Marie Rogers started playing the washboard, keeping time with guitarist Pat Shields and Tony Ianuario on the mandolin after she sold out her homemade handiwork and decided to help make some music for the crowd.
She's one of the 40 exhibitors whose work filled up the middle school gym that attracts potters and patrons from Georgia, North and South Carolina.
Pottery maker Dwayne Crocker, whose brother has pieces on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, said pottery started out as containers for liquids and food.
It became a form of folk art, which is the reason several pieces from several potters in this region are on display at the Smithsonian.
"Most people collect it for the value and beauty of it," Crocker said.
Hundreds of viewers and buyers found their way to Homer and the show before the it concluded Saturday afternoon; last year an estimated 2,000 people attended the one day event, according to festival originator and promotor Steve Turpin.
"It's all hand made and the creativity that goes into the pieces is what makes them unique," Turpin said. "We talked about starting the festival for years so eight years ago I bit the bullet and said, let's do it."
Pottery making in Mike Craven's family goes back 250 years.
"Since the 1730's," Craven said. "I've been making pottery since the early '70's, all I've ever done for a living is make pottery."
Pottery Purchase in Homer
Marie Rogers, Pat Shields, Tony Ianuario
Walter Aberson at the potter's wheel
Dwayne Crocker shows off his pottery
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/6/210987