Thursday, June 19, 2008

fern detail


fern detail
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery
This is a detail from a platter I'm sending off today with Gary's uncle, a minister who is in town for a conference. When we talk to him on the phone, we both imagine that we're talking to Bill Moyers. They even fit the same physical profile, now that I think about it. He is performing one of his nephew's wedding next month in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is my idea of heaven, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we can go. I'm sending this platter with Uncle Allen as a wedding gift just in case we don't get to go because Gary's mom is having a major surgery next week, and at the age of 80, we're not sure that it would be a good idea to travel 12 hours away three weeks after her surgery.

Cousin David's mother sent us a beautiful bowl made by her cousin, Lee Davis, for our wedding. All of my china is blue and white, and this bowl matches! Gary and I decided to send along some pottery, and this is one of my favorite pieces.

I may have talked about this line before, but all of the hazel-green leaves on milky white are the "delta zen" line, named by Gary. It's the confluence of my studies in graduate school- a little bit eastern design aesthetic meets the ideals of hospitality (they're all serving pieces) of the Mississippi Delta. It's my most popular line of pottery, and the most labor-intensive in finishing because of the botanical details. I always hate it when I'm working on the glazing, then enchanted when I open the kiln.

I've never shipped one of these pieces before, so we're sending it with the preacher. I hope they like it!

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