A brief history of Mudbuddies

 I know we started this group/co-op that sold our pottery together at the local Tailgate Market sometime around 2010.

Mudbuddies booth 2010

Cathy and Marsha Mudbuddies Booth 2011

Mudbuddies Oct 2012

Mudbuddies meeting Aug 2012, Cathy Babula, Pat Levi, Elise Reed, Bette Potter Jones, Marsha Cozart, Barb Rogers

Mudbuddies 2013

Bette Potter Jones and Geoff Bird (teacher) doing raku firing at Black Mountain Clay Studio 2011

Bette Potter Jones' pottery at market in 2015 (above) and Cathy Babula with her pottery 2015 (below)

Here is a blog I posted about us in 2016 Market for Mudbuddies.

Bette Potter Jones, Barbara Rogers, Cathy Babula, Marsha Cozart, and Pat Levi at beginning of season 2016

Our booth was close to the entrance at that time, and we enjoyed how our different styles attracted different pottery lovers.

Here's a blog with our different styles of pottery, all on display on three tables. 

At the end of the 2016 season I resigned as a Mudbuddy, due to health concerns.

I often visited the Mudbuddies booth in the following years, here is 2017 on one Saturday morning.

And in 2018.

At some point the makeup of the crew changed again, with Pat Levi resigning and Amelia Packer joining by 2019. Marsha Cozart had moved away probably around 2017.

Mudbuddies 2019

Cathy made bowls for each of the vendors for the Tailgate Market's 25th anniversary in 2019.

Muddbudy Cathy 2021

Mudbuddies 2023, Bette and Amelia

Some of Amelia Packer's pottery 2023 (above and below)

Visitors Marsha (on r) with husband Bob Cozart and Bette Potter Jones met for lunch in 2023

A few years ago I did a series on the Mudbuddies...in about 10 posts. I've just pulled a few for this blog post! And some years seem to have missed my attention. But for 13 years, this is what I have for now. I'll be rejoining the Mudbuddies in a few weeks for season 2024.

A tree mug going full circle

One version of my tree mugs

One of our former Mud Budies, is still part of the clay community here in Black Mountain.  Elise Reed is a volunteer for Open Studio on Sundays at BMCA clay studio.  And she and I were having a conversation a couple of months ago...that she was looking for a temp job over the summer, since she teaches art during the year.

I had just that morning seen on FaceBook, a posting of a camp looking for someone who knows clay.  I am pretty sure it was on the Clay Club...perhaps just as a blog notice.  Anyway, I gave the info right off my phone to Elise, and she applied.

The rest of the story, well, she was just right for the job, and she loves it.

But more to bring it full circle.  Yesterday she posted this picture on FB.

She shared it because, when she'd been in the kitchen of the woman in charge of the camp, she found my mug.  And the back story must have been shared as well, because by the time she told me where it was, there were 20 "likes." 

I had connected her to get the job at the camp, and someone there had bought one of my tree mugs.  I thanked her, and was grateful for good things going full circle.