Kelly and I have a friend, Paula, who has her own pottery and craft business called “Plays with Mud”. You can see some of her work HERE. Her talent is amazing! We pretty much took care of Christmas this year with her work; she showed some of it to us when she and her husband invited us over one evening for a drink or three with some friends. I’m not sure if it was the alcohol, or her salesmanship, but we’d placed 4 orders within no time and felt damn good about it! In looking at how Paula’s eyes LIT up when she talked about her crafts, it was obvious this was definitely one of her passions.

I wondered then, if there would ever be a point in my life that I would be so lucky to find a passion in some activity of mine that I not only could share as freely with others, but also make some money at such that people couldn’t WAIT to pay me for it – she has certainly nailed both criteria. And the name – “Plays With Mud” - perfect! Granted, Paula and my wife, Kelly, name products for a living at their employer, Addison Whitney; but the name has a subtext that goes beyond any professional advantage she may have had in the art of coming up with descriptors….(I learned that term from Kelly too).

Every word in the name plays a part in conveying the message of what she does;

  • “Plays” – This gets us started right off the top with what we ALL want in life – To Play! She could have easily said “Works with Mud” or “Builds with Mud” or even “Creates with Mud”. But none of these capture the innocence or frivolity of “Plays”. Right out of the gate, we realize that this is about bringing FUN to your life and taking things that make us smile and putting them into an object that has much more of a chance at immortality than us all, and reminds us of that which we want most out of life…..to Play.
  • “With” – The transitory term takes us gently to the end with camaraderie and collaboration. No using “At” or “To” or “On” or any other word here that lends one to think of Control or resistance; It would be useless to try and imply that the creator does anything other than go WITH the flow of the material and take the moment she is in, to create a unique and individual piece each and every time.
  • “Mud” – It’s dirty, it’s real, it’s the REAL beginning in a FLUID form that takes shape with intent, vision and effort – it’s LIFE. So in analyzing Paula’s name, I had to think, what would I come up with?

Well – I am going to work on that this year, but I thought I’d throw a few out there just for fun, although based on the list, it’s obvious I need to leave this to the professionals!

  1. Kisses on Kelly
  2. Shoots with Trey
  3. Laughs among Friends
  4. Works on Spreadsheets
  5. Drives a Jag
  6. Vents at Gym
  7. Runs on Treadmill
  8. Shops at Harris Teeter
  9. Dances at Villa
  10. Plays on Guitar (alt = Piano)
  11. Sleeps under Pillow