A pottery sampler from the Upper Room in Farmington. Submitted photo

REGION — Springtime in Maine can mean daffodils or snow, and sometimes both, but the first weekend in May has meant the Maine Pottery Tour for more than a decade.  The 11th annual Maine Pottery Tour welcomes visitors on Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7.The self-guided Tour is an opportunity to enjoy spring in Vacationland and the hospitality of local potters in their studios. Eagerly anticipated by all who enjoy handmade pottery, as well as anyone looking for a special and unique Mother’s Day gift.

This year 66 pottery studios around the state will be participating.  They are organized into 6 regions, allowing several studios to be visited in a single outing.  Fourteen of these studios will have guest artists with them, so there’s even more to enjoy.  The weekend is a fun chance to meet the artists, peek in the kilns, see demonstrations, and shop for pottery and other handmade goods.  Interactive maps of each region are available at MainePotteryTour.org.

About the Tour
The tour’s goal is to make people aware of the potters in the state and to cultivate an appreciation and affection for handmade pots.  Because of the tour, eating, drinking, and serving from one-of-a-kind plates, mugs, bowls, pitchers, platters and casseroles has become standard practice for large numbers of people.  Once you drink morning coffee from a handmade mug, a production cup feels lackluster.  Pots are uniquely intimate.  What other art form do you raise to your lips, cradle in your hands, and trust with your food?

Don’t need anything for the food and drink?  You will be delighted and surprised by the artists who sculpt, make tiles, vases, planters and other visual treats. It’s amazing what a lump of clay can do, in the right hands.

Funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Some of the studios include Bog Pond Pottery, Phillips; A Lakeside Studio Pottery, Wayne; d harwood Pottery aka Mudgirl, Winthrop; The Art Walk Shop & Studio, Winthrop; Upper Room, Farmington, (Upper Room Studio LLC is a community space to learn or practice pottery located at 174 Broadway); and Martha Grover and Joshua Rysted, Bethel.