Home and workshop destroyed in Caldor wildfire

         I am Scott Wilson, and I have made my living with my business, Scott Wilson Pottery, since 1997. I started as a production potter in 1986, after studying art in college since 1982. I built my workshop on my property in Pollock Pines, CA, in 1994, where I have lived in a motorhome ever since. My business was growing fast until March 2020, when the pandemic lockdown prevented me from meeting my customers. To get through, I got a job at my local Safeway supermarket. By August 17, 2021, my business was really picking up. I had started an online store, which was gaining momentum. The restrictions on public interactions had eased, despite the surge of the Delta Variant. I was close to resuming my occupation full-time.

      On August 17, I was evacuated due to the Caldor Wildfire. My wife and I crammed everything possible into our 2 vans and left. We are lucky to have good friends to stay with outside the burn zone.

      On August 25, the fire burned my home and workshop to the ground, as well as my pickup truck, many essential pieces of equipment, and almost all of our personal belongings. You can see my full story of the wildfire, and have a close look at my artwork, at my business website. I have not given up on my business or my property. I am struggling for a way forward, though. I have begun setting up a temporary workshop in my one remaining, 100 square foot structure, and looking for another beat up motor home. I have ironed out the glitch with my well pump, replaced the lost 2500 gallon water tank with a temporary solution, and I am repairing all of the above ground plumbing.

      I am in the painstaking process of hauling away the remnants of my home and workshop, then I will begin the process of building my next workshop. I hammered the first one together with mostly scrounged materials in 1994, with the help of a carpenter friend. This time around, I am working on plans to pour a concrete slab, and bring in a prefabricated metal, 2 car garage, to insulate and retrofit as my next pottery workshop. Thank you,

                                    Scott Wilson