President's Message
Merry Christmas and warm wishes for a safe and happy New Year!
Good riddance 2020. Hello 2021 and the new normal.
I hope I am not the only one who is tired of connecting with family and friends through a computer screen. That includes holding NDPCS board meetings by ZOOM. I am grateful, however, that we do have a way to still see each other and find new ways to communicate.
Speaking of gratitude, thank you to everyone who volunteered their time, effort and passion to make the NDPCS organization carry on our mission. It has been a challenge to figure out how to plan for the upcoming year with an uncertain future. We remain hopeful we can see you at the convention this summer and host an annual meeting.
One thing that does not change is that Rose Ann Goerger, our Treasurer would love to share her knowledge with you when you become our new Treasurer! The search is also on to find a new Secretary as Sharon Smith will finish her term this summer. If you would like an opportunity to practice your grammar and typing skills, this could be your lucky day.
A quick shout out to the Facebook group. Thank you to the members for sharing their interesting and informative posts. If you have not checked it out, please consider joining the fun and sharing your ideas.
Personal Note: I try to give our daughter Anna a piece of North Dakota pottery each year for Christmas, hop-ing to keep the spark of collecting alive. This year it was a Connecticut ashtray to recognize her last year at Yale Law School in New Haven, CT. Thanks to Brad Bird and Sharon Smith’s ashtray store since I could not find one on Amazon!
Happy Hunting,
Michael Kaul
32nd Annual Convention: June 11-13, 2021 Bismarck, ND
DUE TO COVID, convention planning is still very much fluid. Registration, Auction and Commemorative infor-mation will be available on or around March 15.
For more information contact: Ann Dietchmanadietchman@gmail.com
2021 NDPCS Commemorative
by Nate Leben
While 2020 has been a wild year and not having the convention left a lot of us disappointed, 2021 is right around the corner and we get to look forward to the 2021 convention. I hope you’re all excited, because I know I am! The 2021 commemorative is a piece done by potter Robin Reynolds, of Dacotah Clayworks in Hebron, ND. After choosing Rosemeade for 2020 and the meadowlark theme, I reached out to Robin because she is in western North Dakota and I wanted something to really capture the pottery produced from clay in that part of the state. As Todd Hanson likes to say, Mandan is “Where the West Begins”, and this Dickota piece with the sundog design is the perfect reminder of not just how great western North Dakota can be but also that no matter how rough 2020 was the sun will come out tomorrow!
The original Sundog vessels were designed by Charles Grantier for Dickota Pottery. These commemoratives were made with Hebron Clay; glazed with commercial mid-fire glazes “New Albany Brown” or “Metallic Green” from Minnesota Clay Company; Approximately 3” x 3”and each piece signed with Reynolds HC and RR stamps and NDPCS 2021.
Robin Reynolds opened Dacotah Clayworks in Hebron, ND in 1996 to connect fully with her work as a potter by using native clay. Born and raised in Minot, ND, Reynolds spent her formative years in the performing arts and graduated with a liberal arts degree from Dickinson State University in 1975. She served a three year pot-tery apprenticeship in Bellingham, WA where she later owned a consignment gallery, Good Earth Pottery, in the historic Fairhaven District. Her experience digging and utilizing volcanic ash from the Mt. St. Helens erup-tion was a turning point that led Reynolds to pursue pottery making with indigenous material. The clay mined and crushed by the Hebron Brick Company is the same material Reynolds processes into a clay body suitable for throwing on the potter's wheel. A traveler in Europe, Scandinavia, Thailand, Greece and Iceland, Reynolds will always call the open country of Western North Dakota home.
It is important that you get your order in before the March 15th deadline, as only enough commemoratives to fill pre-orders will be ordered from the potter.
1: Commemoratives shall be pre-ordered and paid for before March 15th, 2021.2: No orders or sales will be taken after March 15th.3: There will be no sales at the convention, only pick-up of pre-ordered paid commemoratives.4: Upon request & payment to include postage & handling the commemorative can be mailed.
Get your 2021 commemorative today!
Big Collector Auction
Brad Bird, Owner
When: May 1, 2021Where: Holiday Inn, FargoApprox 500 pieces of North Dakota pottery, includ-ing hard-to-find Rosemeade pieces: TV lamps, figu-rines, shakers, ash trays, commemoratives.Also – Messer, UND, Dickota, Pine Ridge, Rush-more, Little Heart.Look for details and auction list under Villiard’s in the spring.
