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.

Upcoming Shows

I will be participating in two events in November. The first is Birds of a Feather in Cambria, California, on November 3.
Then on November 10th, Tancredi and Morgen in Carmel Valley, California will be hosting their annual holiday show.
Pasta bowl pictured is twelve inches wide. 165.

Afterglow

This is a Petaluma pumpkin. After the Halloween and Vine show on Saturday, I glanced down a side street and saw a heap of these in front of a neighborhood grocery store. I've seen scads of pumpkins, but never with stems the size of table legs.

Petaluma is an Agriculture town. There's a rich smell of eau de Dairy Cow and plowed earth. Everything bountiful that California has to offer is here; Cheeses, wines, and trees that have grown much taller than the beautiful old houses they shade. And a river twists through the whole farmy feel of the place.

Almost one thousand people attended Halloween and Vine at Herman Sons Hall, but there was still room to see the work of almost thirty talented artists. I'm very fortunate to be a part of this event.

Halloween and Vine

I've been working on this show for many weeks. This year I'm bringing two 'Stages', boxes made from clay with a painted background, and hand built components. The title of this one is 'I Like Fall.' I'm driving up next Friday, and plan on listening to tapes which will have me fluent in Italian by the time I arrive in Petaluma, or at least able to order Pappa A Pomodoro and a bottle of Barolo for two. Hope to see you at this wonderful show.

Story Platters.

Not all wares are functional. Some tell stories. This farm woman has just located her best laying hen, and is about to take her back to the henhouse. Size on this platter is about 14 inches wide and 10 inches in height.

About me

I live in a small town, where wild deer gnaw at my Cecile Brunner rose bushes and the fog hurls in ghostlike from the Pacific, then suddenly withdraws just as quietly. There are twelve steps to the studio from my front door. No matter that it's stuck on the end of the house, a former laundry room about the size of a dove cote. It's lined with plenty of windows and my cup of coffee is still hot by the time I arrive inside. jkwhitmore@hotmail.com