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March has a way of tossing everything into the air all at once. The winds swirl, the paddocks turn to mud (the mud, the mud, the mud), and suddenly a warm day slips in carrying the faint smell of summer off the water. I walked at Geary’s Beach yesterday in some strong, sun-drenched March winds and caught that familiar summer scent of salt and seaweed, a reminder that the season is turning even if winter hasn’t quite let go. Maybe that’s why this week’s color came with a surprise of its own. For the first time in twenty-six years at the kiln, I put the wrong glass on top — and instead of the deep teal I expected, the kiln opened to a brilliant, sparkling blue that looked more like tropical water than Penobscot’s Bay in March. Sometimes the season stirs things up in the studio, too. That unexpected blue became this week’s color: Gone South. The name made me laugh the moment it landed. The glass looks like something from warm southern water, even while the ocean here is still cold and bright under the March sun. And of course this is the time of year when many islanders really do head south for a bit of warmth. Gone South holds that playful contrast — tropical color, born right here on a Maine island.
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