If you know me, you know I gotta heart for random aesthetic elements in my humble home. I have no plan. I just love collecting the physical manifestations of people's thoughts and feelings. Plus, I gotta talk about something other than shoving food in my face. C'mon!
Out west of the North Dakota Badlands sits a small town right on the Montana border. Beach, North Dakota is a town of about a thousand rural folks. It was a thriving community several decades ago, but that fire went out and the embers been smolderin' for a long time, now.
Here's the real deal. It's all I know. Beach, ND ain't exactly known for a thriving community of creative people. A lot of farmers in the area, and they talk like they ain't got time for it if it can't be sold in the ag markets. Fair enough! However, Golden Valley County has a handful of very, very creative people with great ideas and beautiful expression. I got time for that.
The fire in this ol' farming town is kept alive by a solitary artist who has infiltrated the ranks of the philistines with a little store that sells pottery. Tama Smith is a young lady with an aesthetic eye and the creative hands of an angel. Her pottery is stunning and it blooms with the patterns and colors of the surrounding geology. One of the nicest people I have met.
This is what I'm talkin' here. When you consider the available foot traffic in Beach, you gotta wonder if she's gotten on the good side of divine intervention in order to make it work. One visit to her shop, and you know her success is skill-driven. Tama Smith has been operating this shop for quite some time, now, and people from all over the country have her wonderful artifacts in their homes. That only happens with good, honest folks.
I got a compulsion to rate Tama Smith very highly. Anyone can sell pottery in places like Gatlinburg, TN or Estes Park, CO. To run a successful art studio out of a town that struggles supporting a fast food shop is testament to the outstanding quality of the product. I'm a believer that Tama Smith is the seed from which the community of Beach could resurrect itself as an oasis of artisanship. Some people you can just tell by the look in their eyes and the song in their voice. She may be able to, both literally and figuratively, create vitality from clay.
Listen, if you are racing through the top states, take a pit stop and drop in to talk with Tama. I'm not gonna steer you wrong. She creates heirloom quality relics that are fit to be handed down from one generation to the next. Her art makes outstanding gifts and her pieces are beautiful as well as functional. This world's got a limited supply of people like Tama Smith. She's a real gem. If you can't bring yourself to get agoraphobic out in the middle of nowhere, I'll toss up a link to her shop. I'm a huge fan of artists, so I gotta drop the truth when the truth presents itself.
Take a look! Don't leave empty-handed! Be Awesome!
https://www.prairiefirepottery.com/ read more