Wow, what a day it was for us at Hummingbird Lane! We had been asked by the Chamber of Commerce to organize several local artists to present their artwork during the festivities of the Tour de Georgia. In preparation, Helen Miller made over 100 coffee mugs, Mike Miller painted a hugely unique piece (an abstract!), and can be seen in the photo gallery. Our cooperative mission was to try to attract the attention of the Tour de Georgia fans without detracting from the integrity of the race itself.

While working on trying to figure out what would get the racers' and fans' attention, I began making a platter. After finding a photo of a drawing of an 1800's bicycle and rider, I found my inspiration for a particular piece that would certainly appeal to cycling fans - especially Tour de Georgia fans, who were my target audience for this event. Once I had the platter completed in raw clay, I found that I liked it very much. I had written "Tour de Georgia" and "Dahlonega, 2008" on it, and then I became a bit concerned. They had asked us to organize artists, but hadn't given us permission to use the Tour de Georgia name. I thought it would be my luck to make something that I liked very much, only to see it shattered in the street for copyright reasons. So I made a phone call to Hal Williams at the Chamber. I told him my concerns, and he said he'd check into it. Shortly afterward, I heard from him that the Tour de Georgia committee wanted me to bring the platter to their next meeting.

So I did. Everyone was so nice - but you could tell they had a big job to do, and everyone was very serious. The committee is made up of volunteers, and hosting an event like this is a HUGE obligation, and honor. The way they gave me approval to make my platter was to ask me to make 4 more: one for the "grand prize" and 4 for the next 4 winners of the race. WOW - what an honor! Now I had my mission, and had committed to doing something that as a new potter I had absolutely no idea how to do!

 In addition, the committee said that we should be making some type of souvenier for the race, and that's how Helen and I came up with the idea of making the mugs. I went immediately to her after the meeting. She was my teacher, after all, and I needed some instruction on how to complete my mission. In the process, Mike committed to painting the Tour de Georgia painting, and Helen committed to the mugs. She also gave me some tips as to how to complete the platters, and we discussed many of the technicalities of a piece that size.

So off we went in our own directions. Beth Brightwell helped organize the artists, including photographers Kenny and Cindy Simmons, artists Beth Brightwell and Mike Miller, Helen and I as potters, and business owners. We tried to present a collection of artwork that had something for everyone, but one that definitely spoke to our targeted audience. We had Becky's jewelry, the Dahlonega Children's Art Foundation, and Tim Wilson, who makes dulcimers.

The day was beautiful, with lots of excitement in the air. The platters, mugs, paintings and posters turned out awesome, and it was such great fun to be on the stage being recognized for making the trophies for the 5th leg of the 2008 Tour de Georgia!

We still have some posters and mugs available. The posters are limited edition (only 50 exist!), and so are the mugs (only 100 exist!). You can shoot me an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are interested in purchasing these items. The posters are $40, and the mugs are $20. Sorry, but the platters won't be reproduced.

Make sure to check out more photos in our PHOTO GALLERY

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