The Lady of the South | A Dirty South Pottery Blog

Pivoting; Having Goals with Soul

I am a creature of habit. I like the known, the familiar, the predictable. I prefer to sit in the same chair in my living room every night. I have worn my makeup in the same way for the majority of my adult life. I create routines.

I also get bored easily. I don’t like getting stuck in too many routines. The 9-5pm work life wore me down so much that I created my own business to escape it. I like new adventures. I like to rearrange rooms. I prefer to have some structure, but to work loosely within the guidelines I set for myself.

Posted on January 03, 2019

Ashley Norman

5 Quick Tips for Buying the Perfect Handmade Pottery for You

A few years ago, when we first started on the festival circuit, I wrote a blog on tips on buying quality pottery at fairs. Now as I reread it, I can see that it was filled with advice that came from an art student who was trying to sound like an artist. I was (unknowingly) focused on defensively explaining pottery instead of writing out solid advice to the shopper.

But today, I have given myself the chance to fix it.

Posted on August 27, 2018

Ashley Norman

8 Innovative Ways to Repurpose Your Pots

If you have ever been to our studio/store you may have noticed that I have a thing for repurposing old and broken things. A scrap piece of wood can become a display, old wine racks into mug racks. Thanks to Pinterest and HGTV, this trend of rethinking old items has exploded in the last few years – much to my delight! I love saving items that are destined for landfills and giving them new life. Seriously, I love it.

Posted on July 03, 2018

Ashley Norman

Beer Cheese Me, Please

Beer Cheese. If you’re not from Kentucky, you may or may not have heard of it before. But unless you’ve traveled to the Bluegrass State I can tell you one thing; you ain’t had real beer cheese.

Posted on May 29, 2018

Ashley Norman

FAQ: Why Downtown?

“So…. Why did you all decide to open here?”

That, my friends, is the top question that we are asked all the time. (#2 is if we know when the cobbler next door will be in.) Although I would like to say that it was a carefully calculated investment that we planned for several months, that is not our truth. Our decision to invest our lives into Downtown Winchester was made from a simple recipe of 1 part opportunity, 1 part good timing, and 2 parts gut feeling.

Posted on April 02, 2018

Ashley Norman

Treat Yo' Self - February 14th Style

As the winter blows on through the Bluegrass, a certain red and pink styled holiday seems to be approaching very quickly. Before I continue, I must make a confession: I actually dislike Valentine’s Day very much. Even as a teenager when I bought into most of what society was telling me to do, I have always rejected the idea of Valentine’s Day. Why do we need one day a year to celebrate love? Shouldn’t we do that every day? And how on Earth does buying people chalky candy hearts show them your affection?

Posted on January 30, 2018

Ashley Norman

Evolution Over Resolution

A new year has been given to us all once again, and I for one am very grateful to see it come. The holidays are always our busiest time of the year, which is both exciting and overwhelming as a business owner like myself who makes their own products. By the time that our annual post-Christmas studio shutdown arrives, my brain feels zapped, my body aches, my socializing fuel tank is empty and I am pretty much the definition of worthless.

Posted on January 02, 2018

Ashley Norman

Empty Bowls, Full Hearts

The holiday season is also the giving season; and I’m not just talking about gift-giving. Although we see charitable causes throughout the year, the weeks leading up to Christmas seem to be filled with good deeds, festive cheer, and people going out of their way to help others. Above everything else, this is why I love the holiday season.

Posted on November 08, 2017

Ashley Norman

"DOWNTOWN IS DYING" And Other Lies We Hear

Habits are hard to break. I know from personal experience that habits involving language and the tones that we use are probably some of the hardest habits to kick. Why? Simply because we learn them at such a young age. We have been speaking longer than we have been using toilets, guys. But our words, they have such power. I believe that language and the energy behind it are some of the strongest forces in our everyday lives: shaping ideas, spreading gossip, sharing feelings.

Posted on October 05, 2017

Ashley Norman

Ask Not What Your (Community) Can Do For You...

Three years ago, while at the Beer Cheese Festival in Winchester I saw signs that an absolute auction would be taking place for one of the buildings on North Main Street. When we invested in that property later that month, we did so knowing that we were not just investing our money towards our business but to create a platform in which we could give back to our downtown and community as a whole. Dirty South Pottery is designed to be a source of good; quality products, exposure to fine arts to the citizens, and also a way for us to get involved in giving back.

Posted on June 01, 2017

Ashley Norman

What Your Mother Doesn't Know She Needs

I hear it all the time: "My mom is so hard to shop for - she has everything!" And I can say without a doubt that I feel ya on this one. I happen to have a Mom who is just about as kind-hearted and low maintenance as they come, which means that she doesn't require much "extras".

So what do you get a woman who has everything she needs?
Things that she doesn't know that she needs, of course.

Posted on May 03, 2017

Ashley Norman

Hot Brown Sliders for Derby Day in May

The Kentucky Derby is a wonderful tradition that runs deep in most Kentuckian’s blood. A quick guide for those of you out of the loop, the Derby is a horse race that is held once a year in Louisville, KY at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. It is the most anticipated horse race of the year, and is kind of a big deal in the Bluegrass State.

Posted on April 19, 2017

Ashley Norman