Did you hear?! The first phase of my 2-part summer collection is now live and ready to shop in the DGD Pottery Etsy storefront!

I had a custom request come through earlier on this season that I needed to get out the door ASAP, and since I was already photographing and uploading new product to my site (oil bottles!), I figured I’d surprise the rest of my ceramics-loving community with an impromptu drop of everything I currently had waiting behind the scenes.

The most exciting thing about this collection is that it features all new products. Sure, you’ll spot familiar shapes, but the designs are all brand new and feature upgraded functionality to make your daily routines feel extra special. Let’s talk about a few of my personal favorites…

Curvy Cups have been a staple within my collection since relaunching last summer, but this season I’ve up-sized the capacity of the cups so that they can fit more coffee, more matcha, more deliciousness during your sipping rituals.

I had been hearing from customers that they relied on iced drinks to get them through summer days, so the larger capacity of my Curvy Cup 2.0 design means you can fit plenty of cubes in with your drink of choice (for reference, I took them from an 8-ounce capacity to about 16 ounces). I only have four available now since I wanted to test them out first, but lots more will be available next month.

Larger lidded jars also made a first-time appearance in my collection in honor of summer. I handmade these using higher quality porcelain clay so that they could serve as heirloom-style additions to your collection. Each one comes with a custom-fitted lid, a hand-applied scallop pattern in shades of green or blue, plus plenty of room to store your favorite treasures inside. This jar is my favorite of those that are still available.

I’ve saved the best new category for last: a small batch of ceramic tile wall hangings, each featuring my one-of-a-kind hand-painted flowers. Some come in a creamy beige color while others were glazed in soft minty green, but all of them come with paintings applied using black underglaze and have hand-knotted leather cording that you can hang one of two ways—watch this video to see what I mean.

It was really satisfying to paint my signature florals on flat surfaces for a change (I’m so used to painting them on rounded cups and mugs), and it has me brainstorming other more unique ways that I can translate these nature portraits onto clay.

You can click here to peruse the new summer collection and I invite you to use the comments section of today’s newsletter to share about your favorites from the drop. If you have requests for future collections, please do tell so that I can add them to my running list of maker to-dos in my home studio. And if you’re just here to window shop, that’s totally okay too!

As for what’s next? We’ve got more upsized Curvy Cups, larger Ruffle Cups, an upgraded, more refined version of my best-selling ikebana vases, and new glaze colors, too. Mark your calendars for “Part Two” of the DGD Pottery summer collection on July 16!

Leave a comment

Artist Spotlight: Llorel Eldridge

A recurring series celebrating the ceramicists and fine artists who inspire me every day…

I met Llorel Eldridge (of L'Essentials fame!) at my very first solo market in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past spring. She was my vendor neighbor, and even though I was feeling shy/overwhelmed at that event, Llorel managed to draw me out of my shell with her effervescent personality and cheerful vibe. I learned so much from her just as a bystander to her booth, too—how to talk to customers, how to engage and hype people up for the beautiful day as folks shopped small. Oh, and of course her handmade collection is beautiful!!! Find out where Llorel will be next here on her Instagram, or shop her handmade jewelry this way if you’re not local.

Weekly editorial notes and requests…

🛒 This newsletter may contain affiliate links. This enables me to earn a small commission from the things you buy at $0 cost to you. Thanks for your support and for trusting my recommendations—rest assured that I take a lot of time to research so I’m only sharing the best of the best with you.

💻 For more of my life, home renovation, and DIY design business, follow along on my @dreamgreendiy Instagram, and check out my lifestyle blog here for even more long-form content. For pottery-themed words, photos, and videos, hop over to @dgdpottery on IG.

🧡 And last but not least, this is your sign to take that art class you’ve been thinking about. No more excuses…It could truly change your life—this newsletter is proof that it’s possible!

Share

The concept of taking breaks to recharge certainly isn’t groundbreaking or anything innovative to consider, but I personally think it’s a topic worth repeating since rest is so often taken for granted.

I also think that the idea is especially important to keep in mind if you’re an artist or small business owner who has a tremendous amount of pressure on their shoulders to produce thoughtful collections season after season.

As artists, we’re constantly (and I mean constantly) using mental energy to tap into our creativity in order to come up with fresh ideas and new work. I don’t know about you, but my brain is moving a mile a minute, whether I’m actually in my art studio or I’m lying in bed trying to sleep. Usually, there is no stopping point, and it can feel overwhelming in the biggest sense of that word.

I committed to a daily meditation practice back in 2019, and have managed to veryyyyyy slowly learn how to live more in the moment thanks to that part of my routine.

One of the most groundbreaking moments for me was when I realized that even just one mindful breath in and out counts as a meditation, and I remind myself all throughout the day to do just that—take mini mental breaks with breath work so that I can avoid burnout.

But it’s not enough.

A handful of mindful inhales and exhales throughout the day, while certainly helpful, just isn’t enough to really reset my brain. I need to step fully away from my potter’s wheel, away from the glaze lab, my email inbox, and all the rest that comes with owning a 1-woman art business.

This past Memorial Day weekend, my mom and I went on one of our seasonal trips to Colonial Williamsburg. If you’ve been following along with me for any length of time (or if we’re buddies irl), then you know how much I love CW and the historic area.

It truly is my “happy place,” and Mom agrees, so we go as often as we can to relax and reset. It’s less than two and a half hours away from home, so it’s generally an easy travel day, and once there, we can relax amongst the sights and sounds of this oh-so- special place.

Mom and I stayed at the Rochambeau Roadside Inn again (read my full review here in case you’re curious about it), and our experience was delightful, as always. My sister and her partner actually surprised us by getting a room of their own for the weekend, and the four of us had a great time turning our brains off for a couple of days.

We each booked massages at the Spa of Colonial Williamsburg, which was such a treat (I had never had a massage before!), ate delicious local food, did some indoor and outdoor yoga, and, of course, learned from historic tradesmen within the cobbled districts of CW.

Even though, truthfully, I had a little bit of work to cross off my list at the very beginning of our trip, I managed to shut my computer completely for about 36 hours, and it was pure bliss.

Now that I’m home from our getaway, I’m feeling so much more mentally and physically energized. It really is true what they say about relaxation serving as a reset in so many ways.

I threw two batches of new work in my pottery studio this past week, which is double my normal output, and I got lots of trimming and carving done, too. I reorganized my market supplies, stamped shopping bags with my brand logo, assembled a new ceramics display shelf…You can watch my amped-up productivity in action here on my DGD Pottery Instagram feed.

But the point is that my motivation was so much higher this past week, and I really think it has everything to do with the fact that I got to step away from work for most of the previous weekend. I wish I could say that I fully stepped away, but that’s just not possible in this life as an entrepreneur. Oh well! It’s worth it.

All throughout my trip I made sure to take those mindful breaths in and out that I mentioned at the beginning of today’s post. Not to help me relax during a stressful work day, which is normally the case, but instead it was to remind my brain to be fully present in the obligation-free moments I was experiencing at that time.

I remember lying face-down on that massage table at the spa gently reminding myself to quit worrying about looming deadlines and all the work I needed to make before my next market. Worrying about the future can easily rob us of some of life’s greatest experiences (professional massages firmly being within that category), and I’m grateful for the reminder that this mini vacation handed me so that I could reset and recommit to a life of balance.

What are some of your favorite ways to reset your mind throughout the year? Do you travel? Go for a long walk? Read a good book? I’d love to know how you recharge before a busy season of creative work, so leave a comment and tell us all about it!

Leave a comment

Artist Spotlight: Noelia Nuñez

A recurring series celebrating the ceramicists and fine artists who inspire me every day…

Oh, how I adore Noelia Nuñez. I’ve taken several of her painting classes over the years, and am so grateful that we’ve gotten to connect one-on-one, too. She is one of the most encouraging and supportive artists I know, and I always look forward to days when I know I get to see her and her beautiful work. If you’re local, I highly recommend signing up for one of her classes. She’s super patient, and is such a gifted teacher. You can find out where to see and shop Noelia’s handmade art here on her Instagram!

Weekly editorial notes and requests…

🛒 This newsletter may contain affiliate links. This enables me to earn a small commission from the things you buy at $0 cost to you. Thanks for your support and for trusting my recommendations—rest assured that I take a lot of time to research so I’m only sharing the best of the best with you.

💻 For more of my life, home renovation, and DIY design business, follow along on my @dreamgreendiy Instagram, and check out my lifestyle blog here for even more long-form content. For pottery-themed words, photos, and videos, hop over to @dgdpottery on IG.

🧡 And last but not least, this is your sign to take that art class you’ve been thinking about. No more excuses…It could truly change your life—this newsletter is proof that it’s possible!

Share

Have you ever heard of The Artist’s Way? I’ve known about it for years, but only just read it this past winter. I woke up on New Year’s Day ready to fully commit to an art career as a ceramicist, and thought one way that I could motivate myself and steer this newfound energy was to dive into this book.

If you haven’t heard of it, The Artist’s Way is a 12-week “program,” of sorts, that you complete by reading one chapter at a time throughout the dozen weeks. The chapters each follow a certain theme and guide you through concepts like getting beyond an artist’s block, overcoming critical thinking or comments (your own or someone else’s commentary), learning how to listen to the moments that are meant to guide us as artists, and so on.

While each chapter is a little different, there are two prompts that you are asked to do over and over again week after week: writing your artist’s pages (i.e. journaling) every day, and taking yourself on a solo artist’s date once each week. The latter is what I wanted to chat about today.

Essentially, the author requires anyone working through The Artist’s Way to take themselves on a little outing by themselves every week to satisfy their inner creative. These activities can be as obvious as going to an art opening at a gallery, to as simple as going on a walk through a nature preserve. The goal here is to get yourself out of your head and out of your studio space to breathe fresh air and see new things in the hopes that they keep creative blocks at bay.

I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t do this every single week.

I’m an introvert and a homebody (not to mention that I’m on a “starving artist” budget), so going out alone to a new place every week felt overwhelming, intimidating, and often a little too expensive. I came up with lots of ideas that didn’t cost any money, but I still struggled to fit solo artist’s dates into my calendar—although, truthfully, that statement may be coming more from a place of fear rather than true busy-ness.

At any rate, I do appreciate the concept, and love to find myself with a free afternoon to take my artistic side on a special outing. Today, I thought I’d share some of the date ideas that I came up with throughout my 12 weeks reading The Artist’s Way in case you’d like to do it on your own this year.

Summertime (or any time!) Artist Date Ideas To Try:

1. Head to a local bookstore and bee-line to their arts and crafts section. Plop down and enjoy flipping through some of the titles that spark your fancy. Treat yourself to a favorite! If budget is tight, you can always do this solo date at your local library.

2. This one is admittedly obvious, but go to your nearest art or cultural museum. Wander the exhibits, taking your time to really study the pieces until they spark ideas for your own creative projects.

3. Visit a garden nursery. Instead of looking at the plants from a gardening or consumer perspective, think of them from an artist’s point of view. What colors draw you in? What textures and shapes inspire a new art concept that you can try once you get back to your studio. Maybe pick one plant out to take home and work on a still life painting or drawing.

4. If you want to do something completely free, consider taking a walk somewhere in town, whether it’s on a city sidewalk or along a river in a park. Stop often. Look up. Look down. You could even bring a sketchbook with you if you want to jot down new compositions, or just use the time as inspirational eye candy. Let these moments remind you to appreciate all that there is to see around you.

5. Take a creative class outside of your skillset. If you’re a painter, take a ceramics class. If you’re a jewelry maker, maybe sign up to learn how to sew or knit. The new perspective may jump-start an entirely new set of ideas in your preferred medium.

6. Head to your favorite antique or secondhand store, and look only at the art work for sale. Put your figurative blinders on to block out anything else in the store, and instead focus hard on the paintings and drawings displayed on the walls. Consider what you like or don’t like about each piece, and how you might do things differently. Practicing this skill of selective sight will help hone your observational instincts once you get back to work in your studio.

7. Go shopping at a local art supply store, and choose two or three materials that you’ve never worked with before. Maybe ask a sales rep to suggest their favorites and take their suggestions to heart when you later sit down to work with the new-to-you mediums.

8. Art, of course, isn’t just tangible things like paintings and sculptures. It’s in the music we love to listen to, the books we read, the poetry we write. Schedule yourself to go to a book signing where the author is planned to give a reading. Or go hear your local symphony play. Art is about using your senses, so commit to exercising them through all sorts of creative events.

I hope those ideas sparked some motivation to get yourself out there and see where these moments might lead you as you create at home, at work, or in life in general.

One of my personal favorite artist dates during my time reading The Artist’s Way was when I took my sketchbook to a local coffee shop. I sat by myself at a table and drew flowers for an hour or two, and then I jotted down my morning pages in my journal afterward.

It was my favorite outing for a couple of reasons. Number one, it got me out of the house to work somewhere new. I ended up connecting with an artist at a neighboring table who said how excited he was to see someone else drawing at the coffee shop, gesturing around at all of the people looking at their phones or working on laptops (it was refreshing to see someone else ignoring their digital screens!). Second, the act of sitting in a busy, loud coffee shop to work on my art and, later, to journal, helped me practice my ability to tune out the noise of life to focus on my own thoughts and ideas.

All this to say that you never know what will spark something new, exciting, and fulfilling in your life as a creative human being! Do you have some artist date ideas of your own to share? Have you read The Artist’s Way? Leave a comment and let me know.

Leave a comment

Artist Spotlight: Emily Wool

A recurring series celebrating the ceramicists and fine artists who inspire me every day…

This week I’m spot-lighting the work of Emily Wool from Emily Ruth Prints. I’ve been following along with this artist on social media for years, but finally got to see her and her work in person a couple of weeks ago at the Crozet Arts & Crafts Festival. I’m so drawn to the colors Emily uses and the nature-inspired patterns that she comes up with. Her block printing makes ordinary objects (makeup bags, zipper pouches, purses) feel like a really special part of your day and routine. Shop her collection here on her website or in person every Saturday at the Charlottesville City Market.

Weekly editorial notes and requests…

🛒 This newsletter contains affiliate links. This enables me to earn a small commission from the things you buy at $0 cost to you. Thanks for your support and for trusting my recommendations—rest assured that I take a lot of time to research so I’m only sharing the best of the best with you.

💻 For more of my life, home renovation, and DIY design business, follow along on my @dreamgreendiy Instagram, and check out my lifestyle blog here for even more long-form content. For pottery-themed words, photos, and videos, hop over to @dgdpottery on IG.

🧡 And last but not least, this is your sign to take that art class you’ve been thinking about. No more excuses…It could truly change your life—this newsletter is proof that it’s possible!

Share

If you’re a working artist, vintage seller, baker, maker of any kind, then you know we’re in the midst of market season. If you’re not a maker but just love to shop handmade goods, then you probably have picked up on this fact, too, as you’ve seen event announcements all over your social media feeds and tents popping up along downtown sidewalks.

Personally, I love this season as both an artist and a shopper of handmade items. I love seeing all of the colorful booths lining our local farmer’s markets and at the entries to my favorite wineries and country grocery stores. It’s such a delight to see what people have been up to while locked away in their studios during the colder months at the beginning of the year.

As you may have heard, I had my first art market of the year just a week and a half ago, and I’ve got another one scheduled for this weekend. I’ll be back in the same spot on First Street on the downtown mall in Charlottesville, Virginia, selling handmade pieces from my ceramics collection, as well as a brand new item that I debuted in honor of these two markets: signed prints of my flower drawings (which I use as reference for floral cups and platters, like this in my collection).

I’ve spent the entire week prepping for this weekend’s market, and I thought you might be interested to hear what actually goes into planning for a show/sale. I’m still very new to this side of the ceramics business, of course, but I learned a lot during my last market, and wanted to offer insight in case you’re an artist looking to apply to markets this spring and summer.

First, of course, you need to make, make, and then make some more. I worked nearly every day to build up my collection for these events so that I had plenty of stock to share with shoppers. I was constantly in and out of my home studio working at the wheel and glazing/firing at our community studio. I worked morning, afternoon, and night hours for weeks leading up to the event, and that energy paid off because now I’ve got plenty of extra pieces to fill my booth with.

Speaking of my booth, this was something that I spent just as much time preparing for as I did on the ceramics themselves. I’ve been deep in research mode since last fall when I realized that I was going to need to start doing markets to support my business, and found a lot of great inspiration on YouTube (I’ll share a whole Substack on my favorite artist YouTubers soon, but Monica Razak helped so much as I was planning out my market setup).

After looking at other peoples’ setups and visiting art markets in person, I came away with lots of ideas so that by the time I was arranging a mock booth in my basement studio, it was quick and easy.

These types of wooden crates seemed to be a big trend in other booths that I saw online, so I made sure to include those in my final table styling (they double as totes to transport goods, too, of course!), and having a variety of heights is important so shoppers can see a bunch of your pieces at once. I invested in these wooden risers for that purpose, and also grabbed this tiered display shelf specifically for my art prints so people could rifle through them easily.

Signage also seemed to be an important part of the booth designs I was seeing online and in person, so I grabbed a few inexpensive frames to have for my table that called out certain items and listed their prices.

I’m actually planning on adding a few additional price signs to my setup this next go-round since I had a couple shoppers asking how much items cost, and I never want that to be an ambiguous part of my shoppers’ experience. I tag every single piece on my table with a sticker on the back, so I’m going to make a larger framed sign that says this so shoppers know where to look for that information.

Having a game plan for setup is also really important before heading into a market. The hosts of this particular event have been awesome about sharing vendor directions ahead of time, so I knew exactly when to arrive, how to unload, and the dimensions of my space.

When I set up a mock booth in my home studio, I intentionally laid things out according to the 10x4-foot space that I knew I’d have come market day. That allowed me to play around with different table arrangements, and I finally landed on what you see in today’s post: one 6-foot table set up long ways in my space, and a 4x2-foot table laid out perpendicular to the 6-foot table to create an L-shape. I used the extra 2-foot section at the back of the 4-foot table (behind the prints display and wooden crate) as my wrapping and payments station.

I spent weeks and weeks planning, researching, and testing out my market setup (this cart ended up being a life-saver during setup and breakdown, by the way), and because of all that extra work, I managed to have a really calm and easy-going market day. Here’s hoping that this weekend’s event goes just as smoothly.

Are you a working artist who does markets? Do you have tips of your own to share? Please share your advice in the comments since I’m still very new to this and am constantly looking for new ideas and booth hacks to try. Surprisingly, I find this part of the business to be so much fun!

And if you’re a shopper, then what do you look for in a booth when you’re at a market event? What makes you comfortable enough to engage with a seller and consider making an investment? Your perspective is absolutely critical, so if you’re willing to share your thoughts, I’d be so grateful.

Leave a comment

Artist Spotlight: Erinn LeClair

A recurring series celebrating the ceramicists and fine artists who inspire me every day…

This week I wanted to shoutout Erinn, of Tall Girl Pottery. We both work at Make Waynesboro Clay Studio, and I’ve also had the privilege of being a student in one of her throwing classes. She’s so patient, creative, and generous with her advice within the world of ceramics (and life, too!). You’re a really lucky person if you can call her your friend, and I highly recommend starting a collection of her gorgeous modern pottery in your own home. Follow Erinn on Instagram at @tallgirlpottery to find out where she’ll be selling her beautiful ceramics next!

Weekly editorial notes and requests…

🛒 This newsletter contains affiliate links. This enables me to earn a small commission from the things you buy at $0 cost to you. Thanks for your support and for trusting my recommendations—rest assured that I take a lot of time to research so I’m only sharing the best of the best with you.

💻 For more of my life, home renovation, and DIY design business, follow along on my @dreamgreendiy Instagram, and check out my lifestyle blog here for even more long-form content. For pottery-themed words, photos, and videos, hop over to @dgdpottery on IG.

🧡 And last but not least, this is your sign to take that art class you’ve been thinking about. No more excuses…It could truly change your life—this newsletter is proof that it’s possible!

Share

Popping in to let you know that, if you’re local, you can shop my handmade pottery in person this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia! I’ll be taking part in the First Street Flea event hosted by Darling x Dashing Boutique and Old Flame Secondhand & Vintage on Saturday, April 18, from 10-3pm.

There will be more than 20 crafters, artisans, and vintage vendors, plus baked goods to enjoy, too, so I think it’s going to be a blast! We’ll be set up on the downtown mall alongside Darling Boutique on 1st Street South.

My booth is going to have lots of brand new items available, including ceramic magnets, large utensil crocks, scallop bowls, professional prints of my flower drawings, and “Peace Petals” (think: sensory worry stones). And this, of course, is all in addition to my bestsellers, like matcha bowls and ikebana vases.

I can’t wait to introduce you to this new collection if you can come out and shop in person, but don’t worry if you’re not local.

Since I use my Etsy shop to populate my Square POS for local markets, all of the items will be available to shop online, too, so my long-distance shoppers can still take advantage of the new goodies from afar. As always, my prices are exactly the same, whether you’re shopping in person or out of state.

The new collection will be live online later this week ahead of the market, so if you want to snag the best pieces, keep an eye on the DGD Pottery Etsy shop on Thursday or Friday, depending on how far ahead I get this week as I work to prep for the event.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Share

Eight years in, I still consider myself to be fairly new to the working world of ceramics, but marketing myself and building a cohesive brand is something that I’ve actually been doing for a decade and a half.

I’ve been designing and re-designing my own website since 2011 when I launched my DIY decorating blog, and I have plenty of experience putting together my own brand board with selected fonts, hex color codes, and logos. Curating a brand-specific social media presence has been part of my everyday working life for 15 years, too, so even though my focus is gradually shifting from home décor to pottery, I feel pretty confident creating an overall “feeling” that my audience can recognize and respond to over time.

(Photos below by Veronique Ione)

Speaking of time, though, I have to admit that creating a concrete brand if you’re an artist or content creator, like me, really does take exactly that. It takes time to experiment at the beginning to find out what you want to create. It takes time to practice that work over and over until you can reliably produce something that fits within your “core” body of work.

In my own experience, it took years for me to learn enough about ceramics and the kinds of pieces I wanted to create before I felt comfortable enough considering it a business. And I’m not alone. I often hear this same perspective spoken by other ceramicists.

Finding a signature style isn’t something that happens overnight. But it’s there within you! It just takes a kind of dogged confidence that you’ll find it at the end of a long line of work—work that you’ll probably be very embarrassed to look back on someday. I say this with a smile on my face, by the way. If you’re an established artist reading this, then you probably know exactly what I mean.

So, what have I been doing behind the scenes to establish a true brand for DGD Pottery? Well, I hate to say it because I know how non-specific this is going to sound, but a lot of it comes down to trust.

I never in a million years could have predicted the look of the work that I’m now producing for my shop. I honestly assumed that I’d end up creating very traditional Japanese-inspired, earth-toned pottery—the sorts of pieces that I love to study and invest in for my own collection.

But since deciding that I was going to give up control and just create, create, create, I’ve come away with very modern work in far more poppy, playful colors than I ever had reached for before in the glaze lab. In other words, the evolution of my style has been very organic and led entirely by my gut.

I couldn’t recommend this methodology more if you’re working to establish yourself in your art career, or, really, whatever type of work you’re in. Get in a flow state from time and time and listen to those moments of clarity that come when you let the quiet take over. I’ve always found that that’s where the truth lies.

Once I started to see a consistent body of work coming out of my home studio, I knew that I was on the right track. The pieces felt really good together, and they all had a unified “voice.” The colors looked balanced alongside each other, and I loved the repeated references to nature, specifically flowers.

I finally felt like I was headed somewhere with my art, and I decided to let those colors and forms take over other areas of my work, like my portfolio website, business cards, market displays, “Thank you” postcards, and banners.

So that’s my next tip if you’ve come to this post for advice. Let your art actually dictate the digital brand and marketing materials you use. Pull colors and motifs directly from your work and use them in your shop supplies and on your website so that they speak to each other.

Like I mentioned earlier, you’ll want to create an overall feeling with your brand that your customers and followers immediately recognize when scrolling through all of the other noise online. Pinpoint ways that your work stands out from the crowd and find ways to do that over and over again in your brand materials.

Finally, don’t forget that while your art and content are the body of your brand, you are the soul behind it. People want to actually see you, so step out from behind your easel, throwing wheel, or whatever it may be to prove how confident you are about the path you’re on. Your brand wouldn’t exist without you, so schedule a photoshoot in your studio where you’re the star.

I don’t enjoy getting in front of a camera, but I decided that there was no better way to announce to the world that this business of mine was the “real deal” than with professional photos of me right there in the thick of things.

I put a call out on social media asking for interest from local photographers, and fate linked me up with Veronique Ione. I’ll tell you—she and I had so. much. fun. that day laughing and playing in my studio! It’s such a delight to work with fellow creatives who are up for going with the flow and just seeing what happens.

The headshots that Veronique took of me with my pottery are more than just brand-building tools to me. They mark a really special and transformative time in my life. I honestly can’t convey how grateful I am to her for understanding my vision and for creating photos that actually make me proud enough to declare that DGD Pottery is a brand that people should (hopefully!) pay attention to.

Whether you came to this post because you’re a fan of DGD Pottery (thank you!), a Dream Green DIY blog reader (I appreciate you so much!), or you’re an artist looking for advice on building your business visually, I hope you were able to glean a tidbit or two that made you really think about what it means to be uniquely you in whatever you’ve decided to focus on in work or in life.

As always, if you’ve got advice of your own to share, please tell all in the comments or shoot me a message so we can keep the conversation going.

Leave a comment

Artist Spotlight: Jamie Griffin

A recurring series celebrating the ceramicists and fine artists who inspire me every day…

As much as I love Instagram for quick hits of creative inspiration, my heart really belongs to long-form content as a viewer. I love finding fellow ceramicists with active YouTube channels who are willing to throw open their studio doors and let us in on the details of their process making art. Jamie Griffin is a standout favorite of mine. Her pottery is just so happy, and I love the high quality, cinematic vibe of her channel. Follow Jamie on Instagram at @itswonky and shop her spring ceramics collection (that just dropped!) this way.

Weekly editorial notes and requests…

🛒 This newsletter contains affiliate links. This enables me to earn a small commission from the things you buy at $0 cost to you. Thanks for your support and for trusting my recommendations—rest assured that I take a lot of time to research so I’m only sharing the best of the best with you.

💻 For more of my life, home renovation, and DIY design business, follow along on my @dreamgreendiy Instagram, and check out my lifestyle blog here for even more long-form content. For pottery-themed words, photos, and videos, hop over to @dgdpottery on IG.

🧡 And last but not least, this is your sign to take that art class you’ve been thinking about. No more excuses…It could truly change your life—this newsletter is proof that it’s possible!

Share

Just a quick, quick drop-in this lovely Monday morning to let you know you that the new Spring 2026 collection is live and ready to shop! Click over to the DGD Pottery Etsy store here to see the latest ceramics to come out of my home studio, including new colors of pieces from my core collection, plus plenty of one-of-a-kind treasures to choose from.

I hope you love this pastel-hued, nature-inspired batch of work! Please comment on today’s newsletter and let me know your favorites from the drop, and if you don’t see something you’d love to have in your personal ceramics collection, let me know since I’m always adding customer requests to my studio to-do list. My next shop update will be this summer, so I’ll be sure to take your suggestions into account as I prep for that. Thanks in advance for your feedback and support!

Leave a comment

Share

I’m currently working like mad behind the scenes this weekend to prep for my spring 2026 shop update on Etsy, including shooting photos (I edited 448 photos and 55 videos this morning from bed), adding price stickers and SKUs (thanks for your help, Mom!), and measuring things so you know exactly what to expect if you’re ordering from afar.

Keep scrolling for a few sneak peeks of my favorites from this collection. I’m really excited about the new mug shapes I’ve been playing around with, and I’ve evolved into more painterly floral designs, too. I hope you’re able to snag your favorites on Monday when the collection officially goes live.

I’ll be sending out another newsletter on Monday to launch the collection, so keep an eye out for that. By the way, I promise not to regularly flood your inbox with emails if you’re subscribed or following this newsletter. It just happens to be an exciting time in the DGD Pottery studio, and I want to make sure you know all about it if you’re interested. Thanks, as always, for your support, and I hope you’re also enjoying a colorful, creative, and bustling wrap-up to wintertime at the moment.

Share

It has been about eight months since I decided to take my part-time pottery business full-time, and I haven’t rethought that decision for even a moment. In case you didn’t know, I started my pottery journey eight years ago back in 2018 when I randomly signed up for a wheel-throwing class at our local community studio, Make Waynesboro.

My beginning in this art form was humbling, to say the least. I remember walking in full of confidence with a lifetime’s worth of experience in studio art under my belt, including clay sculpture, but I had never sat down at a pottery wheel before. Turns out that it really is harder than full-time ceramicists make it look, and tears were definitely shed after my first class.

I didn’t give up, though, and kept taking class after class after class. With practice, I slowly improved, and with the support of the instructors and the owner of Make Waynesboro, I eventually flourished and officially declared pottery my “thing” in life. It has been the most challenging type of fun I’ve ever experienced in life, and I’m hopeful that making it my main business focus is something that can sustain me into retirement. That’s the goal, and I’ve never been one to shy away from a creative challenge. If you know, you know.

You may be familiar with the fact that I also write a lifestyle blog called Dream Green DIY, which launched 15 years ago. I’ve loved having the chance to write freely on that platform about my passion for interior design, cooking, pet parenthood, crafting, and more.

Since relaunching DGD Pottery in a bigger way last summer and setting up my home studio, I’ve found myself craving a similar kind of platform where I could write specifically about ceramics. And that’s how I landed here today with my very first newsletter under the DGD Pottery brand name.

My plan with this space is to offer more behind the scenes insight into running a small ceramics business from my home. I’ll be sharing peeks into my work process, doodles that I hope will turn themselves into fully formed pottery pieces, interviews with fellow artists who inspire me, and, of course, Etsy shop updates. Subscribers will be the very first to know about upcoming drops in my Etsy store, and you’ll also get exclusive discount codes just because you’re here.

I’ll finish with this…I’m just so grateful for your support, whether that’s a comment over on Instagram, a silent “Like” here on Substack, resharing my content, or a purchase on Etsy. No touch point is too small and I notice and appreciate every single notification/alert I get from you guys. Thank you for being part of this community, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come from my DGD Pottery newsletter!

Leave a comment

Artist Spotlight: Jake Johnson

A recurring series celebrating the ceramicists and fine artists who inspire me every day…

Well, of course, I have to start with my boss/mentor, Jake Johnson. He’s the founder of Make Waynesboro Clay Studio here in Waynesboro, Virginia, where I got my start and where I continue to work as Jake’s glazing and shop assistant. His art blows me away every day, and I so appreciate his willingness to pass pottery knowledge along to others. I owe everything to him when it comes to my pottery. Follow him on Instagram at @jakesclayart and shop his ceramics collection on Etsy this way.

Weekly editorial notes and requests…

🛒 This newsletter contains affiliate links. This enables me to earn a small commission from the things you buy at $0 cost to you. Thanks for your support and for trusting my recommendations—rest assured that I take a lot of time to research so I’m only sharing the best of the best with you.

💻 For more of my life, home renovation, and DIY design business, follow along on my @dreamgreendiy Instagram, and check out my lifestyle blog here for even more long-form content. For pottery-themed words, photos, and videos, hop over to @dgdpottery on IG.

🧡 And last but not least, this is your sign to take that art class you’ve been thinking about. No more excuses…It could truly change your life—this newsletter is proof that it’s possible!

Share