Shopping for Ceramic Pottery
Ceramic pottery can accent a table or become an eye-catching centerpiece and is extremely easy to ship for. Collect styles and colors that suit your taste and the decor of your home. Shopping for ceramic pottery can mean taking a special road trip to a pottery-rich destination such as rural Wisconsin, Mexico or Italy; browsing the offerings at a chain retail outlet at the mall; perusing online sources; visiting craft fairs and artisan boutiques in your community, or asking friends and neighbors who collect ceramics for their secret favorite sources. Look at all of your options, and don't be afraid to go to the top of your budget when you discover a piece you love.
Take a Trip
Villages specializing in ceramic pottery can be the focal point of a memorable trip. If you have the means, take a trip to Avanos, Turkey to tour studios where artists have been crafting pots for thousands of years. A little closer to home, visit mountainous regions of North Carolina where the red clay soil has inspired potters to develop their craft to a high art form.
Craft Galleries and Fairs
Visit a juried craft fair in your area to see professional work by as many as a hundred or more artists from all over the region in person. At high-end shows, artists are businesspeople who set up beautiful booths in a sort of weekend-long market, allowing you to talk with them in person about their craft. If you are not ready to buy on the spot, you can keep the cards and website information of artists you like, and visit their studios in person at a later date.
Reproduction Pieces
Economical but still attractive options include mass-produced pottery available at chain and "big-box" stores. Don't overlook these venues if you need a piece to love. Mass production and its accompanying low prices can be great when you want to collect a small set of simple pieces, quickly.
