http://www.AlexisMoyerPottery.com/

The Pot Shop, 7450 Highway 128, Philo, CA (2026)

05/30/2026

Wise as an Owl

Often the pieces that come out of the kiln serve as the muse for my weekly story, inspiring me to share what I was thinking about when I created them, or perhaps they trigger something in my thoughts or memories that I share.

This week it was my new friend, “Sugar,” who emerged from the kiln to serve as my muse.

‘Sugar’ arrived with interesting timing because, to me, owls symbolize thoughtfulness and wisdom. A few days earlier I had received a blog about ‘AI’ from Seth Godin, who always has interesting kernels of wisdom. I was still thinking about this blog because it was not about the ‘AI’ that is on everyone’s minds these days but the other one, Actual Intelligence. He sent a list that made stop and think about what we bring to the world as individual people. Here’s his post:

The Real AI
To quote the great Steve Wozniak, “Actual Intelligence.” The kind we’re born with and can develop if we choose. It’s worth more now than ever before. Alas, it’s rarely taught in school.
The difficult work of making choices.
The act of curation.
The responsibility of putting your name on it.
The judgment to ask the right questions and skip the other ones.
The imperative to ship useful work.
The pursuit of good taste.
The patience to sit with the right problem rather than solving the wrong one.
The generosity to create for someone specific.
Seeking justice.
Offering dignity.
Knowing when to stop.
Investing in deep empathy, not a shallow substitute.
Taking initiative and doing the reading.
Being patient, or impatient, depending on what’s needed.
Ignoring the noise.
Making something that matters.
Caring.

This list really struck me as being worth thinking about. There’s so much concern about AI taking over jobs but it’s important to remember that it can’t take over being human. The acts of caring, generosity and creativity are human actions that can’t be replicated by a machine.

The friendships and connections that I’ve made through sharing my pottery over the years won’t ever be replaced by a computer. You all have enriched my life beyond measure and I hope the handmade pieces, those created with care and love that you have collected and live with, have equally enriched your life as well.

So, this week I salute each of us as we take those quiet moments to use our actual intelligence to do the things that make us truly human and so truly valuable to our friends, family and community.

If you were to choose one item from the list to focus on this week, which would it be?

‘Sugar’ is available for adoption. She’s 11” tall x 7” x 4” and sits in an antique sugar jar. I love the way the lid becomes an almost botanical type of hat. A night cap for a night owl.

She’s $375. Send me an email if you’d like to adopt her.

05/23/2026

https://mailchi.mp/1a3b99b497f4/unexpected-inspiration-10950708

05/16/2026

Mood Lighting

The other day I dropped into my friend Rob’s workshop. It’s a cute little outbuilding beside the house. I’d seen it many times when I’d been out on a walk but never been inside before. Rob was sitting at his workbench sorting nuts and bolts into little jars. The whole place had a snug, cozy feeling, like a place where someone could sit and tinker for hours on a project. But what really caught my attention was the chandelier. It was so delightfully unexpected, so playful and just so perfect that I had to smile all the way down to my toes. It made me realize how much a light fixture can really change the feeling of a room.

These days a lot of our residential lighting comes from recessed ceiling fixtures of one kind or another. The accent lighting we choose to add can really make a statement and set the tone and mood of the room. So, with inspiration from Rob’s chandelier, I created a pair of lamps for my daughter’s night stands. I decided to make them look like a cairn of colored stones – I do love things that stack!

I have always admired colored stones in creek beds. They get polished by the flow of water over time and sparkle like jewels (with such a variety of colors!) as the water passes over them. I wanted my lamps to bring back the feeling of the creek bed so I created a bunch of colored ceramic ‘stones’ and stacked them in different orders until I had two lamps were the same height with a pleasing flow of colors.

They are quite beautiful even with the light turned off and sparkle wonderfully when the bulbs are turned on. This is one of those times when I wish I was a better photographer because I truly couldn’t capture the magic of the light on the beads – it washes out in my pictures instead of showing the true shine - you’ll have to use your imagination a bit here.

Now that I’ve been thinking about light, I have some other lamp ideas I want to try out so I guess I’m journeying down the lamp maker path for a while. I am so grateful that I can let myself explore what interests me and go where my imagination takes me. I know it is a privilege to be able to create at will and I think it keeps my work interesting to take these little side journeys.

Thanks for your support for what I do and let me know if you need a lamp while I’m in lamp mode!

05/09/2026

Testing, Testing…
My new website

This week I did a soft launch of my new website. This is a project that I’ve been working on for a while now with the help of Shannon Borg. Shannon has mentored me through the building process doing a lot of the work for me, which was so appreciated as I’m truly not a tech type person.

The new site is AlexisMoyer.com If you peruse the site and find anything amiss - typos, broken links, etc., I’d appreciate it if you’d let me know. I’m trying to fix the flaws before I officially launch. Please let me know if you are using the desktop or mobile version so I know where to fix– thanks in advance for helping me proofread!

My other testing project, and a much more fun one for me, has been starting to develop a glaze with clay I brought back from Louisiana. I’ve noticed that when I dig a hole at my house there the ‘dirt’ sticks to the shovel in a very tenacious way. When I scrape it off the shovel it’s adhered itself to my boots. So, I thought I’d make a little pinch pot with this sticky clay and put it into the kiln to see what would happen.

The clay fired out to a rich dark brown and was ever so slightly sagging, just beginning to melt. Naturally I got excited about its potential to make a beautiful glaze as my Philo clay makes my beautiful Philo Green glaze.

I scooped some clay onto a piece of cardboard, flattened it out as best I could and put it in the sun to dry. Once dry I used a hammer to smash it into smaller pieces. I bagged those up and put them into a brass teapot in my luggage for the trip back to California. Of course, my friends at TSA had to open the suitcase, take out the teapot and look into the bag. Once satisfied that it was truly a bag of dirt as I had stated, they sent me on my way.

I’ve done the first few tests of adding some ingredients to help the clay melt better. It’s firing out to a dark shiny brown, somewhat translucent. I’m not super interested in dark brown so I’ve added some opacifiers as well as trying tin, copper and iron to change the color a bit.

In blending these things together through a layering grid I’ve gotten some pretty results. With each new test tile, I make a plan for what to layer up, mix together or add next. The hardest part is waiting for the next glaze firing so I can see what will happen.

I’m liking the interesting blue type color that I’m getting from a combination of copper and titanium so I’m seeing where I can go with that. I’ll keep you in the loop as the tests come out. I can hardly wait to see what the ‘Wild Bayou Glaze’ will turn out to be!

https://mailchi.mp/6c6d33226a7d/testing-testing

05/02/2026

Mother Goose

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread;
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.”
By Mother Goose

Well, that’s not such a nice old lady! There’s another version where she kisses them gently and puts them to bed. Maybe that’s a nicer way to say the rhyme but I think it’s just an attempt to make the old woman into a more likeable character.

My cat is not fooled by this kinder version! He’s searching for that mean old lady, determined to give her a sound whipping of her own.

Mother Goose was certainly an interesting character to think up all the twisted rhymes she wrote. But who was Mother Goose? Did she really exist and write all those famous rhymes?

Google tells us… ‘There is a theory that Mother Goose was a woman named Elizabeth Goose who lived in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1600s. Some people believe that the rhymes she made up for her grandchildren survived as the Mother Goose tales familiar to us today. But no one has found any proof that she actually wrote the stories.

Meanwhile in France a book of fairy tales published in 1697 was called Tales of Mother Goose. Then in the 1760s John Newbery of England published the first edition of Mother Goose rhymes as they are now known. He probably took the name Mother Goose from the French book. Newbery’s book was published in the United States in about 1785.’

We will never know for sure who actually authored Humpty Dumpty and the rest of the Mother Goose rhymes. One thing I do know is that they make good inspiration for sculptures and other types of artworks. You never know where inspiration will strike. Mother Goose, Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney and all the others who have dreamed up characters for their stories have given us visual artists food for thought as we think up characters of our own.

In one of my searches for ‘interesting stuff’ in Louisiana I found several styles of metal boots. They struck me as witch’s boots when I first saw them. I seem to be using them to create ‘cat cousins’ with the boots and cats in various positions. I’m not sure if the cats are bewitched or not? For this one, I thought it would be fun to have the boot tipped over with the cat heading in.

Coming or going, I like the composition of having cats interacting with all types of vessels. So, I’ll keep searching for interesting places for my cats to play and telling my own silly rhymes with them.

Do you have a favorite rhyme from our friend, Mother Goose?

04/25/2026

The Louisiana Civil Code

When I was growing up, we had a set of Encyclopedia Britanica, a collection of official looking volumes that held all the knowledge an average person would need to know. Law libraries have a similar set of reference volumes with the codes and laws for each state. I wonder if these books will go the way of the encyclopedia with everything being available online these days?

I’ve created this wonderfully playful sculpture as a commission for a judge but I have a feeling that it’s not as fun to be in the courtroom with her as this judicial dog would have us believe. The sculpture is a ‘cousin’ to another one that I made a while back for a California judge called ‘Balancing the Scales of Justice’.

For this new sculpture we decided to use the Louisiana Civil Code as the book-base that would support the dog and give the piece its title. It made sense to use this particular book because Patricia (our judge) practiced in Louisiana. In the odd twists of life, we actually got connected in California not Louisiana.

Patricia wanted a retriever or golden doodle type dog to represent the dogs she’s had and I decided on the retriever. We used the gavel and the scales of justice as additional symbols of her profession.

I enjoy using totem poles to tell family stories through the animals and other elements on the pole. Each piece brings a little bit of the tale to light. I really like how this more compact version of storytelling works so well too. We can easily see that we are looking at someone’s career in the justice system.

I was just about to start this piece last fall when I broke my wrist so there has been a bit of a delay in getting it done. The heavy book was one of the first things I made when I got back to work in January. It needed to be flipped over every few days so it would dry evenly without cracking. That first flip was a real eye opener on just how little strength and range of motion I had regained by then.

The book was sandwiched between two boards and normally it’s a pretty easy motion to flip this ‘sandwich’ over. However, in this case I did the flip to a stab of pain and the realization that my wrist wasn’t going to go where it needed to in order to put the book back down on the table.

After all the effort it took to make the book, I was quite determined not to drop it so I balanced it on top of my head while I regrouped for a way to hold on to this thing and bend my wrist in a way that would get it safely back down onto the table. My head actually made a good stopping point – brings new meaning to the term headstand - and I was able to rearrange my hands and safely lower the book down.

Every few days when I flipped it, I was able to feel the improvement in my wrist so it was a good way of measuring my progress. Once the book was safely through the kiln firing, I was able to build the dog and the gavel. The last pieces built were the scales of justice, which had to fit without hitting the gavel.

I like the idea of capturing careers in clay. I think I may add more of these to my project list. There always seem to be more ideas for what to make than days to make them.

Do you find yourself with more ideas than time too?

04/18/2026

Fancy Feast
During the pandemic, when we all suddenly found ourselves with a lot more time at home that needed filling, I started an Instagram page called PotShopCookingChallenge. I shared simple recipes for foods that were easy to make and looked great plated on my pottery. It was a good way to stay connected to the outside world and also have a bit of fun. It’s still up, so if you are ever looking for a simple appetizer or side dish there are some delicious recipes there to share.
I must confess though that while I love to bake, I don’t really like to cook, so once we were free to go about our business again, I let go of posting to the site in favor of creating in the studio instead.
A few months ago, while out antiquing with my friends, Jim and Dinah, I found a small wooden bench, or mini table. I didn’t know what I would put on it but I thought it would be a good display piece for my pottery until inspiration struck so I bought it. I’ve set various little tea party’s out on it while I pondered what special sculpture I could create to go on it.
One of the first pieces I made when I was able to start throwing again after my wrist injury was a sweet little low bowl with a scalloped edge. I’m not sure why, maybe because I was hand building more than throwing at first, but I decided to make a fish to go into the bowl. It turned out to have a nice humor about it so I put it onto my table to be part of a tea party. I’d look at it from time to time and try different teapot pairings with it but none were quite right.
Then when I was working on my raccoon pieces it occurred to me that I could make a cat sitting down to a delicious fish dinner’ and I’d call the piece, ‘Fancy Feast’, just like the cat food commercial.
The cat does seem a bit skeptical about my ‘cooking’ and is going to paw at it a bit before he digs in, but hopefully he likes it in the end.
What do you like to cook?

04/11/2026

The Fortune Cookie

We went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant this week and, as is traditional, we were given a tray of fortune cookies at the end of the meal. My daughter chose one and her fortune said good things would happen for her in July. Next my husband’s fortune cookie said he was optimistic and an easygoing person. Very nice.

Then I opened mine and it said, ‘surround yourself with people who understand your mental issues’. What??

My first reaction was, what kind of fortune is this? I want to be an easygoing person with good things happening to me in July!

But on reflection I realized people often ask me how I think up what I create so I got to thinking that maybe my ‘mental issues’ are more of an asset than a liability. Maybe I need to be a little different to be able to imagine the things I dream up to create.

I shared this fortune with my good friend, Alicia, and she pointed out that I do surround myself with my creatures who come from the inner me, they understand me from the inside out. The animal friends I create make me feel joyful, warm and happy. All good things, so maybe that fortune was just right for me after all.

You also surround me with understanding because you enjoy what I create. So, I thank you for being part of my tribe. I’m glad to have you and I hope that what I do brings you as much joy, warmth and happiness as it does me.

I can’t take a fortune cookie too seriously but it is fun to have the food for thought. And I still think I am the ‘easygoing optimist’ from our dinner trio, whether I’m a little off balance or not.

Do you have a favorite fortune?

04/04/2026

A Fresh Start

I find that when I am away from home my ‘home stuff’ gets set aside and I just enjoy the freedom of being where ever I’ve traveled to and experiencing what I’m doing there. I forget all about my ‘to-do list’. Coming back to the studio always has a kind of re-entry feeling about it. Not the same kind of re-entry that the Artemis 2 astronauts are going to feel, but a returning to the reality of daily life none the less.

Sometimes when I come back, I arrive to projects heavily swathed in plastic and it takes me a minute to remember what I was building. It’s fun to unwrap them and see what I was up to. This time I had finished up my in-process projects before I left on my trip to Louisiana so coming home meant I walked in to an empty work table in the studio and I got to start on new pieces. A fresh start!

The first piece I started is a raccoon for a commission I’m working on. The raccoons I shared in February were a big hit so I got commissioned to make two more. These will be prowling a backyard in Davis when they are finished.

I like how each animal I build gets a unique face. Whether it is an animal I’ve made many of, like frogs, or a raccoon, dog, cat, elephant, etc., that don’t happen as often, no two faces are alike and each one seems to come with a personality. Somewhere along the line a name for them often slips into my consciousness and that’s how I think of them going forward. When I’m doing a pet portrait, I know who they are right from the start and I build to their personality, but freestyle animals tend to reveal themselves over time.

So far, this raccoon is crafty but also kind of funny. I’m still fine tuning his features so we’ll see which way his personality goes in the end. His companion is already in the bisque kiln so I haven’t gotten to see the two of them together yet. Their pairing will tell yet another story about the relationship between the two.

I do enjoy this creation process. My animals are all built with coils of clay so they slowly rise from the table top. It feels like I’m building friends – kind of a Geppetto working on my Pinocchios - and imagining them coming to life. The face is always the last part that gets built so the gesture of the body has already been established and the face will end up matching that. I know I’m finished when the eyes kind of get an animated feeling and the whole sculpture makes me smile from the inside out.

The final steps of drying, firing, glazing and firing a second time are still to come. With a big piece like this, that process will take at least the next month to work through. The changes that happen with each of those steps shift how the piece looks, especially the glazing where it gets its color, but the basic animal is set from the time I put down my carving tools.

I used to tell my students that things don’t get ‘fixed’ in the glaze kiln. If there’s a problem going in it won’t be hidden by the glaze and often it will wind up being highlighted. So, it’s worth it to take all the time needed to get the piece as good as it can be right from the start. It’s a good lesson in patience and I often fine tune pieces throughout the drying process as shadows change and I see things differently.

Each sculpture makes me happy as I work. The closer it gets to completion the better I feel. I am so lucky to be able to create my own joy each day!

What will you do today that will make you smile?

03/28/2026

It’s Spring!

My mom was a gardener extraordinaire, she could make anything grow, and one of her favorite plants were azaleas. She had quite a collection in all colors and sizes. Many of them were clipped and trained into bonsais but she had one lovely white one left natural that had huge fragrant flowers. It was always my favorite and is the one I kept for myself as a special remembrance of mom.

This year it formed buds early and I was looking forward to seeing them bloom. They were still pretty tightly closed when I left for Louisiana in early March so, as much as I was looking forward to my trip, I was a little sad that I would likely miss the bloom. Imagine my delight when I arrived home this week to find the plant in full bloom with more to come! It was a wonderful welcome home to me.

It is delightful to see spring arrive. When I first got to Louisiana the trees were just starting to show green tips as they began to leaf out. By the time I left for home they were casting nice shady shadows in the warm afternoons. Then, back in California, as I drove into Anderson Valley I was struck by how lush and green the hills had become in my absence. I do love this time of year when everything seems to come back to life. It feels like new beginnings full of the potential for great things to happen.

I had a wonderful time getting my Louisiana studio ready for the Open Studio Tour last weekend. The people who came were delightful and I enjoyed our visits.

I wanted to share photos of a couple of my favorite pieces from the show. I make all of my work with the intention that it will go on to reside with a collector and not be mine to keep forever but some of them are hard to let go. These are both still in Louisiana waiting for me in the studio and I’m going to enjoy spending more time with both of them before they find their forever homes. I wish I could have put them in my carry on but that’s a story for another time.

The Egret sculpture is 25” tall so is quite impressive. I may enjoy having it as a center piece on my dining room table during my next visit before it heads off to a gallery.
I found the interesting base it sits on during one of my shopping adventures. It’s carved wood and might have been a candle holder although I’m not sure that was its original use. To me it sparked an idea for how to support one of the beautiful Louisiana birds with long thin legs I so enjoy seeing.

The egret was first sculpted last spring and left to dry when I headed home. During my trip last August, I was able to bisque fire it so when I arrived this March it was waiting to be glazed. I love the way the whole piece came together! Stretching out the working time really made me appreciate each step of the creation process.

The other piece I would love to have brought back is a sweet watering can with 2 hummingbirds. I’ve created a couple of similar pieces in the past and always felt they were so special. Usually, they fly off to new homes quickly so it was nice that I got to actually put an arrangement into this one and enjoy it for a while. The little birds look so delightful among the blossoms. I may enjoy one more bouquet next visit before it too heads to the gallery to spread its joy elsewhere.

While I would like to keep every piece I create, when they find their way into new homes it gives me the mental space to create new ones. I think it was Suzi Orman who had some advice about letting go of past things in order to create room in your life for new things to happen. It’s good advice. I always find it motivating to create a new piece to take the place of one that has left the fold.

I had a wonderful trip but there’s no place like home. I’m happily back in The Pot Shop – ‘Open by Coincidence or by Appointment’. I hope to see you on your travels this spring or summer.

The Pot Shop

05/30/2026

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05/16/2026

05/09/2026

05/02/2026

04/25/2026

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04/04/2026

03/28/2026

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