Freshly Sprouted

I think I've found the perfect bowl slump mold. It's from the forties, and at 8 1/2 ", it's low and wide enough for cereal and fruit, chicken and dumplings or can be used to serve a side of spring green peas. Since its molded, that means the bowls are pretty much uniform and stackable. The pitcher is slab-made too, and scalloped at the rim with an added spout to make for better pouring. I'm making two deliveries this week, one to Bonnie at Birds, http://www.2birdsofafeather.com/ and one to Hands Gallery in San Luis Obispo. More on Hands Gallery in my next blog entry. For now, would you please pass the peas?

Here Comes Spring

Sleeper Awaken. There's an entire extra hour each day now to plant out vegetable seeds, bake an indulgent dessert for your paramour or watch the birds zip around your garden. Every year I have a pair of bluebirds inspect a birdhouse under a pine tree, hoping they'll set up house. They are a true harbinger of spring and besides, they bring fierce good luck. Hope one visits you soon.

Spring Show in Cambria

On March 1st, my pottery will be included in an annual show at Birds of A Feather in Cambria, California, right here in my home town. Bonnie finds wonderful things, homey, farmy and charming and there are homemade snacks too. She is celebrating Spring, and the anniversary of the opening of her delightful shop. Hope to see you there. In case you can't make it, Bonnies' Web site is www.2birdsofafeather.com

Christmas Time is Near

I'm spinning as fast as I can! Deli creamers are one of the first vessels I made. They are small, about two to two and one half inches, just the right size for Maple Syrup, cheese sauce, individual olive oil or vinegrette. They can be heated to hold warm Chocolate sauce too. Don't forget the brandy sauce for your Christmas pudding.

Old and New Friends

Yeehaw, what a great day. If you made it you know what a friendly group of people attended the Tancredi and Morgen show on Saturday. I enjoyed my rare visits with Anna Ball, Nancy, Gerry, Carolyn, Marsha and Meegan Alldis, who shared cheese facts from working at the Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco. Note: True Gruyere is from Switzerland and not France, and should be aged in a cave to acheive culinary greatness. I met Molly, Pam, Louise, and Vallen Queen who has a chatty and fun blog, queenlythings.typepad.com/

There must be a connection between making pottery and baking, because I find rolling out a piecrust as satisfying as throwing a soup bowl. My prize from the show is Tartine, a baking book with real-deal recipies for pastries and breads. The first thing I'll make is the chocolate souffle cake for my husband, who toted every single piece of pottery from the trunk to my table with the resident light in his eyes and never a grumble.

Tancredi and Morgen Milestone Party

This is part of my order for the Tancredi and Morgen show on Saturday, November 10th from ten to five. They are celebrating twenty years in business in Carmel Valley, and as fans of the shop know, its a destination worth driving all day for. Rodger is as steady and knowing as an African Elephant, and when I think of Marsha, I think of bounty. She designs clothes, rooms, crowns, pillows, and her display ability is unmatched. Marsha and Rodger offered me my first opportunity for a one woman show, and I've been returning with my wares every since, for twenty years. When I walk inside, I always hold my breath, drink in the beauty of finely made fabrics, worn french stoneware, piles of remarkable books, American craft and especially the vision of Marsha and Rodger, who have created this wonderful place for us to be. Hope to see you there!

Soup's On

There's something very visceral about bowls, especially when the thermometer starts to plummet, and you decide Fall is the season to make use of the hodgepodge of vegetables in your kitchen garden.

Teetering piles of bowls in a cupboard remind me of my cousin Marion in Keene, New Hampshire, who makes me look like a piker when it comes to hoarding them.

I start with sketches. I applied the flowers, and the scalloped trim, hoping they looked as light as tissue paper, but would also add a certain depth to the bowls. My inspiration was Dinner Plate Dahlias, of which my output in blooms this year totaled two. Now I have a bumber crop!

These are a small part of the grouping I'm bringing to Tancredi and Morgen on November 10th.