Being Green

I started collecting American Art Pottery when I was 15 years old. The 1st piece was a Fiesta pitcher purchased with money made as a busboy, from a thrift shop in my hometown- Spokane, which actually has good thrift shopping because the citizenry seems to only know the value of gigantic SUVs, firearms & hardback copies of Going Rogue purchased at Costco.

I continued to collect for more than 3 decades. In 1981, the one & only time that the Husband & I were moved professionally (the Husband had accepted a job in Las Vegas designing graphics for huge electronic signs used for sports arenas & conventions),  I watched in horror as our boxes of Fiesta, McCoy & Bauer were dropped & allowed to tumble down a steep stairway. The movers shrugged & in a manner meant to be apologetic, mentioned that the items were insured. I cried that the boxes represented a decade+ of collecting, but Billy Bob seemed to care less about the rambling of slightly hysterical young homo.

When I opened the boxes for inspection, I was shocked to find that the green & turquoise pieces were unbroken. Cobalt, Ivory, Sunflower, & Scarlet were shattered, but the various greens were intact. This seemed portentous, & started another 20 years of collecting American Art Pottery in tones of green or turquoise only.

One of my very favorites is in the bottom left square in front of the pitcher with the paint brushes, the small piece on the right. It was an opening night gift from the actress playing opposite me in Once Upon A Mattress, autumn 1973. Her father was radio & TV star- Dennis Day, who had a swell antique store in Santa Monica. It is one of my earliest & still most treasured. Click onimage to enlarge.

In the 21st century I lost interest in acquiring more stuff, & we did a major edit when we moved from Seattle to Portland in autumn 2001. The most treasured pieces stayed with us. I am so used to them that I forget that in mass, they make quite a statement.