fiddleheads

fiddlehead bowl
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

Spring is in full swing. I'm making pottery like a crazy woman. Yesterday I was supposed to have made herb markers, but instead I made 15 tiny bowls and 15 bud vases. And then I got my new camera and the day went to pot.

I bought a Nikon d70 with a starter lens, a good all-purpose 55mm lens, and a macro lens. Exclusively for taking pictures of pottery. I'd gotten so frustrated with trying to take detail shots with my Kodak easy point and shoot that I upgraded when we got our tax refund. And I'm SO glad I did. Already. And I can't wait to try the macro lens!

But back to pottery- I love love fiddleheads. I wish that I could reliably find them in the summer, but it is harder (though not impossible) then. So mid-spring is my fiddlehead making time. I've made platters, plates, bowls, mugs. I need to make another half-dozen platters to see me through the spring. Happily, if I remove the fiddleheads from the barely-damp platter before they're all dried up, I can usually get two platters from a single fiddlehead. Here's my technique- roll a slab of clay, press fiddleheads into the wet clay. Drape the slab over my mold, trim the edges, let dry. As the clay dries, it sucks the moisture out of the fiddleheads, too. Sometimes I can catch it in time to reuse. It is much much easier to reuse leaves- japanese maples, ginkgos, even ferns that aren't quite as delicate and won't tear up when I lift them off.

Today's task is more fern ware and herb markers. Ten days until my 2009 farmer's market debut!

Have a great Thursday!

tactile

tactile
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

I just had to share something that came in my mail today. My friend Sarah sent this to me. I was anxiously looking for another package today but was sufficiently distracted by this warm and woolly nest and egg to forget it and everything else. I sat at my kitchen table petting it, marveling at the colors and texture, wondering if some of the wool might have come from Sarah's own sheep. Sarah makes lovely felted bags, scarves, and necklaces that she offers over at smashing darling. I saw a photo of these on her flickr stream and was smitten. What a sweet friend to send me one of these and feed my bird-love.

Thank you so, so much Sarah. I love it.

quiet day

today I am having a very quiet, slow day. Bordering on lazy. A little glazing, a little waxing, a little cleaning up. A lot of music. Maybe a nap. It's cool and rainy. I'm happy for rain now so that this summer we won't have to worry about drought.

And I'm happy for a quiet day because our weekend was jam-packed. Lunches with girlfriends, dinners with friends, a beautiful hike in our wildflower-filledurban forest on Saturday morning with the family and 30 other people, an impromptu visit from a godfather for the 5th anniversary of little boy's baptism, a birthday party, bookclub, an Easter Brunch, full-scale smells-n-bells Easter service, egg hunt, family Easter dinner.

It was a beautiful weekend. A full weekend. It is a quiet day. A restful day. I'm happy for the transition. And the chance to work a little, rest a little. I'm looking forward to getting a lot done this week. I'll have some things to show you in a few days. . . .

honey pot season

Can you believe it's Thursday already? The week's been a whirlwind. We are full in the throws of spring in Memphis- azaleas are blooming, the spring wildflowers are cropping up in everyone's lawn, bees are flitting around the neighborhood gathering pollen- Which brings me to our title. Honeypots. Right now I'm all honeypots all the time. And berry bowls. And tiny vases, and herb markers. Really, I'm all pottery all the time. I am eating, sleeping, breathing pottery. And ditigal cameras, because I'm looking to upgrade from my point and shoot to a digital SLR. I have my eye on a Nikon d70. But alas, that is not pottery, not a honeypot, not the subject of this post. . . .

Sometime today or tomorrow my good friend Molly will be giving away one of my honeypots. This honeypot, actually. She is responsible for my venture into etsy, blogging, and the successful sales year I had last year. She is also responsible for what I call the year of the berry bowl. A little later (again, today or tomorrow), I'll have 3-4 honeypots in my shop with more to come. No berry bowls yet, but they're coming. I'm stocking up for the farmers market, the shop, and my annual summer sale. Busy, busy time.

I won't be back in this space until next week- have a wonderful Easter weekend, beautiful Passover, lovely spring. Enjoy this time of renewal, friends.

birds' egg vases

birds' egg vases
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

I pulled these out of the kiln this morning, anxious about how they'd look. I am so, so pleased with them. The idea of a series of birds' egg vases has been percolating in the back of my mind for several years. I've finally come up with a glaze combination and shape that I like.

One of them is a gift for my friend Lynsey's birthday (the one in the front right). Another is already sold. I'm about to go up to the studio to throw- you can bet I'll be making more of these.

This morning I woke up early and went on a quick run despite the cold. April has fled the mid-south and been replaced by a few days from February. It always amazes me how much more productive I am when I run in the morning. So far I've unloaded the kiln and photographed a bunch of things, made hummus, loaded the dishwasher, sold some pottery, and started a pot of spicy lemon-ginger-carrot lentil soup. All by 10 am. I hope my morning in the studio is as productive.

Have a good week, everyone!


****ETA- I've just listed these as a custom order in my Etsy shop. If you're local, contact me and I'll take care of you. Please note that this is ONLY because I have to charge TN sales tax, and Etsy will charge you shipping. We don't need to ship locally, right?******

the work: firing

Were you all just sending me super good peaceful productive thoughts today? I glazed all 75+ pieces in under 3 hours- all by myself! Glaze helper #1 was unexpectedly called out of town. Helpers #2 and 3 had some sick child issues- but taking care of our sick kids is top priority. Everything is cleaned up and in the kiln, firing away. I'm excited to see how things turn out.

Happy weekend! I'm looking forward to some steak tacos with guacamole and a little margarita tonight- and glorious weather to garden in tomorrow. I hope the sun shines on you all-

work in progress

afternoon's work
Originally uploaded by Bridgman Pottery

Hi! It's Wednesday. Time to blog again according to my internal blog clock. This is what I did yesterday- the detail glazing for the last kiln-load of pottery I fired. This morning I waxed the details and the bottoms of these pieces. This afternoon and tomorrow I will wax the bottoms of the load. On Friday, my friend and self-designated "glaze slave" Diane (a member of the "Memphis Knit Mafia" -you can find us on Ravelry) is coming to help me dip-glaze all of the pieces. And probably do some mixing, too, because I doubt I'll get all of the mixing and screening finished before her arrival. This is the first time I've had a glazing helper- and I'm excited, because glazing is my least favorite part of pottery and if I have help, maybe, just maybe, it won't take the entire day.

I hope your Wednesday is sunny and balmy and beautiful- it is absolutely gorgeous here. Little boy and I are going to have some after-school playground time today!