bees and blooms

We went on a little date to the Hortus botanical gardens earlier this week. There is a great butterfly house and bees galore, two very important things for my date. Everything is in glorious bloom right now and until December a unlimited pass is only 20 euro. It is a great place to get your green fix and then have a coffee.







Have a wonderful weekend!

Balloon flowers

These guys are beautiful aren't they? A friend of mine had them in her apartment and I fell in love. My son calls them balloon flowers. I did a little research to find their real name for you. Yellow balls is what I came up with, but I am not convinced that is their proper name. The best part about them is they dry with out loosing any of their color, so you can keep them without water for ages. They brighten up the room even on grayest of days.

For the little guys

I am working on a new line.




I can't tell you too much about it yet.



I can tell you it's mostly for the little guys (and gals too, my son calls all kids little guys), I have a fabulous partner, we are printing the textiles by hand, it involves some really amazing collaborations and I am very very excitied about it. Here is a little sneak peek.

raku

On a bio-dynamic farm just outside of Amsterdam, tucked away amongst fields and flocks Patty Schilder conducts her raku workshops.

























For those in the Amsterdam area here are a couple of links;
http://www.pattyschilder.com/index.htm (Her site is in dutch)
http://www.keramiekatelier.nl/ (Gill offers many courses and there are some great photos of the raku process on her site.)

blue strawberries

We are growing strawberries in a pot in the backyard. It has become a daily ritual to check the strawberry plant, search carefully under the leaves for the perfect red ones, wash them off and then admire them like treasures. Sometimes I get one. These berries have made quite an impression, so much so that all berries have become strawberries. Blackberries are black strawberries, raspberries are red strawberries and blue berries, well you get the picture. It is blueberry season here right now. At the farmers market there are big baskets tumbling over with my favorite fruit. I wait all year for blueberry season.
When I was twelve I moved close to my grandparents. Each year when blueberries came into season we would drive to a farm where you could pick your own. I knew we were supposed to fill the baskets my grandmother brought but I always ate far more than I picked. I ate until I was blue in the mouth and holding my belly. Back at my grandmother's we made jams to be savored later, pies to pass around to friends and family, and for those of us with no patience there were bowls full of berries to eat with the cream of my choice (iced, whipped or heavy) after it all it was my grandmother's. I love the decadence of this childhood memory. It's entirely possible there were not three kinds of cream available, and I don't know if I made a pie, but in my mind it's 100% all true. One other detail painted into this memory is a bowl of flowers. My grandmother had rose bushes in her garden. She picked them daily and cut them very short so they would float in glass bowls throughout the house. I remember thinking it was very fancy and that someday I would have glass bowls with beautiful blooms floating in them. My bowls are not glass but I do love to cut my flowers short, and I think of her every time I do.

coming soon...

There are projects brewing that I will soon be able to share with you. My studio wall contains hints of things to come. I will show and tell very very soon. Until then have a wonderful day!

Imprints

I started collecting pine cones, branches and beautiful stems and stalks on my walks in the park. My little guy chases birds and I gather materials.

jackson, johnston & roe.



All the Fall photos are up on the jjr site. I took these photos in LA while the collection was out there. I like how the light filters through the fabric.

Good Morning





It's been raining here all morning, I hope it is brighter where you are.

The second group...



Except for the white porcelain duo, these guys were all raku fired. The imprinted lace technique is the same as the blue ones I showed you last week. I love how every piece fired in raku is a gamble. You never know where the cracks will be or what colors will emerge. I have made some very beautiful mistakes.

The summer vitrine...


On Pia's blog I mentioned that when I moved into my current house I fell in love with an antique store in my neighborhood. Mother and daughter team Odette Welvaars and Julie Arphi have the most exquisite taste and have created a truly magical environment. You can imagine how thrilled and honored I was when they asked to put my latest collection of raku and imprinted ceramic bowls not only in their shop but in the window. The "summer vitrine" as they call it, also features Julie's beautiful aquarelle paintings - I want to own all of them!

There are three little groups within the collection, I will show them all to you over the next couple of days. The long green platter with fruit in it has been glazed with copper and imprinted with stalks from my garden. The turquoise bowls have all been raku fired, some imprinted with lace. The White bowl at the bottom is imprinted with my great grandmother's lace curtains from a farmhouse in upstate NY. Next week I will share more info and photos from my last raku firing.








All photos by Riley Salyards and Pia Jane Bijkerk

I can't take any credit for those stunning green glass grapes, i just loved the way they looked with my bowls. If you want more info about the grapes or anything else you see you can contact Odette (+31 if outside of The Netherlands) 020-662-4062, or Julie 020-620 4074. If you are in Amsterdam and want to stop in, the address is 827 Prinsengracht. They are open Thursday - Saturday 11-5.