AUBURN — Michelle Gibbert remembers digging up five-gallon buckets full of clay with her art teacher at Lewiston High School, when construction for a new football and soccer field unearthed a natural deposit 20 years ago.

She loved ceramics class and headed into James Garner’s room every study hall she could.

“I actually started helping him out in some of his classes teaching other kids how to throw,” Gibbert, 41, said. “I think we (dug up) three or four five-gallon buckets of the natural clay, processed it in his studio and I started using some of it.”

Pottery fell by the wayside after college, when life and family happened. That is until her husband, Lee, a musician, pressed her to think of something she liked to do for fun.

She started making dishes and mugs for herself, then friends and family, then craft fairs.

In December, Gibbert opened Moon Stone Pottery at 186 Turner St. with shop hours scheduled around her hours driving a school bus in Turner. She runs classes and open studio hours for customers to use her three wheels or grab already-sculpted pieces to paint. She’s able to host birthday parties and next month plans to start paint nights.

“I come in here and if I’m in a bad mood, I’ll start wedging some clay — it’s almost like kneading dough — it just kind of lets me release steam,” she said. “The serenity of having the clay move between your hands, I get mesmerized by it sometimes.”

She’s lined the walls of 186 Turner St. with white bisque catalog creations like unicorns, plates and even a little toy tank available for painting. Prices range from $5 to $42. There’s a roughly five-day wait between painting a piece and giving it time to dry, have Gibbert add a clear glaze, and fire it in the kiln.

Gibbert also has her work for sale and on display, including plates and platters impressed with delicate chard, pumpkin and rhubarb leaf impressions, something she’s experimented with during the past year.

“When I’m throwing, I’ll have something in mind, like I want to make a mug or I want to make a vase, and sometimes the clay tells me, no, I’m not doing that,” she said. “So my mug will turn into a bowl. However the clay feels for that particular piece. If it feels good for a mug, I’ll do a mug.”

Gibbert has three children and was a Cub Scout leader for 10 years. She’s up by 5 a.m. to drive a school bus, a job she said she loves. After she drops off the morning students, she opens the shop for a few hours, heads back for afternoon pickup, hurriedly eats and then opens the shop for the evening.

“(Lee’s) got dinner on the table or almost ready so I can eat quickly before coming in here,” Gibbert said. “I keep thanking him over and over again.”

Moon Stone Pottery is open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. It’s open Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is a handicapped-accessible ramp at the shop’s back door.

Gibbert is hoping to hire staff as the business gets established.

On her to-do list of projects: Making a vessel sink for a customer’s bathroom and making a dozen hand-warmer mugs.

“You can be artistic with it and not have to worry,” Gibbert said. “Mess up and you can always start over. I just love it, I do.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com

Michelle Gibbert of Turner opened Moon Stone Pottery at 186 Turner St. in Auburn. Taking a pottery class in high school sparked her interest in ceramics. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Michelle Gibbert throws a bowl at Moon Stone Pottery, 186 Turner St. in Auburn. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Moon Stone Pottery is at 186 Turner St. in Auburn. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Michelle Gibbert is working on an order for 12 to 15 hand-warmer mugs at her Moon Stone Pottery shop at 186 Turner St. in Auburn. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)