- What do you do or sell?
I am the owner and artisan behind Spirit Song Ocarinas. I make handcrafted, smoke-fired
ceramic ocarinas–clay flutes that play a full musical scale.
How did you get started in the business?
Back in 1999, I met my late husband, Larry “Sir Lawrence” Bletsch, at a St. Patrick’s Day
festival where he was selling his ocarinas. Two weeks later we packed up my apartment, and I
joined him on the road. We worked together as Firestone Ocarinas for more than a decade. He
made the ocarinas, I carved the designs in them, and we participated as merchants at
Renaissance festivals from Texas to Michigan.
After Lawrence passed away in 2016, I founded Spirit Song Ocarinas to continue the family
business as a solo artisan. Our son, Isaac, works at the pushcart. Though it took a few years to
become established again, we now participate in Medieval and Renaissance festivals in Texas
and Louisiana during about half of the year.
When did you start selling or performing?
I got thrown into the deep end almost immediately! Fortunately, the ocarina is pretty easy to
play, so I had mastered the scale and one simple song before I was left alone behind the
pushcart. Well, I thought I had mastered them. I soon found it wasn’t that easy to play loudly in
public without making multiple, ear-splitting mistakes. I got better with practice, but I feel so
sorry for the people who had to listen to me those first few years.
What was your local faire or home faire?
I still consider the Texas Renaissance Festival to be my home faire, though it was the fifth one I
ever worked or even attended. We used to winter in Toon Town or with family nearby, and our
son went to Teacher Jenny’s Wren School there when he was little.
At faire, what was your garb/attire your usual go to?
I love dresses from the Medieval time period, so I’m always thrilled to participate in shows with
that particular theme. It means I get to trade my usual chemise, bodice, skirt, and hat
combination for a linen dress and overdress. I can usually get away with wearing a circlet, too. I
dislike wearing anything on my head, but somehow a circlet doesn’t count. I guess I never grew
out of dressing up like a princess!
What makes your wares unique?
My work is heavily inspired by ancient music and art, and I tend to use older methods of
construction when making my instruments. Unlike many ocarina makers, I do not use molds or
glazes. All of my ocarinas are formed individually by hand and carved with a few simple tools.
Though I do use an electric kiln for environmental and safety reasons, the smoking process
gives the ocarinas the same finish they would have if they were fired in a stone oven or a pit in
the ground. I want my ocarinas to look and feel like they could have been made hundreds or
even thousands of years ago.
Are you creating more stock or more content?
Right now I am making stock for upcoming shows. We plan to be at the Sherwood Celtic
Gathering in September, the Louisiana Renaissance Festival in November through December,
and then back to the Texas Viking Festival for the Winter Solstice.
How are you compensating for this strange time we are in now?
Like many Renaissance Festival participants, I had to go back to a full-time day job when the
pandemic hit. This was especially disappointing because 2019 was the year Spirit Song
Ocarinas finally started to thrive. It turns out it’s not easy to get back into festivals after a ten
year absence! Fortunately, our contracts rolled over to 2021, and as of this summer, we’ve been
cautiously returning to in-person events.
If events are not happening again this season, what do you plan on doing?
Currently, I work as a substitute early childhood teacher between shows. If events start getting
canceled again, I suppose I’ll need to do more of that. I would also like to get more involved in
the performance side of things, either making more ocarina music videos or doing livestreams.
Plug your website or fan page here (or both).
I do have ocarinas available on my website, spiritsongocarinas.com. This is also where you can
find information about commissions and upcoming shows. I’m fairly active on my Instagram
page, @spiritsongocarinas, as well. I always appreciate a like or a follow. The support of the
faire community always means so much
I’d like to thank Spirit Song Ocarina for letting us feature them. I think I owned an Ocarina a long time ago, but lord knows where that is. I love the sound of it though. Again, this is just a promotional blog in which I feature folks from around the United States and the World. Please do reach out to them directly if you are wanting to get more information.
If you, your group, your troupe would like to be featured on our blog, please reach out to us on http://www.facebook.com/renperfmerch and send us a message.
Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again! HUZZAH!
