The first toby jugs were inspired by Toby Fillpot, a ‘thirsty old soul’ who excelled in boozing and appeared in an old English song of 1761, entitled the Brown Jug. His corpulent frame was modeled into jug form by early potters and led to the English tradition of drinking jugs

WMODA is proud of our ongoing partnership with the fascinating TV show Articulate, hosted by Jim Cotter. Season four of the Emmy® Award-winning public television series premiered locally in January on WPBT/South Florida PBS. Articulate’s unique style features authors, dancers, sculptors, poets, musicians and other unique talented professionals. The show

We were thrilled to meet Laurence Gartel, the ‘Father of Digital Art’, at our recent Sensational Saturday event. He came to hear his friend Lloyd Goradesky talk about his latest work Let Love Guide Your Way. Now Laurence has fallen in love with all the Fired Arts at WMODA. He

In National Poetry Month, we are featuring some rare Royal Doulton figures with verses from famous children’s poems. Poetry for children captures the essence of childhood, the fun, the laughter and the tears. Poetry can ignite a passion for the spoken and written word as young readers explore their imaginations

Stephen Rolfe Powell (1951-2019) We are celebrating the life of one of the great American glass artists, Stephen Rolfe Powell who died suddenly at his home in Kentucky on March 16 at the age of 67. Steve was due to demonstrate at the Glass Art Society conference in St. Petersburg

In a previous Highlights, we talked about the Minton Mermaids jardinière in the WMODA collection that appears in the musical movie Annie. Now we have spotted Minton china cachepots in two classic movies. The Minton cachepots were obviously favored Hollywood studio props to suggest opulence and glamour. In Pillow Talk

By Louise Irvine Each year, Earth Day - April 22 - marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. However, Earth Day Network works year-round to solve climate change, to end plastic pollution, and to protect endangered species. Discover how the Ardmore studio highlighted sustainability of

In National Poetry month we are honoring Arion, an ancient Greek poet and musician credited with inventing the dithyramb, a passionate poem venerating Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility. In Arion’s compositions, a Greek chorus of 50 men sang wild, ecstatic hymns in unison while dancing around an altar

Events in our beach community have often inspired us to look at how the wonders of the deep have been represented in the Fired Arts. See how WMODA is awash with weird underwater critters including fish, mollusks and crustaceans. On the surface, curious crabs and lively lobsters might seem like