Slightly West of Spokane event features potter who honors an unhurried pace

On Nov. 29, more than a dozen artists will be stoking fires for visitors during the fifth annual Slightly West of Spokane Artists Studio Tour. Unlike the feel of a mall during the holiday season, visitors will be welcomed to shop at their leisure while enjoying a cup of something warm and perhaps a bowl of homemade chili.

There are seven stops on the self-guided tour in the Medical Lake-Cheney area: the Cheney Historical Museum, the Cheney Library, and five homes with active art studios. Items for sale will include turned tools, stained glass, photography, paintings, fabric art, jewelry, cigar box guitars, garden statues, fabric coiled baskets and functional pottery.

Michelle Schneider creates the latter; functional stoneware meant to be used often, to last, and to inspire.

“I want my art to present an optimistic, encouraging alternative to consumerism, cheap goods, and just plain ugliness. If I can give someone joy by looking at or using my pottery, I have succeeded,” she said. “I love to think about people gathering around a common table, using handmade pottery, eating homegrown food, and enjoying each other’s company.”

This will be Schneider’s fourth year participating in the tour. She grew up in Bonners Ferry where she took her first pottery class in high school.

Schneider went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Whitworth College and the University of Texas. She taught third-graders for a couple of years and then chose to stay at home with her children. When her youngest entered school about four years ago, she began studying pottery with her neighbor Adam Scoggins of Blue Heron Pottery. She then began a business called Happy Hens Pottery.

Now, she creates her stoneware in a small home studio built into the back part of a garage that looks out onto acreage. “I use a kickwheel, versus an electric wheel, for the tactile experience. It is quiet, powered by just my legs,” she said. “I can frame my schedule around my family. I get to work from home, in my sunny studio, watching the birds outside in my garden. I believe being an artist is a good example to my children of hard work, determination, and following your dreams.” The final products are inspired by nature in earthy tones with the addition of things like cattails and leaves, carved or painted onto the surface.

Schneider has shown her work at art fairs including the Custer Arts and Craft Show and the Ritzville Western Art Show. She is also in Pottery Place Plus at the Liberty Building in downtown Spokane. During the Slightly West Tour, Schneider will be exhibiting her wares alongside Scoggins and photographer Joe Nuess at stop No. 4 on the map.

“I love the lifestyle of being an artist,” she said.