Obsession Pottery owner Carrie Darrah in her studio on 629 Morrell Creek Drive in Seeley Lake. She is holding one of her slumped glass snack trays in one hand and the slump mold she created in the other. Behind her to the left is pottery she has made that is available to purchase and glaze during the glazing class on Wednesdays. On the right is finished pottery that she created and sells.
Darrah showing student Nancy Butcher different glazing techniques during the Wednesday night class, Jan. 16. While Butcher has dabbled in arts and crafts her entire life, "I've never done pottery and I've always wanted to. Now that I carry her stuff in the store, this is my chance." Darrah provides stamps, stencils, rollers, doilies and other texturing tools to enhance the pots they make. When people ask what can they do with pottery, Darrah is quick to respond, "Everything! You can cook with it, you can eat out of it. How can you not love something that you create, is something beautiful and is so functional?"
SEELEY LAKE – Seven years ago when Carrie Darrah took a pottery class, "I fell in love with it. One class and I was hooked." She opened Obsession Pottery five years ago and opened her studio in Seeley Lake this past November. Through offering classes and selling her work, Darrah hopes to share her love of pottery and help others enjoy it as much as she does.
When Darrah's daughter started college she needed to find something to do. She talked to a local potter in Helena and asked if he taught classes. As luck would have it, he was opening a new studio and she signed up for one of his classes.
"It just blew up from there. Once you get into, it there is no turning back. There is so much you can do," said Darrah. She said her favorite part about pottery is getting in the mud, especially using the wheel. "It is all really super therapeutic. You get on the wheel and you are starting with a blob of clay. And then you end up with something just amazing."
Darrah said Helena is a phenomenal place to get into pottery because of the Archie Bray Foundation. She started renting a studio so she could practice and continued to take classes.
Darrah opened her first studio in her basement bathroom and named her business Obsession Pottery because, "I was totally obsessed with it."
She started selling her pottery at the farmer's market in Helena and then branched out to the Missoula and Seeley Lake markets in the summer. She also traveled with her pots to various holiday bazaars in the winter.
Darrah and her husband first came to Seeley Lake on a snowmobiling trip 15 years ago and fell in love. They came on weekends in the winter to snowmobile and camped in the summer. They purchased property in Seeley Lake seven years ago.
They built their home on 629 Morrell Creek Drive in Seeley Lake November 2017 but she had wait for another year to build her studio on the back of the garage. She opened Obsession Pottery studio in Seeley Lake in November 2018.
Obsession Pottery sells pottery that can be bought off the shelf in her studio, Blue River Station or at the Seeley Lake Farmers' and Crafters' Market in the summer. Customers can also custom order. Darrah said she will make mug, bowl and other sets but not plate sets because of their high failure rate.
Darrah also etches glass, makes candles and slumps glass. Slumping glass requires clean glass bottles, that are any color. Darrah makes the slump molds where the bottle is laid and fired in the kiln. The heat causes the glass to "slump" into a snack tray.
Obsession Pottery also offers classes in hand building and glazing once a week on Wednesdays starting at 6:30 p.m. and one-on-one wheel classes by appointment.
The weekly class project is posted by Sunday evening on Obsession Pottery's Facebook page. For those that aren't interested in building anything, they can purchase pre-made pots, bowls, pitchers or platters and glaze them during the glaze classes. Cost for the class is typically less than $20 depending on the project. Darrah limits the class size to six.
Cyndi Triplett has been at every class since Darrah started offering them. She had never done pottery before coming to Obsession Pottery.
"I have a lot of fun with it," said Triplett. "Just being together with the group has a lot to do with it."
Darrah offers different levels of projects in her classes to help build confidence and push students outside of their comfort zone.
"People make amazing things. They just have to get over the being uncomfortable about it and just do it," said Darrah.
She also thinks it gives people an idea why pottery isn't cheap because of the time, materials and effort it takes to do it.
"I love people to come in and play. We have a blast," said Darrah. "Anything I make, anyone else can make too and we can do it in the class."
Blue River Station hosted a Meet the Potter and ornament decorating event this past Christmas. Darrah said she is working with owner Nancy Butcher to continue the event every major holiday.
"It was a blast and people liked it," said Darrah who added it brought people into Blue River Station so they could check out not only her work but the rest of the merchandise including work of around 30 other artists that Butcher supports.
"Every where I go that is what I talk about is pottery," said Darrah. "You've got to come and do it. I love it. It is the best thing I've ever done."
For more information about Obsession Pottery or to make an appointment email obsessionpottery@gmail.com or call 406-461-0671. Obsession Pottery class information can be found on Obsession Pottery's Facebook page.
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