Serendipity - Patience Pays Off

In trying to re-home some of my mother’s sewing things, I reached out to my friend Lisa, to see if she could use a quilt frame, which we ended up not being able to use as it was broken. When I reconnected with her we had a lot to catch up on and talked about what each of us was creating at the time. Lisa is an amazing quilter – an all-things-fabric guru if you will. You can see her work here. I shared with her the plans of my pottery candle line I was working on, and she reminded me that her daughter was now a house potter at Mark of the Potter, and to keep her in mind if things didn’t work out with my current artist. When Rachel first started working with clay at Mark of the Potter, I purchased one of her first pieces. I have this addiction to cobalt blue, and hues of purple.

Back to the other potter…

At the end of 2020, I found a potter to work with for my candle line that I wanted to launch. Well, I thought so, but it didn’t work out. So the search was on … Unfortunately I had 40 pots full of candle wax and wicks that I couldn’t have duplicates of, as the potter decided she no longer wanted to work as a wholesaler. I managed to sell most of those, but not as originally planned … so my project was put on the back burner until I came across the mug I had bought of Rachel’s that held my paint brushes. I remembered my conversation with Lisa and reached out to to Rachel, and we started working on what my vision was for the collection. So after a few tweaks, I now have the pots I envisioned, while supporting a local artist, and am extremely happy with the end result. I was able to infuse my favorite things in one collection and can’t wait to launch! They will be released on Thursday, the 10th. I am SO EXCITED for you to see these!

A little teaser…

Let’s give you a more formal introduction to a new, vital and thrilling piece of the Studio 51 Rural Zen puzzle. This spring, Rachel Staggers began supplying my business with unique stoneware for use with my line of intention pottery candles.

Rachel, who calls her company Peaches’ Pots, spends three to five hours a day at her pottery wheel doing what she loves. She discovered pottery among numerous other arts (“everything from scrapbooking to oil painting,” she said) while in school in Florida, then moved to north Georgia. There she learned under the staff at Mark of the Potter near Clarkesville - Matt Henderson, Laurey Faye Dean, Mary Weese, Ester Lipscomb and occasionally Debbie Dowdy (who would fill in for Betsy Ledbetter) - and she’s now one of the house potters at the historic site of the old Grandpa Watts Mill on Georgia Highway 197. 

“I started working at Mark of the Potter and just couldn’t keep my hands out of the clay,” Rachel said. “I started making little whatevers. At some point Matt was like, ‘Why don’t you make more little stuff to work in the kiln?’”

In 2020 she completed her training, adding to her knowledge of the balance of style and function essential to lasting art. Mary was working toward retirement, and Rachel essentially took her place at Mark of the Potter.

Rachel & SugarBear

The Peaches’ Pots products you’ll see with my business card packaged with hers will have a uniform shape. But Rachel comes up with a wide variety of cups, bowls and other items, in many colors and with all sorts of adornments. Her ideas come from all over – even from her studio supervisor, her dog SugarBear. Sometimes the toughest part for her is letting go of some of her pieces which she’d often like to keep instead of selling.

“For Halloween I love making jack o’lanterns, and I love making things with Christmas tree luminaries,” she said. “I tend to make what’s gonna sell the best, but I love the skulls. I was talking to a friend who wanted a really big skull mug. Then I remembered a lamp base that I made not long ago that was two skulls stacked, so I made two skulls stacked into a mug.”

You’ll find plenty of skulls among her work and workplace - even her business cards. Her personality, which some might consider eccentric, is an influence on her work, and that and her dedication help her produce pottery for all types of potential customers.

Every potter has a mark or signature when they complete a piece. Rachel’s consists of two Norse runes that stand for the warrior and the self. The basic message from those is of patience and perseverance. I think her work truly demonstrates just that.

If you purchase a candle from the new line that launches later this week, you’ll have a gorgeous utilitarian piece that is microwaveable, oven and food safe (after you’ve used your candle of course). You can contact me to find them on my website once they’ve launched. If you’re interested in her pottery, she has a collection available at Mark of the Potter, and also at the Sautee Nacoochee Cultural Center just southwest of Helen. You can also find her at Peaches Pots on Facebook. Her works are gorgeous! She has grown into a very talented folk potter!

Paying attention to things when they show up in your life often lead to great rewards. I feel this work with Rachel has truly encompassed what I wanted to convey in this upcoming collection. I’m glad it didn’t pan out with the first potter, and that I had the reminder to reach out to Rachel. In doing so, I have the right artist that represents what I want people to see when they purchase one of my intention candles … not only a candle, but truly a work of art. I’m thankful for the patience I found through this experience; now my representation of product presents that which is more in alignment for me, and will bloom into what is to come.

I am so excited about working with Rachel. I’m looking forward to our future creations together.

StAy TuNeD…

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