In the winter of 1976, Michael and Michele Gwinup arrived in Bend Oregon with a potters wheel made out of an old washing machine, a ton of clay, a thousand bricks, a live Blue Spruce tree, and a dream to start a pottery. With the help of their parents they bought a small house on the west side of Bend and set up their pottery in a outbuilding measuring 12 ft by 18 ft. That first winter they planted the little Blue Spruce tree in the front yard and named their business Blue Spruce Pottery. The tree is still there  growing strong on Newport Avenue in Bend. They worked in this studio for the next 6 years doing art fairs and selling through galleries.
   
 
In 1978 the Gwinup's opened a small gift shop in the Whistle Stop Mall which sold their pottery and the artwork of several other craftspeople. Then in the summer of 1982, with their daughter Melissa only 3 months old, they moved into the Blue Spruce Building. The building included a 1,000 sq. ft. space into which they moved their pottery studio, and a small showroom.  In 1983 Michael and Michele’s son Matt arrived. Over the next few years they added more artists to the showroom and hired apprentices in the pottery studio. The showroom grew until it was bursting at the seams. In 1988 they remodeled the building, adding a large gallery that displayed the works of over 100 artists.

Over the years many potters have trained at Blue Spruce, learning from Michael and Michele. Several have gone on to become professional potters. One, Joyce Webster, took the skills she learned and started a pottery in the south of Spain. Others, such as Ken Merrill of Canyon Creek Pottery in Sisters, have gone on to open their own galleries in Central Oregon. Chris Moore and Annie Dyer are among local potters who worked at Blue Spruce Pottery. The Gwinup's also host popular Raku workshops in their studio, and are committed to the free flow of information and seeing the craft of Pottery grow. Michael and Michele are proud to have been an influence and to see these potters grow and prosper.

As the years went by, Michael and Michele’s time gradually shifted to making pots less and managing the gallery and studio more, so in 1994 they sold the retail Gallery.  They moved Blue Spruce Pottery to a new studio at their home in southeast Bend, where they continue to make their pots today.

 In the summer of 2003, Michael and Michele’s daughter Melissa started a new branch of Blue Spruce Pottery called Coyote Moon Pottery . She and her fiancé, Patrick Woodman, create custom tile, platters, sushi serving dishes, and fountains. It is exciting to see a second generation continuing the tradition of quality clay work that is a trademark of Blue Spruce Pottery.