​My name is Melanie (Mann) Pollon.  Hmmm, how far back should one go?   I remember, as a child, I dug some clay next to the river on the edge of town.  I shaped it into 3 little bowls with fancy pedestal bases.  I later painted them with several layers of white house paint that I found in the basement.  Then I melted wax with old pink crayons and poured it into the bowls, added a piece of string in the middle and gave them to my Mom for her birthday (or maybe it was Mother's Day).  I'm not sure if she ever tried to light the candles.

As a young teenager, I took ceramics classes with my Mom and sister.  I cleaned, painted and glazed all kinds of wonderful greenware.  But it wasn't until I was 28 years old that I got some real clay and sat at a potters' wheel.  I guess it would have been nice to have some instruction, but I was attending an open studio space with a friend so I was just winging it... 

Through a friend of a friend, I found a woman with a home studio who offered to rent me some time in her studio.  It was a wonderful place to escape to for a couple hours most weeks.  I wasn't all that concerned with what I made or how good/bad it was.  I really just loved to work in the studio.  After a few years and two children later and a new house with some extra space, I bought a wheel and a little kiln.  I still have them both, although the studio has grown somewhat since then.

...more to come later.