows.  It is intended for display but is also very functional.  My customers have come up with many ideas for using it, like salsas, jams & honey, or toppings like seeds, parmesan, etc.  It is about 20" long and each jar holds about 12 ounces.  I give the pointed ends on the jars a lot of attention during the making to ensure that they are smooth and compressed, have a proper thickness, so that they are chip-resistant (and nice to the touch).  The set sells for $379.

My first exposure ever to making ceramics was in the early 90s when I went back to school intending to get a degree in art to augment my sign painting career.  On a lark, I enrolled in a pottery class - OMG, as they say.  There are a lot of things I've loved over the years: drawing and painting, organic gardening, the Montessori method, to name a few; but this...!  My heart would pound on the way to class and every possible spare minute was spent at the school.  (Security pushed me out at 10pm.)  Although I started with stoneware, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to learn how to do majolica, having seen, and never forgotten, imports from Portugal at the Peppercorn in Boulder.  No one was really doing it at the time, so we had to figure it out, eventually finding workshops with Walter Ostrom and Linda Arbuckle.  Majolica is a touchy process and there were quite a few very discouraging moments, but I finally had an aha! moment here and another one there as I read and experimented, resolving the problems.  Over the years, I've progressed, of course, and like many artists, I find the early work embarrassing; but it has been a joy and a real lesson in persevering through difficulty to pursue a dream.