The photos I took a few weeks back of the Mo’Town Studio Tour led to the opportunity to take yet more photos at the annual Lock House Studio holiday sale last weekend.

The first floor of the house next to Lisa’s studio, which they’ve dubbed the Meditation Palace, was packed with the work of multiple potters, as well as Bryn Perrott’s bold wood block prints.

(I got a real kick out of the pink possum shown above in left center.)

All the ceramics pieces were intermingled rather than separated by artist, and it was fun to see how their distinctly different styles complemented one another.

I love how ceramics brings together art and function, elevating basic items that you can use every day.

These pendant lights, for example. So good.

I found these cuties hanging out in a corner eating snacks. Beside them was a display of the (prolific!) work of Lisa’s daughter, Leila Jade (in the red). I was so impressed. She’s clearly been working really hard.

I came for the art, and it had its usual effect. I find others’ creativity both inspiring and uplifting. What I didn’t expect was the crazy number of connections I had with so many people there. It was almost comical.

Here goes: I’ve been working with the husband of the artist who hosted the event, who happens to employ my step-sister. My step-sister’s cousin had her beautiful work on display too, and she and I ran cross-country together in high school. She and some other graduates of the WVU art department were having dinner that night with a retired ceramics professor, who my mom also had when she was in school. One of my best running buddies came over to tell me she loved my boots (she was wearing the same ones) and introduced me to her friend, whose son I recently met at a football game.

This complicated, interwoven network of wonderful people makes me smile. You can’t get that kind of connectivity just anywhere. It’s one of the best things we have to offer here in small town West Virginia, and it’s one of the things I love the most.