Beth Barrett is the owner of One Sweet Dream Pottery in Moose Jaw, and this will be her fourth year in the annual Moostletoe Artists Studio Tour alongside a group of other artisans in the community.
Although this is her fourth year in the tour, she’s been a potter for more than a decade.
One Sweet Dream is the business she built to create and sell her works. “It’s my part-time thing. I hope one day to be full time,” Barrett confirmed.
Barrett said her technique ranges from wheel throwing to hand building. She has an electric cone and does lacquer firing and glaze dusting. “I haven’t done glaze dusting for a bit, but I have my own glazes that I’ve tweaked and changed and it’s quite (fascinating).”
“I do mostly functional work, so a lot of mugs. (The mugs have) scriptures or quotes, that kind of thing,” she explained. “This year I have quite a few nesting bowls… and have been working on a different design of bowl, and a few ceramic boxes.”
Barrett said her first introduction to pottery was through a local class, and it took one brief encounter to realize her passion for the craft.
“I started with a class from Wendy Parsons, which was my first-ever time I put my hands on clay. After the first class I just knew I loved it and would want to keep doing it for the rest of my life,” she said. “I was at the pottery club for four years, and then got my own studio at home.”
Her home-based studio now has all the requirements needed to do pottery right at home.
Once Barrett learned about the Moostletoe Tour, she reached out to her former instructor.
“I think I phoned up Wendy Parsons… and asked if they have an opening and if they’d be willing to have me in, and if they could think about it and get back to me,” Barrett recalled. “She called me back and said, ‘sure, you can join up.’”
For this year’s Moostletoe Tour, Barrett will host guests right at her home. Here, she’ll convert her living and dining rooms into a gallery where she’ll display a selection of her creations.
To get in the spirit of the season, she’s had some help decorating from her husband. “My husband grew (giant) pumpkins this year, so they will be on display. They are like 75 pounds. There’s a lot of pumpkin there!”
Barrett said her summer project this year was building a clay oven in her backyard. For the project, she made her own fire bricks, added a clay exterior with a sculpture, and the oven functions to cook food.
“I won’t have the clay oven open – it’s a bit too cold out there to be firing that!”
One thing the weather can’t prevent is a good snack during the tour. “I usually serve popcorn, so (guests) get a little snack while they’re here, or on their way out,” she said.
“I won’t be demonstrating anything (during the tour), but I will be talking with people if they have any questions,” she said. “Of course, there are wares for purchase if they want.”
The tour will provide many guests the perfect opportunity to find that ideal Christmas present.
“Probably the most popular thing I do is the scripture mugs. I have quite a few of those,” she said. “I have done a few different… Christmas tree ornaments that sit on a shelf, that kind of thing (as well).”
“In my functional (work) I tend to carve things. For the mugs, I will carve the bottoms a bit and (consider) how it feels in the hand. The mug is a very intimate thing – it goes to your lips. You want that experience to be something of peaceful joy,” she contemplated.
“(To acknowledge) my mentors in the past, of course I’ve learned a ton from Wendy Parsons and Zach Dietrich. I can’t say enough about them – they’re amazing potters. As well, Rob Froese (was a mentor of mine); I’ve taken several classes from him. They’ve really helped grow me as a potter, that’s for sure.
“I really do love this tour. It gives me a chance to meet a lot of people I otherwise would not have met. I really enjoy it,” she said. “I’m always honoured to be a part of it. There are such amazing artists on this tour, and I’m always honoured to be in with them and to be included. They are such a great group.”
To contact Beth Barrett at One Sweet Dream, call 306-630-3495 or visit the company’s Facebook page at ‘One Sweet Dream Pottery.’ She can be reached through a direct message on Facebook Messenger.
“I hope everyone who takes part in this tour just has a wonderful day looking at art. I think it’s always a good thing to do,” concluded Barrett.
One Sweet Dream Pottery is located at 1211 Fifth Avenue Northwest, and the Moostletoe Tour is scheduled to take place Saturday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In response to some providers blocking access to Canadian news on their platforms, our website, MooseJawToday.com will continue to be your source for hyper-local Moose Jaw news. Bookmark MooseJawToday.com and sign up for our free online newsletter to read the latest local developments.
