Finally, a more or less updated calendar. with links even!
Here's where we'll be when for the next few months:

March 11 through March 18

Gulf Wars Kings Arrow Ranch Lumberton MS

We're going back to Gulf Wars for a 2nd year. And Darrell had such a good time that he's making me go with him this time around. We're gonna take lots of pots and we'll have lots of leathergoods and amber necklaces with us as well. So y'all be sure to come out to the event that everyone i know who's been to describes as "more fun than Pennsic". Please note: this is a SCA camping event. You must be in garb to be on site and you have to pay for the duration of the event regardless of how long you stay on site.

April 20, 21 & 22 Friday, Saturday & Sunday 10 til 5 each day

Countryside Artisans Studio Tour
Art of Fire World Headquarters Laytonsville, MD

Once again, we're back for the studio tour at Art of Fire. Sadly, Tuatha won't be here this time, though we will have a whole box of new Tinsmith CDs (everyone needs at least one copy of this awesome disc!) with us & we know we'll have lots of pots fresh from the kiln! We should have the new "crow" line up and running by now, so come on by and see what's new! Enjoy a spring drive in the country & get some great pottery, glass & Celtic music. What more could you ask for?!

April 26 through 29 we'll be onsite & have the booth open
from 10 til 6 Friday & Saturday, only open til 3 on Sunday afternoon.

Blackstone Raids Cedars Lakes Conference Center Ripley WV

This was our first event in West Virginia- our recently adopted home state! We had a great time! The site is great, the folks are friendly & the event even lets you bring your dogs out to play! What's not to like?!? Come out to fight, shop & party! We'll see you there! please note: this is an SCA event, and while they'll let you on site in mundane clothing, you'll probably feel more comfortable if you are in 'garb'. So, dress up and come play! Come explore the current middle ages & our corner of WVa! (this event is practically in our new backyard- only an hour from our new homestead) note to friends: contact us now for reservations to stay here at Hearth Hill with us. We offer bed, breakfast & hot showers & we won't make you work the booth (much)

Saturday April 28

Southern Maryland Celtic Festival St. Leonard MD

A great festival in a beautiful location. Come out & enjoy spring & all things Celtic in Southern Maryland. Note: we're not guaranteeing an actual appearance by Darrell or me. Last year we suckered/ err, persuaded our friend Rob into running the booth for us. Thus, Dancing Pig's presence at this show is subject to Rob's schedule! Will post more when we know what's up.

May 4-6 noon til 7 Friday, 10 til 6 Saturday & Sunday Rain or Shine

Pennsylvania Fairie Festival at Spoutwood Farm Glen Rock PA

Whooot! We had a great time last year- our first time at this 'Grandmother of Fairie Festivals'!!! Wonderful location, fantastic folks, great happy earth energy! We'll be back next year, assuming we're accepted!
update: yaaaay! We're in! We'll be there, with our new dogs in tow. Come out to play with the fairies & dogs!

Saturday May 12 10 til 6 Rain or Shine

Frederick Celtic Festival Urbana MD

This is a spirited & growing festival. The folks who run it are great and it is smack dab in the middle of my old stomping grounds- Come out and play at one of the most friendly festivals I know of! We'll be there unless we are somewhere else! (sort of like our shop hours- 'Open, unless we're closed')
update: our friends Rob & Sherry will probably be running this show for us while we hunker down at home & make stock. So come on out for lots of pots & a good chance for quality time with baby Luke! (pictured on the right w/ his Dad aka Rob at Pennsic last year---->)

May 19 & 20 Saturday & Sunday

Maryland Faerie Festival Upper Marlboro MD 10 til 6 Rain or Shine

This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite shows! My first Faerie Festival and still my favorite! It is soooo fun & genuinely magical. Bring your kids & your inner child & come out to revel in a beautiful site filled with (quoting their site) "love, cooperation, peace, harmony, and respect for all beings, along with a pinch of mischief!" You have to check this show out! I'm threatening to make my niece & nephew fly out from Colorado to experience this- that's how much i love this show!



May 25 thru 28

Balticon at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn, Baltimore, MD

We're coming back for a 2nd year. This is a four day, 24-hours-a-day Extravaganza! though the Dealer's Room isn't that brutal. Still, we'll be there peddling pottery, leather & amber necklaces. Come on by & say hello!



Saturday & Sunday May 26 & 27

Westminster Renaissance Festival
Carrol County Farm Museum Westminster MD

a new show that we're thinking of trying if we can figure out how to split stock & be in two places at once. Updates as we figure this one out.



Saturday & Sunday June 2 & 3

Hampton Blackbeard Festival

the link is to the site for last years show so these dates are a best guess. I've promised D. that we'll try this show again (he's the pirate guy, not me!) It was fun when we went three years ago, but the sales just weren't there. So come on out and support us so we can dress up like scurvy dogs & terrorize the tourists together!



Saturday June 9

Potomac Celtic Festival Leesburg, VA

Like a phoenix from the ashes, this festival is attempting to resurrect itself after suffering a series of financial setbacks. I've been to & loved this show every year since it started, so Dancing Pig will be back. This promises to be a smaller & more intimate show, but still full of amazing Celtic spirit. So come on out & enjoy what still promises to be the Best. Celtic. Festival. Ever.



June 9 & 10

Western Pennslyvania Fairie Festival
Cooper's Lake Slippery Rock PA

A magical weekend full of music, dancing, fairies, elves, pixies, sprites & perhaps a friendly goblin or two. This is the 2nd year for this growing event, it's in a great location & the coordinators are enthusatstic, so if we can work out how to be in two places at once, we're coming here to play & sell our pots. Come play with us!



June 22-24

Celtic Fling and Highland Games Cornwall PA

Plaid wrapped fun for the whole family! Last year we were here sharing a booth with our pals from Foolish Oak Designs. This year we'll be there, though the Foolish Oak folks haven't committed one way or the other yet. It's a big event, so plan on doing some serious shopping! We'll see y'all there!
update: yes on Foolish Oak foolishness! So we'll be there under their name!



Saturday July 14

Adams County Irish Festival Gettysburg PA

The date is an educated guess. Will update when we know more. We shared a booth with our pals from Foolish Oak Designs last year and made out like bandits. So we'll be back! You should come too- great Trad music at this show! Sounds like fun! You should come check it out with us!

July 28 thru August 11

Pennsic War 36
Cooper's Lake Campground Slippery Rock PA

We had a good War last year, though i think we sold too many pots! (is that even possible?) Anyway, we're planning on coming back for my 23rd consecutive War (relax, i've only been selling pots there for 16 or so of those) (and yes, thank you, i know i don't look that old!) What was i talking about? Oh yeah, Pennsic. We'll be there, as will my pals Alasdair and Minna of Foolish Oak Designs and Ambrosia Farms respectively with their wonderful leather and mead kits. And pottery. Hopefully enough this time! ***Please note- this is a participant only camping event! You must be in garb to be on site & you must pay for the entire week, regardless of how long you stay***



August 25 thru October 21 Weekends and Labor Day Monday 10am to 7 pm each day

Maryland Renaissance Festival Crownsville MD

It will be our 9th season at Maryland & we're still having a great time! Come on out to play in the woods. There's great pottery, wenches in bodices, men in tights, turkey legs, beer, cider, improv & oh yeah, great pottery! We're still in our wonderful space, third booth in on the right from the front gate. So be sure to stop in early and often for lots of-- say it with me-- great pots!



Phew! So, that's it for now. Maybe i should have titled this post "a modest proposal"
I'm getting worn out just thinking about all this. What am i doing here typing?! I gotta go make me some more pots!
See ya soon!

Home from Arizona!

This post is mostly directed at our friends & customers in the SCA, since it's about Dancing Pig's first trip to Estrella War...

Darrell has returned both triumphant and broken from Estrella (a SCA War in Ari-frincking-zona)(about 22oo miles from Dancing Pig's World headquarters here in the hills of WVa). He drove out with our friends Jillie/Bran aka the wode monkey & perma drui of the bog & Fael/Wayne aka Khavi's husband/ some Rozakii dude who lives in Philly. They had a great road trip out-- apparently they watched both "Pirates" movies in a continuous loop for 3 days on Fael's laptop. Good times.

Dancing Pig's sales at Estrella weren't as good as we'd hoped-- it was a new site for the event & apparently the gate was down by 60%. All the old hand merchants said that their sales were down accordingly. But the folks were incredibly friendly & here's the best part: Dogs are allowed!!! So we'll be back next year! We're loading the dogs up & i'm going to actually make the trip as well. Darrell's still raving about the landscape & he really wants me to go out there at least once & i think i'll indulge him, especially if i can bring my puppies with me!

Darrell is still broken however, by the cold he somehow managed to bring back with him. It was very dusty and windy & D. thinks he got the cold on the last night of the show, when they had a "going away" sandstorm. So the poor guy had to drive home with with a fever & nasty cold. (Bran & Fael bailed out & flew home from Phoniex) So to make it home, D. would drive 100 miles and then pull into a rest stop to nap for an hour. Not so much with the fun for the poor guy. And sadly, he also managed to kill my digital camera, so no pictures for this post.

We're hanging out at home for this weekend, while Darrell is trying to recover from this cold & i'm trying to avoid getting it. But we're also planning & potting to get ready for Gulf Wars in ::eeek:: less than two weeks! Arrgh! Never mind taking it easy & avoiding the cold; I gotta get off the couch and go trim some pots!

See ya'll at Gulf Wars if you're going! (and you should go, i am!) Apparently Gulf Wars blows Pennsic away, so come play with us!

Alright campers, i'm going to try something radically different here: an actual post about pottery!!!
This is a report on the show we did this past December. For the first two weekends of that month, we were on the Countryside Artisans Studio Tour. Our pals, the gracious & gifted Foster and Theda of Art of Fire Hot Glass Studios in Laytonsville, MD hosted us yet again. This time we got to set up in the Celtic Annex aka a carport/ garage across the parking lot from the wonderfully warm and colorful converted dairy barn that houses Art of Fire. There was enough space this time around that our friend Mary from Tuatha joined us. It was a great reunion for me, since Tuatha shared space with my when we had the open houses at my old studio in Damascus. I really missed spending time with my wonderful whacked out little goat aka Maria Maria aka the genius behind Tuatha.

We started out with this empty garage/carport:


and after a day and a half, some struggles with stapleguns & plastic sheeting, we ended up with a space that looked like this:





We were pretty impressed with ourselves. You would have been too, if you'd come out to see it.
But fear not my friends, you have a chance to redeem yourselves!!! Because the next show we're going to do in the mid-Atlantic area is the Countryside Artisans Studio Tour this coming April. Yup, we're gonna be at Art of Fire again & there's a 90% chance that Tuatha will be there too. One stop shopping for Celts & anyone else with great taste! So come on out to the Maryland countryside April 20-22 & see all our fresh new pots!!! We can't wait to see you there!

PS if you miss my longer, more personal less coherent postings, fret not! They've just moved over to my other blog: mudcelt. Check it out: you can still know more than you ever wanted to about my dogs, travels, struggles with procrastination and life in my remote valley over there.

Don't panic friends, we're still here.
No, really.
Just suffering from the winter blahs.(my guru for all things electronic told me i should keep my posts here brief, pithy & on topic. That was such a challenge that i went into a decline & haven't posted anything for over a month. Thanks Mykl!)

My latest complaint is that i am stuck here, in my sweater & wool socks, drinking hot tea & watching the snow fall in my quiet valley (tonight's forecast: temps in the high teens & more snow) whilst Darrell & our friends Bran & Fael are whooping it up out in Arizona at Estralla. Where the temperatures are a balmy 50 to 70 degrees today.
Bitter?!
Me??
NOOooo. You must have me confused with someone else.
OK, i'm not totally cranky about all of this. After all, they did have to endure 3 days of driving to get there & Darrell has to make the drive back alone, since apparently the prospect of the return trip was too much for Fael & Bran-- they're flying home-- not something you can manage with a truck full of pottery and trailer full of tents, tables & camping gear. So D. & the truck, trailer & sweaty armor are taking the slow boat home. Hopefully he'll be back by Friday or Saturday next.

Meanwhile, life goes on here. I've even gotten back to work in the studio. I've tested out a new to me clay body & i'm cautiously optimistic about it. The crow pots still only exist in my head, but they're creeping closer to reality. And we even have a new glaze grunt: my neighbor, Cindy, is learning the tricks of that trade. So far she's doing great, though she's soooo slow & careful that i bully her occasionally to lighten up. I remind her constantly of my mantra "the mistakes prove that the pots are made by humans and not machines."

That's all for now from this snow covered and cold valley in WVa!
Keep warm kids & we'll see y'all this spring, with lots o' pots for you to fondle!