seven things

Amy of happythings tagged me with a random things meme, but I'm going to follow her lead and show you seven things I've made, pottery and not, so there's still that element of random.

1. I knit. Obsessively but slowly, as in it's all I think about, but actually sit to do it rarely. Mostly socks. Also mittens, hats, shawls, like this one. This lovely lady is Nadia Price Bates Strid, the first professional female photographer in Memphis.

2. This is the first thing that I made (in 2000) that I kept. I keep it in my medicine cabinet- it only holds cotton balls. Next to it is my favorite scent- Azzaro's Pure Lavender- a woodsy/herbaly lavender- not soft and powdery. It's men's cologne, but I wear it daily. Next to that is my friend Elia's lavender/rose hydrosol. She makes the most wonderful bath products.

3.I like kids' crafty, too. Little boy and I made these for our Easter dinner table.

4.I've been known to pull things out of people's trash, like the year's worth of Everyday Food I pulled out of someone's curbside recycling bin. This mirror is my most recent score, found on the sidewalk the day it snowed. I also have two LARGE (really, 8ft long) mid-century sliding door consoles that came out of a demolition/rehab job on my street, and a 1920s built-in butler's pantry with original wavy glass that needs to be stripped and repainted and installed in my kitchen.

5.I used to (and still would, if asked again) teach children's pottery workshops. This is one of the first projects that we make- a tile based on the first letter of our name. B= bee (does that surprise anyone?)
6. When I was in college I painted in oils, but I took all of my studio classes pass/fail, much to my instructor's chagrin, because I was a rebellious prissy/preppy girl and didn't want to complete an assignment if it just didn't "work"for me. These classes were a break from more rigorous history and American Studies coursework, I think I (erroneously) thought they were fluff. My son found this painting and "needed" it in his room. I was influenced by how stained glass looks both flat and sculpted at the same time.


7. I also did a lot of printmaking, but never took a class in it. Should have, learned the basics of lino prints in high school, but didn't follow up on it at Salem. I did learn and teach some children's printmaking, using dick blick erasers and leaves, as an intern at Reynolda House in Winston-Salem, which was my first art education experience. But oh, to do real etchings on copper! Someday. This piece is in my den. They are leaf prints (from real leaves from my garden) on antique book pages that I took out of my great-grandparents junk room when we cleared out their house. I think I made this in 2001- inspired by a Martha Stewart "good thing." It now covers a redundant door in our den.

I'm going to tag Molly of Mollycoddle, another Molly at Read it and Wheeze, and Beth at Write, Mama. Write. Same thing- I think ya'll have done the randoms- how 'bout we all follow Amy's lead and show random creativity?