Miri Hardy
Miri Hardy sells $45 coffee mugs. Not a set of mugs, mind you. Not even a pair. Just one singular mug. Do you know how many mugs you could buy for $45 at a big-box store? You could probably buy every mug Amazon has to offer and still have a few bucks left over. If you’re going to shell out half of a Benjamin for something to sip out of, it better be pretty damn special. Here’s the kicker: Miri Hardy’s pottery is. And then some.
I don’t need to sell you on the importance of thoughtfulness. It’s a feeling we all enjoy being both the recipient and the bearer of. Even small gestures make a huge impact, like throwing a pebble into a pond and watching the ripples unfurl across the water. And that’s what Miri Hardy Pottery embodies. Her work is the culmination of decades of thoughtful dedication to her craft and the countless hours that go into each and every one of her pieces. Meaning, you’re not just buying a mug, or a bowl, or some knickknack from a store that sells spatulas in one aisle and flavored popcorn in the next. You are buying art and supporting Miri, an artist who took a lifeless blob of colorless clay and wedged, threw, slipped, formed, trimmed, dried, fired, sanded, washed, painted, and glazed it into a one-of-a-kind piece that exemplifies the power of transforming intention into something unique, functional, and beautiful. It’s a rare few who are willing to devote that much effort into anything at all, especially something as “simple” as a cup.
Miri fell in love with pottery as a little girl when she saw a potter at work on the wheel and thought it was absolute magic, but it wasn’t until she needed a non-academic outlet in grad school that she finally got her hands wet. “I was leafing through a catalog and saw a pottery class and signed up for it,” she says. “It turned out to be just what I needed. I’ve done academia, business, psychology, marketing and branding, but pottery has always been the constant.”
If you’ve ever eaten the mushroom bisque at Indigenous (which, for the love of all things, I certainly hope you have as it’s reached cult-level status among diners) then you’ve already used one of Miri’s creations. Locals know that Chef Steve Phelps has an unwavering commitment to the highest-quality products that focus on sustainability and seasonality, from his dishes to the dishes he’ll serve those dishes in. Thus, Miri’s soup bowls make the perfect partner as they embody that same commitment to honoring ingredients and transforming them into something remarkable.
“Professional art matters. Local art matters. What I have on the walls matters—this is what he’s telling his customers,” she says. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
If you, too, want to be a part of “it”—the experience of making something lasting and uniquely yours—take one of Miri’s studio classes. “I’m not trying to teach people how to become a professional potter,” she explains. “My niche is people who are curious about clay and want to have a bucket list experience. I just want to share my love of clay with others.”
I don’t know about you, but I have spent $45 on a lot of really dumb things in my day. Purchasing local art that not only tells a story but is useful and lasting isn’t one of them.
“My favorite thing is when my customers say ‘Yeah, I can buy cheap china, but I want to support the arts. I want people like you to exist in my community because you add value and using your piece is special to me.’”
Money well spent is not money wasted.
So, there you have it.
