Saturday, March 30, 2024

New for 2024: Plan Your Tour App!

 


Now you can plan your pottery road trip right from the website! With support from the Maine Arts Commission, we've created the Plan Your Tour app. Here's how it works:

How do I use the Plan My Tour Web App?

Step 1: Find some studios you plan to visit.

On the home page of our website https://mainepotterytour.org you can browse studios in the 7 legs of the tour. These legs are based on where they are located in Maine and include: Central, Coastal, Southern, Portland, Western, Downeast and Northern. Click on the legs to view a list of studios.

find studios

*Note that you can also use the search to find studios as well.

When you see a studio you are interested in, click the “Check out [studio name]” button to view that studio. If you’d like to add it to your tour plan, simply click the “Add to Trip” button.

find studios example

Step 2: Add your Email to your Tour Plan

The Plan My Tour Web App uses cookies to save your studio selections to the smart phone, computer or other device you are using. You can view your tour plan on other devices if you enter your email to the “My Settings/Preferences” section and click “Update”. You will then be emailed a 6 digit number to verify your email.

On any other device you would like to view your tour map, simply “Login”. No passwords necessary, you will login by getting another 6 digit code sent to the email you have associated with your map.

login to plan your tour

Step 3: Visit Studios and Get Badges!

On May 4th and 5th, use your Plan My Tour App, to keep track of all the studios you plan to visit. When you have visited a studio, click the “Mark Visited” button on that studio in your list. You may receive badges, if that’s the case the badges will pop up on your screen. Badges are based on the number of studios you have visited and there are also badges for visiting each leg of the tour.

mark visited

Please keep in mind:

*You will need an internet connection for the Plan My Tour Web App to function and cellular connections can be spotty in some places around the state of Maine. If you visit a studio where cellular connections are weak, just go back to the app later and mark it visited when you have a better connection.

*This web app will function to some extent if you have disabled cookies on your device but you will definitely want to enter an email in your tour plan settings so you can retrieve it later. You will likely need to login to your tour plan multiple times on the tour if cookies are disabled.

Friday, March 22, 2024

The 2024 Maine Pottery Tour, May 4th & 5th

It's time to plan your pottery road trip! The 2024 Maine Pottery Tour is happening May 4th & 5th this year! With 70+ studios, this is our biggest event to date. 
New to the tour this year: 

  • Kevin Keiser Ceramics, Cape Elizabeth
  • Honey Bee Hill Ceramics, Rockport
  • The Muddy Cricket, Houlton - our first Northern region studio! 
  • Orange River Artisans, Whiting
  • The Cellar Co, Kennebunk
  • Laceypots, Portland
  • Back Pond Pottery, Windsor
  • The Art of Clay Studio, Waterville
  • Pottery by Celia, Naples
  • Chouinard Ceramics, Edgecomb
  • Cobscook Institute Pottery Studio, Lubec
  • Campfire Pottery, Gray
  • Cary P. Frye Pottery, Biddeford
  • Crow Town Gallery, Lubec
So much to see! Visit our website to start planning your pottery road trip! 

Friday, February 24, 2023

Friday, February 17, 2023

Dopamine Dining

 I keep reading this phrase: dopamine dressing. I hadn't heard it until recently but I immediately knew what it meant. We've all done it! Colors that make you happy, jeans that make your butt look amazing, clothes that just feel very you & make you happy. 

I've started to think of using handmade dishware as dopamine dining. A mug or bowl that you love, that reflects an attitude of joy or serenity or high energy, or makes you smile - gives you what I call joy-zings but what might also be called dopamine hits. If you improve your experience of ordinary activities - & what could be more ordinary than preparing & eating food & drink? - you've improved your daily life. And guess what? Your daily life is the only life you have!

Tl;dr: Buy & use handmade pottery. See ya at the Maine Pottery Tour, May 6 & 7! 

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Save the Date! May 6 & 7

 

Spring will be here before we know it, and the 2023 Maine Pottery Tour is only 3 months away! This year the tour happens on Saturday, May 6 & Sunday, May 7. 

We are shaping up to have more than 60 studios on the tour this year, from Portsmouth (YES I KNOW - but it's almost Maine!) to Philips, to several studios in the Blue Hill area. 

Pottery, sculpture, bright earthenware, subtle atmospheric pots...there's something for every lover of the ceramic arts. We hope to see you there! 

Sunday, April 17, 2022

The Printable Maps are Here!

Printable flyers for each of the regions are available at the links below. Each has a full list of participating studios in that region, with the address, (in most cases) a photo, and a map to help you plan your route. 

Links here:



Central Region 







Coastal Region







Southern Region







Portland Region


Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Brownie Troop Earns Pottery Badge at Peeper Pond Studio


Members of Girl Scout Brownie Troop 1097 earned their Potter Badge this fall with the help of Fiddlehead Center for the Arts and Peeper Pond Studio.

The twelve Scarborough second- and third-graders learned how to work with clay at Fiddlehead.  They created leaf print pinch pots, painted ceramic tiles to be glazed, and sculpted using polymer clay.  After the pieces dried and were fired in a kiln, they returned to glaze their pieces before a final firing.

The girls also toured  Peeper Pond Studio, a working pottery studio in Scarborough.  There they learned about the different ways of shaping and decorating clay.  Several of the girls tried using the wheel.  Everyone had a fun, muddy time.


Troop Leader, Kristy Capponi says that “The experience of working with clay is invaluable for self esteem and self expression.  It allowed the girls to learn how to solve problems in a safe setting.”  Clay also has a uniquely therapeutic quality that engages students for hours, improving sensory development, motor skills, discipline, and pride.

 “The girls learned that the little details make a big difference.”  Says Ellen McCarthy of Peeper Pond Studio.

Brownie Troop 1097 will have a display of their work at Peeper Pond Studio during the Maine Pottery Tour April 30th and May 1st.

Sunday, March 20, 2022

A Full List of Participating Studios

 Here are all the studios participating in the 2022 Maine Pottery Tour. You can plan your trip with our interactive Google map! 






Thursday, March 3, 2022

Check Out the Online Interactive Map!

Ain't technology wonderful? Our online map will interact with your cell phone - choose your stops &plan your route! Check it out at this link. 

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Save the Dates! April 30th & May 1st


There's been some confusion about the dates of the Maine Pottery Tour this year. It's always the first weekend in May, but we schedule to avoid Mother's Day, so that our participating potters who are Moms (or have Moms, or whose children have Moms) can celebrate that day with their families. 

As a result, this year the tour lands on April 30th & May 1st. We hope to see you! 

Lori

Event Organizer, Maine Pottery Tour


Saturday, January 15, 2022

Funded in Part


 "The Maine Pottery Tour is funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts."

The is the first time I can say that! The Maine Arts Commission put out a call late last year for an Artist Jobs Grant - there was a very short window between the announcement & the deadline! - and I am delighted to say we were chosen for funding.

What does it mean? It means we can pay our web designer & our publicist, and me, the organizer, for the first time. It also means a big advertising push, both online & in print. Since the beginning of the tour I've been cautious about growing the number of studios, because the success of the event is not just more stops - it's more audience. I've worked hard to grow the numbers of visitors, and let the numbers of studios grow organically. This year, with a little funding, I look forward to out most successful year yet.

The Maine Pottery Tour is happening Saturday April 30th & Sunday May 1st. See you in the spring! 

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Get the Maps! Printable Maps of the Pottery Tour are now available

 


If you are planning your pottery tour weekend, you need a map! Or more than one. There are 3 regions of the tour: the Southern region, the Coastal region, & the Central Region. You'll find printable maps at the links. 
Or use our interactive online map! 

Visit our website, mainepotterytour.org, for a full list of studios participating in the Maine Pottery Tour 2021. 

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Get Ready for the Maine Pottery Tour, May 1 & 2

 

After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the Maine Pottery Tour is back! It's happening this year on May 1st & 2nd with 43 studios participating. 

The pottery tour is an opportunity to meet local potters & ceramic artists, see their working spaces, and shop for handmade pottery & other fine handmade goods. It's like Maple Sugar Sunday, only for pottery! 
For a list of participating studios, check out the Maine Pottery Tour website. For a google map you can load into your phone, click here: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.9489129,-71.2854808,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1rGOOjdwHY01lzWp-p8XcS_qjNHGFMjZO

Let me just toss in a plug for my studio, Fine Mess Pottery, where I will be unloading a kiln Saturday morning! 

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The List At Last

Here's the list of stops on this year's Maine Pottery Tour:
In Central Maine, there are 13 tour destinations:

Fine Mess Pottery 131 Cony St, Augusta
Red Door Pottery, 14 North Pearl St, Augusta
Hallowell Clay Works 157 Water St, Hallowell
The Potters House 82 Stevenstown Rd, Litchfield
The Potter’s Shed 605 Hallowell-Litchfield Rd West Gardiner
d harwood Pottery 196D Main St, Winthrop
Maple Lane Pottery, 36 Greeley Rd, Windsor
Loken Pottery 26 Bowman St, Farmingdale
Whitefield Pottery 442 Howe Rd, Whitefield
Rob Sieminski Bog Pond Rd, Phillips
Martha Grover & Josh Rysted 630 West Bethel Rd, Bethel
Tim Fischer Pottery 394 Ridge Rd Lisbon
Barbara Walch Pottery 33 Knox Station Rd, Thorndike




On the Coastal leg of the Tour, there are 11 stops:Chouinard Ceramics, 75 Main St, Wiscasset
Al Scovern/West Third Ceramics, 108 Congress St, Belfast
Van Der Ven Studios 257 Main St, Lincolnville
Fireside Pottery 1478 Camden Rd, Warren
Neighborhood Clay & Liz Proffetty Ceramics 590 Maine St, Damariscotta
Jody Johnstone Pottery, 135 Webster Rd, Swanville
Barbara Walch Pottery, 33 Knox Station Rd, Thorndike
Good Land Pottery, 487 Morese Rd, Montville
Pottery Farm 943 Belfast Rd, Knox
Everyday Pottery 103 Northport Rd, Belmont
Prescott Hill Pottery 261 Prescott Hill Rd, Liberty 




In Southern Maine, 13 studios are participating:


Zwellyn Pottery 20 Spencer Ln, Limington
Wendy Twitchell Porcelain 232 Beachwood Ave, Kennebunkport
Pottery Girl 1104 Pequawket Tr, Standish
Portland Pottery 118 Washington Ave, Portland
Homeport Pottery 131 Beachwood Ave, Kennebunkport
Peeper Pond Studios, 18 Mast Rd, Scarborough
Chris Davis Pottery 81 Seabury Rd, York
Shannon Wong Pottery 59 St George St, Portland
Delany Arts, 20 Center St, Yarmouth
Southern Maine Clay Guild, 22 Government Ave, Kittery
Ash Cove Pottery, 75 Ash Cove Rd, Harpswell
Ocean Fire Pottery, 23 Woodbridge Rd, York
Chase’s Garage, 16 Main St, York

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Coming Soon to a Mailbox Near You!

The 2019 Maine Pottery Tour postcards are on their way! The postcards themselves have become something of a collector's item. This year's card features the work of 10 artists, representing a slice of what you might see on the tour. If you want to get on the mailing list, give me a shout at info@finemesspottery.com.

To see a full list of studios on the tour, check out www.mainepotterytour.org;
For an online map of the full tour, click here.
Click the links for a printable map of the Central, Coastal, or Southern regions of the tour.