Readers are invited to enjoy a tour of seven functional and sculptural ceramics studios across southwestern Connecticut next weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday, October 5-6, from 10 am to 5 pm both days, The Potters’ Path will wind its way from North Haven to Bethel, leading travelers to discover an array of diverse functional and sculptural ceramics.

The tour of studios and 14 artists features highly accomplished professionals, each with their own unique approach to their craft, workspace, and process.

Participating artists include Barbara J. Allen in Newtown, who will be joined by guest Deb Heid; Pascal Chmelar in New Haven, with guest Hayne Bayless; Zach Dunn in Seymour, with guest Greg Cochenet; Louise Harter in Bethany, with guest Andrea Dove; Frank Kara in Bethel, with guest Kiichi Takeuchii; Mike Perham in North Haven, with guest Brenton Duhan; and Trevor Youngberg in Woodbridge, with guest Eike Maas.

Allen is organizing the event. The artists all use a studio owned by Trevor Youngberg, another Potters’ Path featured artist.

“We’ve all met through that kiln in Woodbridge,” she explained. Kilns tend to create communities “that are like concentric circles around each other, where one or two people will cross over into other communities, and you get to know more and more people.

“The seven studios all came from Trevor’s community. That’s how we all met,” she said.

Visitors will be encouraged to linger, interact with the work, ask questions, and engage in conversation with the potters at each studio. Artwork will be available for purchase, and a portion of all sales will be donated to The Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary in Newtown.

“I love going to the sanctuary,” Allen shared. “It is so sacred, and serene, and I go up there often, a few times a week. I do tai chi, and I walk the paths, and I love the gardens.”

She loves, she said, that the organization and its property are so easily available.

“This is one everyone can access, everybody can use, any time,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to do something. I’m an artist, so this is what I can do.”

Allen’s studio will feature one full Pay What You Choose table. There, guests will find a collection of her items — cups, sake cups, vases, trays and more — all available by donation. Allen promises all funds raised at that table will be given to The CVH Animal Sanctuary.

A portion of proceeds from all sales that weekend, by all artists, she said, will also be donated to the sanctuary.

Each piece of Allen’s work is purposely unique. She does everything by hand, and says that “while some things may look good together, I don’t do sets.

“I’m not a production potter,” she added. “I just enjoy the exploration.”

Much of the Allen work being presented is wood fired. They don’t have glaze added to them, she explained during a recent visit. The glaze, she said, “comes from the wood melting and turning into silica.”

Those pieces are fired for eight days.

She also does soda fired pieces, also without glaze and in the kiln for 36 hours, “which gives very cool effects,” among other firing techniques. Other pieces feature ash glaze.

One of the things Allen hopes guests will take away from the trek along Potters’ Path is a better appreciation for the art and what goes into creating it.

“I’m driving, sometimes three and four hours, to a kiln, and going there three or four times to do this. I’ll have 25 pieces in there, and maybe I’ll get three good ones,” she said. “There’s a lot of loss in this work, and that’s why some of this work is quite expensive. There is a lot of time and effort, and a lot of loss.

She marvels over the coloring found on the good pieces — “sometimes you get this beautiful emerald color; sometimes they’re not so pretty if it doesn’t quite get hot enough” — and the way ash has settled on some bowls and cups.

“If you’re lucky, you get these beautiful ash drips, and that’s rare,” she said, smiling and pointing at distinct marks on one of her bowls. “You don’t get that a lot.”

In addition to sharing her studio space with Heid in a few weeks, Allen has transformed the front room of her home into a gallery space. Larger pieces and some of her personal favorites will be presented there.

Most of Allen’s work will be priced at $30 or under. Some will be higher, including upper end and sculptural pieces, “but we just want people to enjoy the work,” she said.

“This is my life,” she said. “It’s been my life for 40 years of doing this work.”

Allen said she and other artists are also hoping similar events will come out of the October weekend.

“We’re hoping we’ll grow,” she said. “I’d love to include more Newtown artists next time. There’s another event, Clay Way, in Kent, so we’re hoping to continue this idea.”

Brochures with addresses and a map outlining the full path are available in the front office of The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road. The Potters’ Path initially followed a “pretty path route along Route 34,” Allen said last week, “but after the storm last month and part of that road being closed, people will be a little waylaid. Hopefully they’ll persevere,” she said. “It’s worth the trip.”

Additional information is also available at potterspath.com or via potterspath@gmail.com.

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.