(Megan Pettibone | Photo by Amy Harney )
When potter Megan Pettibone sits down to start a new ceramic piece, she channels a world of enchantment. “I have always been interested in the unexplainable and mysterious parts of this world,” she says. “I love ghosts, aliens, fairies and gnomes,” she laughs. So it’s fitting that she named her company Enchanted Clayworks. Pettibone recently joined Red Chair Gallery and her work is showcased there in November.
Her display includes a vessel adorned with red-capped mushrooms and moss, a tealight that glows like the Northern Lights when lit and is topped with a UFO flying saucer, and an iridescent clamshell perfect for holding several pairs of earrings. Inspired on a hike by Central Oregon’s variety of forest fungi, she created a mug that looks like a log with mushrooms growing out of its sides, except the mushrooms are placed so that when a user inserts his or her fingers between them to hold the cup, “It feels like a hug for your hands,” she says.
Pettibone’s road to enchantment was unusual. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, she followed the path of a traditional business career. After college, she moved to Boston and held a series of administrative jobs that she increasingly felt were personally unfulfilling. Her husband, a musician and audio engineer, felt the same about his career and both were getting tired of living in a big city. They longed to connect to a vibrant community where they could make personal connections. “We wanted to live an intentional life,” Pettibone explains. “Both of us have creative passions that were always nagging to be set free.”
In 2015, they pulled up stakes and embarked on a three-month journey across the country, looking for a less urban place where they could thrive. They visited dozens of towns across the U.S. and landed in Bend in July, one of our most beautiful months of the year. “This place just blew our socks off,” Pettibone says. They felt they had found a community where they might begin to grow roots and loved the fact that Central Oregon boasts of 300 days of sunshine a year. They continued on their journey, but when it came time to decide if they would settle in the West or head back to the East coast, Pettibone received a job interview to teach at Bend’s Waldorf School, and the decision was made. Now, after a decade in Bend, they feel they found what they were looking for.
While in Boston, Pettibone took some ceramics classes as a form of “self-therapy.” But she never envisioned herself as a professional. The inspiration from the Waldorf School approach no doubt influenced her ability to see the world through a child’s eyes. The Waldorf way of teaching seeks to educate children intellectually, physically and socially, fostering a sense of wonder and imagination. It integrates nature, arts and music into all areas of study.
Pettibone joined ceramics studios at Cinder Cone and Central Oregon Community College when she first arrived to keep up her craft, and experimented with many techniques and styles at her home studio during the COVID pandemic. The enchanted realm became her vision and voice. She hopes those who view her creations will experience them as a portal through the veil of mystery, offering a sense of wonder and whimsy.
Instagram: @enchantedclayworks • enchantedclayworks@gmail.com • redchairgallerybend.com