Tasha Biggers Pottery & Gallery

On the way to the grocery one day I saw a sign saying pottery and gallery. Of course I took a detour. This berry bowl now has a new home.

Up on a hill with a super view of Mt. Yonah is Tasha Biggers Pottery and Gallery. To see the view of Mt. Yonah click on the link to Tasha's website.

Tasha's pottery and gallery are in the walkout basement of her home but the space is nothing at all like a basement. Lots of natural light floods the space from all the windows for a wonderful area to show pottery.

Tasha's has displayed her pots on a mix of vintage hutches and tables including a porcelain sink and cabinet which used to be her grandmother's.

The oblong table would be perfect in my new home but I couldn't talk Tasha out of it. She rescued it from a woodworker who thought it wasn't good enough. Unfortunately he doesn't do commissions.

Tasha's work area is ample and well lit. The pottery is open every Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and other times by appointment.

Here's Tasha working in her studio.

Tasha graciously agreed to throw a pot while I took photos.

Tasha fires her bisque in this electric Olympic kiln.

She does her glaze fire in this gas kiln located in the kiln shed adjacent her pottery and gallery. It was great to meet a local potter and talk shop.

Tasha's husband raises koi. If you visit the pottery be sure to look in the pond where there are some of the biggest koi I've ever seen. Nothing like a pottery visit to brighten a cloudy day.

I've been under the weather this past week or so. Up next is information about the workshop I'll (hopefully) be able to make it to in mid January. Meanwhile the weather has turned downright cold; tonight is supposed to get down to six degrees with snow predicted. We're wondering why we decided to move here with all this cold weather. I keep telling myself that Spring, Summer, and Fall will be perfect and make up for all this cold. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Indian Trail Trees

Since my arrival in Georgia I've been learning more about my Native American ancestry and the history of this area. My great grandmother, a Cherokee, traveled on the Trail of Tears. My grandmother told me her mother traveled from Georgia to settle near Arkadelphia in what is now the state of Arkansas. One of the books I checked out of the library the other day is Indian Trail Trees by Elaine Jordan. I'd never heard of trail trees and the book looked intriguing. I wondered if Native Americans intentionally shaped trees to mark trails? After reading the book and doing some research I learned hardwood trees were shaped to mark routes traveled over North America for centuries.

I remembered a home we'd seen for sale; we didn't buy the house but I recalled a huge trail tree in the front yard. I went back to take a photograph of the tree which is shown in the first photograph. This massive trail tree is growing in the front yard of the home and the direction points towards the town of Cleveland Georgia. At the hip of the tree another branch has formed subsequent to the original training of this tree's central leader. The girth of the second central leader is much smaller in diameter.

Here's a diagram excerpted from the book showing one of the methods used by the Native Americans to shape a hardwood tree to form a trail tree. Trail trees were used as directional markers showing routes to resources, camp sites, and river crossings for travelers. Some trees were hollowed out at the nose so messages could be left in the trees. Sometrees were intentionally fashioned taller to show the way for travelers on horseback.

Here's another photo of the trail tree showing a distant view. I wish I had taken another photograph with me in the photo to better show the scale of the tree. Perhaps another time I'll take a trip back to see the tree. Meanwhile I'm busy reading both fictional and non fictional historical novels about Native Americans. The appraisal of our new home is completed and now all that's left is the final paperwork, more about our move in date coming soon.

Stay tuned for news about a clay workshop in North Carolina I'll be taking in the middle of January. Also coming up I'll take you on a tour of a local potter's studio here in Cleveland, Georgia. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Je Ne Sais Quoi

In our travels looking for a new home, we drove by a farm on Cooley Woods Road in Cleveland, Georgia and I asked Gary to stop. He wouldn't stop but I made a note of the location. Yesterday I went back to take photos to show you. I like to think the building above is a one room school house. The cupola struck my fancy; the details set the structure apart, don't you think?

Down the road and across the way is this small grist mill with the mill still turning water in the creek. I wonder if it's still in use today. The buildings look to be in good repair, surely someone is keeping them up. I did some research and found out this is the Johnson Grist Mill.

As we were leaving the mill I noticed a sign saying, appointment only, with a phone number. I jotted the number down and plan to go back for a closer look another time.

A short distance from the mill is this log cabin. The front door was open as if to welcome visitors inside.

There's so much inspiration here for clay, should I sgraffito the buildings on plates or should I build realistic miniatures?

Gary said we need to make this our last move so we're hoping to find a out-of-the-ordinary place. Something with ambiance. We've looked at a hundred of homes it seems but few have the special something we're looking for.

Later in the day I made the mistake of saying we needed something with je ne sais quoi. Gary immediately said what's that? He started making fun of me using words that, "No one knows what they are". I said everyone knows what je ne sais quoi means, they just don't know how to spell it. Even I didn't know how to spell it. Today I do. Curiously je ne sais quoi literally translated in French means, "I don't know what". Wait till I tell Gary that, ha.

I don't use unusual words to be snooty; I like learning and knowing different ways to describe what I see. These words somehow have a certain feeling contained in their description.  Sometimes little known words are so much better than the usual ones. Don't you think so?

Across the road was this feeder barn and the covered bridge below.

Yesterday we found a home and put an offer on it.  You might know it, someone else also put a bid on it. Seems other folks are also looking for a home with je ne sais quoi. Please keep your fingers crossed we get this one. All we can do is hope. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.