I wanted to try growing something different. These are heirloom yellow pear tomatoes. They are about the size of grape tomatoes. I have to say, they are good, but not as good as I thought they would be. Very soon we should have some “big boys”… a great tomato for a BLT. Our plants are HUGE. Taller then me. I really think that everything grows bigger in North Carolina.
The bowl that holds the tomatoes is one that Jeff salvaged a few weeks ago. It’s one his that was wood fired and had cracked in two pieces. He repaired it with stone epoxy and now we have great bowl to use for ourselves. I don’t even mind the crack. I think it adds character.
One week from today we will be in New Hampshire, setting up our booth for the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair. Tomorrow we unload the kiln, and load it up again. One last firing before we hit the road.
I haven’t checked in for awhile. We are still here and working hard for the final push to get to our biggest show of the year next month. Jeff threw fifty mugs the other night. He decided that I would pull the handles on all of the straight sided mugs and he would do the altered mugs. I was very hesitant about putting my handles on his mugs. He wasn’t concerned a bit. I tried my best to make them look more like his. In the end they were a combination of the two!
Aside from pottery work, we are really enjoying our land this year. We have quite a few tomato plants that are just starting to give us fruit, and along with the herbs and flowers, we feel like we are super fortunate. Most of our gardening is still happening in the front yard, but Jeff has spent many evenings reclaiming the over grown back acre. Last evening Jeff took me out back to show me the maypops that are blooming out there.
This is a southern climbing vine that I was not familiar with until we moved to this house. It’s also known as purple passion flower. It produces a small egg sized fruit… Jeff says it tastes like bubblegum!
We (especially Jeff) are working hard to get the pots we need done for the League of NH Craftsmen’s Fair next month. This is Jeff’s gig. It’s his work at this show. I become the assistant during the month of July. We usually have a good idea of what will sell. Bowls are always a winner. Big bowls often go first.
It’s been hot the last couple of days and we are really appreciative of working in an air conditioned studio. It sure makes life easier.
Loads of them! The original owner of our home planted them many years ago. They were all over grown in the back portion of our land. Jeff has gone out and whacked the weeds and brush a number of times over the past two years. This season they have really taken off.
We went out during the sweltering heat on the Fourth of July and picked a good size bowl full. There will be plenty more in the days to come. The downside of blackberries are thorns and bugs. I pretty much suited up in long pants, tall boots, and bug spray. The boots were my “snake protection”. I will admit to being a little afraid of snakes, more so the poisonous variety.
Jeff has planted a couple blueberry bushes this year. It will be a few years before we have enough to really do some picking, and we are really looking forward to it. Our goal for next year is to be able to have our vegetable garden out there too.
A couple of months ago I had an order for a personalized piggy bank with a couple of stars stamped on the side. I didn’t have a star stamp, so I made one for the order figuring I may eventually use it again. Last week when I was finished making pigs for orders I decided to have some fun with the star stamp. Since the 4th of July holiday was just around the corner…
The star spangled, patriotic piggy bank came into being!
My parents, over the years, have often lamented that everyone takes pictures at family gatherings but they never get to seen them. The photos stay on peoples phones or computers, some are uploaded to facebook, but the older generation that aren’t online, are often left out.
I decided to do something about that on Father’s Day.
I created a journal, scrapbook, photo album, or whatever you want to call it… for my Dad.
I incorporated art work with a few old photos, as well as more recent digital pics that he has only been able to view on someone’s phone.
Many were from the last year that my mother was with us for family gatherings.
I included photos from his big adventure to North Carolina in 2016.
And his 90th birthday celebration!!!
Included with the journal was a glue stick so that he can add more photos and artwork. I am going to encourage other family members to print some of those photos on their phones and cameras, and send them his way. I hope they will include a story to go along with them. I know that it will brighten his days.
This was installation week for Jeff’s platter project at the Belle Meade Retirement community in Southern Pines, NC. The resort community is undergoing a dining room renovation and Jeff was commissioned to create sixteen, 16″ platters to be hung on two walls.
Hanging these was not an easy job. It took Jeff about a day and half to complete the installation. These are heavy platters and needed to be securely attached to the walls.
The design team was great to work with and the sub-contractors on site were always helpful.
Jeff is planning to go back for a final photo shoot once the furniture is installed.
I have been talking about mixing some black slip for a few years now. I actually mixed a small amount three years ago, but didn’t had enough mason stain and the results were blah. This weekend I decided to give it another try. I added 25% stain. It looks pretty black. We shall see how it fires on this test bowl, thrown with B-Mix.
This weekend I had a night to myself. Jeff went off to STARworks for the evening session of the NC Wood Fire Conference and I was feeling anti-social. I settled in on the sofa for an evening of Netflix. If you haven’t seen the series “Abstact – The Art of Design”, I recommend you take a look. So far I have only watched the first episode and it was very good. So good that I even took notes!
Here is a quote from the artist featured in episode one:
“It’s about showing up and getting started.” – Christopher Niemann
Carved these little bowls yesterday. The first of my new sketches translated onto clay. Next on my list is to mix some black slip and do some of these on white stoneware.
This firing had a very creative stack. Jeff has a commission for an installation of sixteen, 16″ platters, to be installed on a wall in the dining room of a new assisted living facility in Pinehurst. There were twelve in this firing. Flat things are often problematic.
We utilized plate setters to squeeze in smaller items and student pots.
