COEUR d’ALENE — In the wee hours of the morning, before the rest of the world is awake, Bonnie Crain is hard at work at her potter's wheel.

Some of her treasures are marked with the time she completed them — 4:15 a.m., 4:17 a.m. — and others simply read, "Good morning, Bonnie Crain."

"The morning is my time, really," she said Thursday. "I'm asleep by 7:30 (p.m.), so at 4 in the morning, my eyes pop open and I get a lot done."

To her, it's not really work. For 47 years, she has enjoyed throwing the porcelain clay on the wheel and transforming it with her hands and imagination.

"I feel really good," said Crain, 72, of Hayden. "It’s not work. It’s my thing. I just love it. And I had four kids, never stopped."

Her inventory ranges from tiny trinkets that can be worn as charms to dishes, bowls, mugs, soap holders, olive oil dispensers and little "hug" jars that warm the heart.

"My favorite story, and this was a few years back, it was a 'hug' jar," Crain said. "Someone's son was in the service overseas and they sent him a 'hugs for my son' jar. I still remember that couple. It was so touching for them, and it was pretty cool that they picked me for something like that."

Other unique pieces she creates are "tooth fairy" jars, self-watering vases, "Idahome" mugs, cut vases, puff dandelion bowls and French butter keepers that seal with water to keep the butter spreadable. Many of her works are hand carved, and though she is quick on the wheel, the detail can take her hours to complete.

"She can throw a pot in a minute or less. It's amazing and fun to watch," said Crain's friend Sandy Beck. "She does what she loves."

Crain, a Kootenai County Farmers Markets member, said she gets inspiration and ideas from the people she meets. The "Idahome" theme was a suggestion from a random patron.

“I go, ‘Seriously? You want me to put a state on a mug?’” she said. “I made two to give her one and I hung the other on my booth at the farmers market. As soon as I hung it up, somebody else took it off, and I thought, ‘Oh, good, well I’ll do that."

Crain admitted she hasn't always been so proficient with pottery. When she first tried it, she was 25 with two babies in diapers and her husband, William, was enrolled at the University of Southern California where they lived in Los Angeles.

"I thought he was having all the fun,” she said with a laugh. “He’s the one that suggested I take a pottery class. The first pot, I knew that was what I wanted to do. But it was a terrible pot.

“Just keep going,’ he would always say,’” she continued. "He never said it was good, never said it was bad. ‘Just keep going.’”

She became involved with Pottery Barn within her first year, so she'll always have the notoriety of being one of Pottery Barn's original potters before it was a huge company.

"I do have that. I can say that I did that," she said with a grin.

Now their four children are grown, and one of them, Brian Crain, became a famous composer and musician. Bonnie said she and her kids are all on the creative side, and they always get one of her keepsakes for Christmas.

And, she has no plans to put a pause on her pottery passion any time soon.

"Pottery is a dying art,” she said. “I’ve just found this little niche. I said to Bill the other day, ‘Do you think I’ll be able to throw pots when I’m 80?’ And he said, ‘Are you kidding me? You’re going to be throwing pots when you’re 100.’”

Bonnie and her handcrafted wares can be found this holiday season in the Silver Lake Mall during regular business hours at her Made in Idaho kiosk. She also offers one-on-one lessons for anyone interested in learning the craft.

For more photos and videos of her works or to contact Bonnie, visit the Bonnie Crain Pottery Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Bonniecrainpottery