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An overall detail of a grouping of Partington's trademark pieces, titled, the Mommas Attitude vase. This will be her eighth year at the Broad Ripple Arts Fair. (Photo/Frank Espich)

Korean-born potter, Soyong Kang Partington, working at her potter's wheel at the Indianapolis Art Center. (Frank Espich / The Indianapolis Star)

Soyong Kang Partington, a ceramics instructor at the Indianapolis Art Center and a veteran Broad Ripple Art Fair artist, holds one of her signature Momma's Attitude vases. (Frank Espich / The Indianapolis Star)

Planning on going to the Broad Ripple Art Fair? Click here for for information on tickets, parking, shuttle services as well as a grounds map

Seated at a potter's wheel in Ceramics Studio West at the Indianapolis Art Center, Soyong Kang Partington quickly shaped an eight-pound lump of wet clay into a low, wide bowl.

The bowl's roundness and symmetry seemed perfect. But therein lay the problem for Partington, so she pinched the bowl, creating four notches around the lip.

"Anyone can make a well-rounded bowl," said Partington, 48, who escaped the insurance business after 15 years to work as an artist full time. "But I put just a little more into it, and it becomes mine."

Having a signature look can make a critical difference in any artist's commercial viability. Certainly it's crucial for Partington and the more than 200 others taking part in the 38th Broad Ripple Art Fair, which opens Saturday at the Indianapolis Art Center.

This will be Partington's eighth year at Broad Ripple, making her a veteran among an extensive crop of new artists. Thanks to a new online jury system that drew interest from artists across the country, more than one-third of the vendors will be new.

Her advice to the newcomers? "Be open-minded, but don't concentrate on the audience to see what they want. You should concentrate on your own style of work."

The Korean-born potter, who has lived in the United States since 1980, has traveled to lots of arts fairs, particularly in the Midwest. What appeals to her about Broad Ripple are "the constant music, the great food and the volunteers and staff. I also like that I happen to have a local following, and they will look at a map, and see what I have this year."

Partington said she hasn't exactly been burning the midnight oil, throwing new pots for this weekend. Getting ready is a yearlong process for her.

"As soon as our fair is over," she said, "you start building up an inventory again. It's just ongoing."

Although Partington works with a broad spectrum of forms, styles, techniques and glazes, she did settle on what became her trademark piece six or seven years ago, as she was trying to come up with a Mother's Day gift for her mother-in-law.

She had been working with a woman's torso -- a sort of Venus figure -- and coiling strands of clay when she decided to bend the strands like elbows. She attached one to each of Venus' hips, and voila: the figure Partington now calls Momma's Attitude.

By now, Partington figures she has made more than 1,000 of the buxom figurines. For this weekend, she whipped up a fresh batch in pink, purple, green and brown -- including a few with angel's wings, and some with more attitude than others.

"They're not just pretty faces," said the potter, who claims their colors, shapes and attitudes change with her mood. "They could tell you a story if they could talk."

38th Broad Ripple Art Fair

What: An Indianapolis Art Center event, with more than 200 artists, food vendors and four stages of live entertainment.

When: 10 a.m. to 6.p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Where: Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th St.

Tickets: Adults, $12 in advance, $15 at the gate; children 3 to 12, $2.

For more information: (317) 255-2464, www.IndplsArtCenter.org