"I converted an old cistern in my basement into a pottery studio. My house is 117 years old, and as was the custom of the time and location, they made the basement with fieldstones. These are large and very heavy stones found in the fields of the prairies. They were dragged or carried by horse and hand. It makes for a very strong, secure and uniquely beautiful foundation but brings with it adventures like water seepage and salamanders who enjoy living in the stones. When I create on my wheel, I am surrounded by fieldstones. 

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I plan to eventually move to the farm on the highest point on top of a hill. The hills in that area used to be called Hair Hills because I am told the buffalo would rub against all the trees there and leave their hair behind. The hill overlooks the escarpment, which was carved by glacial runoff more than 10,000 years ago. This inspires me to include a lot of carvings and images of hills in my pottery, many with lines and small dots and other geometric patterns, which represent the texture of the hills and my understanding of them. From plains-grasses on the hills overlooking the ancient glacially carved lands to bushes playing home to buffalo and what they used to leave behind on the trees, their hair." - Meghann Turner (@fieldstone.pottery)