A Blue-Ribbon Day: Cinnamon Rose Pottery Wins Three Awards at The Big E

Sometimes a creative journey brings a surprise that you never quite imagined when you began.

When I started my pottery journey this spring, I was simply excited to learn something new. There was so much to discover—working with clay, experimenting with different techniques, learning how glazes interact in the kiln, and experiencing that wonderful moment when the kiln is finally cool enough to open and you see what happened inside.

Some pieces have turned out just as I hoped. Others have taught me what I should do differently the next time. Every one of them has been part of the journey.

So when I decided to enter three pieces of Cinnamon Rose Pottery in the 2026 Eastern States Exposition—better known as The Big E—I really didn't know what to expect.

I am absolutely delighted to share what happened:

All three received Blue Ribbons in the Fine Arts competition!

Three Pieces, Three Blue Ribbons

I deliberately chose three pieces that were quite different from one another.

Harvest Circle is a hand-built pottery wreath filled with the colors and textures of the season. Individual leaves in warm golds, russets, greens and earthy browns surround clusters of hand-formed berries, including those wonderful little deep-blue berries that add just enough contrast.

First Frost takes an entirely different direction. Its softly undulating form is covered in layers of icy blue and white, with deeper blue gathering around the edges. To me, it has always suggested that first delicate frost of the season—the moment when the landscape begins its transition toward winter.

And then there is River Stone, with its wonderfully organic shape and dramatic glaze pattern. Layers of earthy brown, blue-gray and cream spread across the surface in formations that remind me of stones shaped and weathered by moving water.

Three very different pieces. Three different expressions of what I have been learning through clay and glaze.

And somehow, three blue ribbons.

What Makes These Ribbons Especially Meaningful

Cinnamon Rose Pottery is still very young.

I only began this part of my creative journey in 2026, and I certainly don't pretend to have learned everything there is to know about pottery. Quite the opposite! One of the things I love most about working with clay is realizing how much more there is to discover.

Every firing teaches me something.

Every new glaze combination raises another question.

And occasionally, a piece comes out of the kiln and makes me stop for a moment because it has become something even more interesting than I imagined when it went in.

Receiving these three Blue Ribbons from The Big E's Fine Arts competition feels like a wonderful little milestone along that journey.

A Very Special Big E

There was another reason this year's Big E results were particularly exciting for me.

Many of you know that long before Cinnamon Rose Pottery came along, my primary creative passion was—and remains—creating my handcrafted porcelain dolls through Brenda Mize Dolls.

I entered two of my porcelain dolls in The Big E's Designer Craftsman – Handcrafted Dolls competition this year as well.

Honorine, my period-inspired doll created in commemoration of America's 250th anniversary, received a Blue Ribbon.

And Karrlyn the Witch, one of my 2026 Halloween witches, received a Blue Ribbon, too.

So between my pottery and my dolls, I entered five pieces in this year's Eastern States Exposition.

Five entries. Five Blue Ribbons.