The Muddy Muse

"Dream Big" Home and Studio Fundraiser

How can you help? Shop with us!

You can help us reach our fundraising goals in several ways. 1. Simply share links to this site with friends and family. 2. Shop with us for your gifts for friends and family. My husband Mark and I have so many beautiful artworks and pottery to choose from. This site is a great place to start. By buying from this site we get to keep a little bit more of the $ and save on selling fees compared to our other website selling platforms. The items in the collections posted here are created with love and intention and the bonus is that you can read about what inspired each collection. You also get a front row seat to seeing how much we have raised towards our goals. 3. You can reach out to us and schedule an appointment to shop with us from our current home studio. 4. We also welcome in kind monetary donations. If your heart feels lead to, you can contribute to the studio fund with a donation in any amount of your choice There is a donation option attached to each collection page or you can donate below. Please know that we are not a non-profit organization so any donations are not tax deductible. All proceeds from purchases and donations go directly towards the "Dream Big" studio fund to aid us in purchasing our current home and studio and potentially securing a space that meets the growing needs of this independent pottery business!

STARFISH COLLECTION

JELLYFISH COLLECTION

SAND DOLLAR COLLECTION

SCALLOP SHELL COLLECTION

SEA TURTLE COLLECTION

FISH COLLECTION

DRAGONFLY COLLECTION

Dream Big Donations

MUSHROOM COLLECTION

What Is The "Dream Big" Fundraiser For?

For more than a few years now  we  have been hunkered down and working through the daily grind and riding out the roller coaster of life.  jSometimes you loose sight of how much you are missing out on.The universe sometimes steps in in unexpected ways and forces a card for change.  The universe has  dealt us two cards recently  that simultaneously call for a need to move  an aging parent into our home to provide them with more love and support as they face the challenges of living with dementia and that we are also facing a looming expiration date on the rental property that we have called home for the last 11 years. Changing things up can be a powerful catalyst for positive personal growth.  We are taking this as a sign from the universe that it is time to reach for stars and "Dream Big". My husband Mark painted these very words above my studio doors a few years ago to cheer me up.   I for one love a challenge and am  looking forward to the potential that comes with meeting these challenges head on. For now we are focusing our energy on trying to find a way to purchase the home we have rented for the last 11 years...if that doesn't work out then we will welcome the thrill of the hunt and will search out a new space to live and create from and let our dreams take root. I have faith that we will  find the right soil, more importantly we have already  found many of the right people to help cultivate it into a thriving and nourishing reality. This is a daunting challenge for a couple of artists and musicians trying to secure financing from a bank.   We never truly know how much $ we are going to bring in  from art sales and music gigs can often get cancelled due to weather, bringing another layer of uncertainty to the picture.  Our life is a financial juggling act but we always make it work with a lot of heart and hustle.  I am putting my creative spin on overcoming these challenges by launching this unique "Dream Big" fundraising campaign as part of my  financing plan.  It is going to take a substantial downpayment to get any bank to finance a property for us and I have set my goals high. I am a very visual processor and often need a list or chart to motivate myself and stay on track when meeting challenging goals.  I wanted a way to see my goal being met but  instead of the generic thermometer style goal image  where you color it in as you raise money, I have started a large illustration of a " Tree of Life", money tree as my goal thermometer.  Every element of the illustration has a monetary value assigned to it to reach our goals.  Every time we sell or raise enough money to fully fund a leaf, a bird, a shell, or any item in the picture we will color it in to show that the goal has been met. Each of these elements has deep meaning and has a story behind it.  This site is  full of collections of my pottery and fiber creations and my husbands art and music that you can purchase to help us meet our fundraising goals. I hope that you will spend some time exploring the site and reading the inspiration stories attached to each of  the product collections as they get published. I put a lot of heart into this and am filled with hope that with the extra sales and possible donations made on this site we will get the funds we need to make it happen.   We have a year to fund a purchase of our current rental home or find a place to transplant our roots.  I look forward to being able to invite you all to our fully realized dream of a new  home base whether it is here in Wilmington or out in the country on a few  acres of land with the potential for beautiful gardens, and trails through forested land  where we can host creative and mindful classes and workshops for children and adults. Please reach out if you want to help and collaborate as we tackle these challenges.  We welcome these new connections with open arms and look forward to the new possibilities and know that it is with the support of our community and through collaboration that we can reach our highest potential of growth in love, connections, and knowledge.  In the mean time Mark and I will still be  working our creative magic in the community as always with other schools and organizations.
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Thanks to the generosity of the community, we have collected:

$0.00

All-Time

Donate To The "Dream Big" Studio Fund

Make a donation directly to the fund for The Muddy Muse's new studio space. Learn More

Who Is The Muddy Muse?

Laurel is a professional potter and fiber artist by trade and has been teaching creative arts programming independently for nearly 20 years. She is an all around facilitator of creativity who loves working with children in nature through the arts. She lives by the motto “What Catches the Eye, Inspires the Hand”. Laurel is a trained ALF (Agile Learning Facilitator) and loves to engage with children in intuitive and out of the box ways calling on her years of experience with teaching outreach programs and homeschooling her own children. She has been actively engaging the community at large in alternative education initiatives for many years.

Laurel Herbert The Muddy Muse: Facilitator of Creativity

Mark HerbertMH

Mark HerbertMusician, artist, educator

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