Ceramic Enchantment

Torie McCollum’s Lost Petal Pottery crafts a lineup of beautiful creations inspired by the natural world as well as landmarks, legends and lore.

Torie McCollum’s po ery is in uenced by folklore, nature and places like the Moonville Tunnel, a Vinton County landmark with a ghostly past.

“ e spooky things started to come around Halloween, but then I just loved them so much — and other people did too — that I just kept making them,” McCollum says. at fascination with the season of black cats, witches and skulls is a theme through her line of beautifully cra ed ceramic works, which sport an earthy feel and feature glazes that turn each into a unique piece of art.

McCollum’s business, Lost Petal Po ery, has its roots in a high school po ery class. It was a pursuit she enjoyed, but she says she didn’t immediately recognize it as something she could do for a living. A er ge ing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees — the la er in historic preservation and working as an interior designer for a few years, she returned to ceramics. Today, she works in a studio in Circleville and regularly releases drops of products that her loyal customers love.

If you see a piece you like in her online shop, it’s a good idea to pick it up. McCollum’s process requires her to cra in small batches (a single work can take up to a month to create) and although she makes a few of her bestsellers at a time, they go quickly.

Creating up to 20 pieces in a batch, all McCollum’s projects begin with weighing and molding a blob of clay. While the clay is still wet, she uses screen printing to transfer her illustration. (Each is hand drawn on a computer and formatted to size.) A er the clay sits overnight, she drills holes into plant pots and adds handles to mugs. e pieces then sit for two weeks before undergoing two separate rings in the kiln. e shop, which launched in 2020, stocks an ever-changing lineup of mugs, tumblers, planters and dishes as well as stickers and notebooks with hand-printed designs. McCollum says a lot of her artistic ideas stem from spending time in nature.

“Any real chance I get to spend time outside is really magical for me,” she says. “I feel like one of my biggest personal inspirations is just to kind of look try and maybe harken back to my inner child.” Kelly Powell

For more information, visit lostpetalpo ery.com.

Spirited Stays

Fall is the perfect time to stay at one of these storied properties with a history of paranormal happenings.

Buxton Inn • Granville

Built by Orrin Granger in 1812, this 25room property is the state’s oldest continuously operating inn. Major Buxton and his wife acquired and renamed the place in 1865, and the Buxton Inn has a rich history that includes a visit by President William Henry Harrison. It is also known for ghostly happenings, most notably sightings of the spirits of former owners. (Granger is among those said to have been seen here over the years.) Reports from guests indicate that most paranormal activity occurs in Rooms 7 and 9, including sightings of gures dressed in blue, a ghostly cat and doors opening and closing with no other valid explanation. 313 E. Broadway, Granville 43023, 740/587-0001, buxtoninn.com

The Lafayette Hotel • Marietta

Named a er France’s Marquis de Lafaye e, who aided George Washington’s Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, this hotel began as the Bellevue Hotel before it was rebuilt and renamed in