Crowded House Pottery’s owner shapes a family legacy in clay

At the Shoppes of Little Falls, Crowded House Pottery’s booth is neatly arranged according to color, starting with darker browns and greens at the left, moving to lighter yellows and blues in the center and ending with the lightest pinks and whites at the right. The effect is a type of rainbow of pottery, with mugs, vases, soap dispensers and more immediately drawing potential customers’ eyes.

Susan Beyer, the owner of Crowded House Pottery, said she can’t take credit for the booth’s arrangement, as that is set up by staff at the Shoppes. However, she can proudly take credit for the pottery itself, both for crafting many items herself and for teaching her son how to create other items on display.

Beyer started Crowded House Pottery in a very different time and place: St. Louis, Missouri, in the late 1970s. Starting her love of pottery through painting molded pieces for a gift shop, this love and craft eventually grew into a full-blown business of her own. Instead of buying a dedicated building to sell her items from, she instead decided to operate out of her own home, stuffing the bottom floor with as many pieces as Beyer could make. By 1987, the house had become even more crowded, both because her business had expanded to sell her wares all across the country and because she had had her fourth child.

Click here to read the original article from the Morrison County Record.