Best of Missouri

There is something magical about market season. The early morning loading of crates, the scent of coffee clinging to cool air, the hopeful chatter between artists as tents bloom open like wildflowers across gravel lots and grassy fields. Every market feels a little like stepping into a storybook — and this year, my story has taken a turn I once only whispered to myself while wandering garden paths.

This October, I will be participating in the Best of Missouri Market at the breathtaking Missouri Botanical Garden. Even writing those words feels surreal.

For ten years, this show sat quietly at the very top of my list of dreams. The kind of dream you tuck into your apron pocket while unloading kiln shelves. The kind you carry with you while trimming pottery late at night under studio lights. And somehow, after years of muddy hands, glaze tests, market miles, and hopeful applications, it has finally arrived.

Best of Missouri is one of those rare and beautiful gatherings where artists from every corner of the state come together to celebrate craftsmanship, storytelling, and creativity. To be included among them feels deeply humbling. To represent not only our state, but also a place that has inspired so much of my work, feels even more meaningful.The Botanical Gardens have long been my sanctuary and the inspiration behind my home gardens. 

I spend hours wandering the pathways, studying the curl of petals, the dancing chaos of climbing vines, the tiny unnoticed details hidden beneath leaves and branches. Artist possess sketchbooks but we also keep moments. A crooked stem. A faded hydrangea bloom. Moss climbing stone after a rainstorm. Those quiet observations almost always find their way into my pottery somehow.

And speaking of pottery… artists are curious creatures. We are forever convinced the next experiment may unlock some hidden magic.

This past year, I decided to branch out and try an entirely new clay body. In my mind, this deep red clay was going to make my floral designs absolutely sing. I imagined rich earthy warmth beneath layered glazes, flowers glowing against dark clay like wild blooms at sunset. Instead? Well… the clay had other plans.

The red body was undeniably beautiful, but it softened the contrast I normally love in my work. The floral details became quieter than I hoped, less whimsical meadow and more moody autumn forest. Not wrong — just different.

But pottery has a funny way of teaching flexibility. Once you invest in a mountain of clay, you learn to dance with it rather than fight it.
So instead of mourning what it wasn’t, I leaned into what it could be. Over the next several markets — including Long Row Lavender Market, Point Labaddie Brewery, and the Wildwood Festival — you’ll find tables filled with cheerful mugs, bowls, pitchers, and vases washed in pinks, turquoise, purples, and blues.

Not my usual style perhaps, but joyful in their own way. And honestly? It has been wonderfully freeing to create pieces that feel playful, approachable, and meant for everyday life. Pieces someone can take home after a festival afternoon and immediately fill with coffee, garden flowers, soup, or pancake batter on a Sunday morning.

Still, I would be lying if I said I’m not excited to return to my beloved speckled clay. Oh, how I’ve missed it. I miss the way the tiny flecks peek through glaze like scattered seeds in soil. I miss the way flowers seem to glow against its surface. I miss the softness, the warmth, the garden-like feeling it gives every piece. And this fall, at Best of Missouri, it will return in full bloom. Expect oversized florals, botanical textures, wild garden inspiration, and pieces shaped by countless hours spent wandering beneath the trees and blooms of so many different gardens throughout my years of creating. Ten years ago, this dream felt impossibly far away. Now, somehow, it smells faintly of clay dust, lavender fields, fresh glaze, and the oerfume of garden air.