to market, to market

to buy a fat pig. . . They do actually sell wonderful free-range meats, including pork, at our farmer's market. I won't be buying one this Saturday- I'll content myself with fresh broccoli and beautiful cheddar cauliflower, maybe some delicious arugula mix. I've finished glazing the ladybug pottery I intend to bring- there is more to glaze, but I don't need to bring it all on Saturday. My leaf-print mugs have their leaves painted and waxed. All that's left is to re-mix the white glaze and dip them after I finish teaching this afternoon. I might have a dozen or so herb markers to glaze, but that kiln is firing this afternoon. It's time to gather my tablecloth, figure out how I'll attach my new banner to the tablecloth (I had a friend who owns a sign company make up a table-sized banner that looks just like my blog banner, above), make change, make sure my bucket of herbs is happy enough to bring, and maybe run to the nursery to refresh any that have petered out. Like my marjoram that mysteriously started dying off last week. The end is in sight!

Teaching this week has been wonderful-yesterday I taught at a school that we're considering for little boy- I've taught there all year, working with the 4th grade classes. Yesterday I got a peek at the pre-K room and the art room- it's such a sunny, bright, diverse place. The only thing that I'm not sold on is the fact that I'd have to drive over. The other school, right next to his preschool, is less than a mile from the house. Since April 21, we've walked or biked to and from school, at least from school on days that I'm teaching. It feels like living in a small town-I hate the idea of losing that daily pleasure.

fiddlehead teapot, II

fiddlehead teapot
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

I believe I showed ya'll this when it was green. I was really pleased with its form and loved how the fiddlehead sprigs (see referenced post above for an explanation of sprigware) turned out. I had planned to glaze this in the deep celadon glaze, but when it came down to it, I remembered that my friend Leigh Ann had suggested that I keep it in the simple green and white "delta zen" colorway, and since the celadon wasn't mixed properly, I went with what was easiest. I'm not thrilled with this handle- it should be smaller, but I'll need to find another. I think next time I do this I'll go ahead and make the regular attached ceramic handle.

Oh! I DID get my "not picardie" tumbler back. The preschool teacher even washed it for me. I'll have to work on getting her a little happy to thank her for returning the cup. It's funny, while it was gone I decided that I DID like it, and that potter and commenter Barb Jensen was right, that I just need to hand-make more of them.

Happy Tuesday!

last little birdy

I made a few of these little bowls- one larger than my cafe au laits, one teeny one (this one is 2" tall, 2.5" in diameter at the top) and a tumbler. As I look at it now, this bird stamp, which I made for some St. Francis icons, looks a bit like an airline logo. Maybe it's just the position and the royal blue. Or maybe I'm just tired after a very full weekend. The larger bowl has a robin's egg blue interior and bird, the tumbler is all white with a blue bird. I like the clean lines, white exterior, and colored interior. Somehow, though, it almost doesn't look like my pottery to me. Not bad, just a stylistic departure. But not sure how exactly, though.

That last birdy piece sold before I could even pack it up to take to the farmer's market. Thanks Michele! I'll have to make more. I do like that style.

Have a great week, everyone. I'm teaching again this week and next. Between that and farmer's market preparations, I'll be around less, but you'll still hear from me.

little bird butter dish

little bird butter dish
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

continuing my bird-love theme-
I threw a cup shape for the dome of this piece, trimmed it round, added the ridges, then made a tiny little bird to be the handle instead of throwing a knob like I usually do. There's a closer detail shot here.
Instead of throwing a plain saucer to hold the butter, I threw a little cup in the center to hold about half a stick of butter, more than enough for a meal. It's not a butter crock, but headed in that direction.

Next weekend is my first weekend at the Memphis Farmer's Market, so this will be for sale there. I'll have lots of herb markers, tiny bowls, honey pots, and a selection of serving pieces available, as well. Today I plan to get the rest of my green (as in unfired) pieces into the kiln to fire so that I can get them glazed this week. I am woefully short on ready-to-sell mugs.

Have a fabulous weekend!

sweetness

My little boy is very tenderhearted. Earlier this week I was clipping some roses from our church to try to root and he asks "Mama, do flowers make you happy?" Yes, indeed they do. Yesterday, we were attempting to fly a kite in our front yard and he asks, "Mama, is yellow your favorite color?" Yes, it is. Every afternoon on the way home from school when we pass a clump of dandelions in someone's yard, he picks them for me, and I wear them in my hair, at least until we get home. I was reading the Honeyflake blog with my lunch today and saw this photo, which reminded me of my child's sweet spirit. Too often I'm afraid of forgetting these small joys of parenting, but this one photo brought some warmth into this mama's heart and reminded me to capture the daily examples of my little one's love.

birdy teapot

Yesterday, in my sketchbook, I showed you a picture of a bird-lidded teapot. It just came out of the kiln, and is the same one that I showed you and talked about way back in January, inspired by Laura Norris's fun bird painting. Well, here it is. I was pretty pleased with how it came out- This one will be for sale, but I haven't priced it yet. For more detailed pictures, go here.

Happy Friday!

sketchbook

sketchbook page
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

yesterday afternoon, while little boy was watching his coveted 30 minutes of pbs kids, I spent some time wandering around etsy and flickr, looking for ideas. I frequently look for "bee," "bird" and "pottery" to see what other people are doing with my favorite themes. Lately I've been all about the birds. When we go on walks I pick up the newly hatched egg shells from robins and mocking birds, marveling at the intensity of the blues. I found a tiny tiny blue jay feather that is resting in my kitchen window. It only makes sense that I'd put these things that inspire me in my pottery.

Two things I noticed- small birds perched on the rims of bowls and/or used as knobs, both of which I already do, and paintings or drawings of silhouetted birds perched on a wire. Because I don't want to copy anyone else's work, blatantly or otherwise, and because I really don't draw or paint freehand on my work (that tends to impede production), I started thinking about how I could make this image my own with clay stamps like my little bee logo stamp. The lone dove (because those are the birds I see perched outside my window most often) will probably be the image that I use for the stamp, and I really like the idea of the line continuing around the entire piece. I'm thinking of a bowl or mug with a small thin line carved around the top of the piece as it rotates on the wheel. We'll see how it goes.