It was a total fluke. I ended up in a spacious, well-furnished clean and tidy ceramics studio for a week ALL BY MYSELF. For FREE.

Two other artists had scored this same no-cost residency...I never saw them. We all just hunkered down in our respective studios and worked, as the Snow Farm staff opened the campus for the coming season of artists—cleaning, raking, opening up the kitchen and lodgings. The Pioneer Valley experienced a weirdly hot weather week so plants and trees and flowering shrubs were growing insanely fast. The peepers serenaded me in the night.

Dunkin' in Williamsburg opened at 5 am. I brought a pot of rice and edamame, a car full of supplies, and several notebooks. I worked, I napped, I ate some food, I worked some more. I checked in at home, and did a few work calls I couldn't avoid.

I went through 70 pounds of lovely Sheffield clay, nailed the slab roller technique, made 50 tiles, 17 pinch pots with the trimmings, and 2 slab pots. I used just about every one of 30 underglazes in stock...my first foray with vivid color in clay.

What a gift. Thank you, Snow Farm.