beautiful japan

Japan is rich in many things, and symbolism is one of them. The Cherry blossom is compared to the fleeting cloud , its beauty and swiftness of life. I've been thinking about Japan and all it has given to the world of art and of culture. Not just their brilliant pottery, woodcuts and the haiku poetry but their grace and dignity in the face of this recent disaster.

Since the third century people have gathered under the cherry trees for celebration of life.

I have watched like you have how the earthquake and tsunami has seemed to weave them more tightly together, their stoicism and and sometimes selflessness heart wrenching. Like the workers who stayed behind at Fukushima , risking their lives so others might be safe.

I've made a bluebird perched on a mound of cherry blossom and offer it for sale,

all the proceeds to go to Save the Children for Japan. If anyone is interested, bluebird is five inches tall and six wide. **This little bird is flying away, Thank you so much , Jacki!xx

The bluebird because it brings luck and happiness. He is 90 dollars and that includes shipping.

Also a pottery friend , Maki, has a 1,000 bird project on her blog and is making wonderful bird chopstick rests, all proceeds to help Japan

http://www.makikohastings.blogspot.com/

The goldfish in Japan symbolizes perserverence in adversity, watching them takes the viewer to otherworldly states, as these rabbits will testify to!The temple bell stops.

But the sound keeps coming

out of the flowers

Basho

xx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

1810

1810 was a banner year for crafts. Samplers, silouettes, and paper mache flourished.

In Staffordshire, the world's pottery center in 1810, classical themes were abandoned and potteries began to represent current events in their pieces. This couple are wearing the fashions of the time. Tee Totaling was popular, but you can see the mister isn't too happy about it.

This was made while Jane Austen was writing Sense and Sensiblity down the road apiece. And Beethoven was preforming live in Germany.

So when Ann Wood offered a tutorial on her blog, one for a cup that reminded me of early nineteenth century pottery, I printed it out and bought a tub of wallpaper paste. I have alot of pent up paper mache love. My theme for the cups is 1810, even the paper on the butterfly cup is 200 years old. When you moisten the newspaper with the paste its very much like clay. And the pattern is so refined; Ann is not only brilliant, but generous.

Here is a pile of paper crockery of Ann's, showing how evenly she lays the paper strips.

One of Ann's other creations. All can be seen here:

www.annwoodhandmade.com/

French paper mache doll head of the era.

Just like the ones Jane wore as she dipped her pen nib into an inkwell and scribbled away.

I took Ann's pattern to the print shop and had it enlarged to make this loving cup.

The best part was adding the gold ink to make it sparkle a bit.

Listing as promised today and tomorrow

And over the weekend I went looking for spring.

I think I found it!

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

flutterby

I guess its the metamorphosis from grub to winged beauty that draws us in. That and the way they look like a floating flower as they drift by. You just can't help but follow them til they are out of sight.

I didn't want to forget the moths. This is a peach blossom moth flitting around sweet peas and ground daisies.

Below is a photo of the migration of the monarch , the California state butterfly. They are the only living things besides birds to migrate in such great numbers.

butterfly handles too

Queen Alexandria's Butterfly, Wing span of twelve inches!

blooming on the kitchen shelf

butterfly books in the dining room

Now let my bed be hard,

no care take I

I'll make my joy like this

small butterfly

walter de la mere

Atlas moth. Don't worry, they don't bite.

Butterflies like milkweed, asters, wildflowers, hollyhock, zinnias and many more.

Good caterpillar host plants include clover, dill, Queen Anne's Lace and fruit tree blossom.
Of course pesticides are out of the question, but you already knew that.

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

The Cup That Cheers

Is it spring yet? A cup of tea might just perk you up enough to realize it will be here soon.
The right way to make tea: Pour hot water from kettle into teapot. Very important. Tip out and add tea. One teaspoon per person and one for the pot. Pour onto the leaves boiling water to oxygenate. Leave to steep five minutes. Pour small amount of milk into cup and add sweetener last. This is from Barbara Rogerson, an Englishwoman who lives in Northeast London and if she doesn't know the proper way to brew tea , who would?
www.ramblingsfromanenglishgarden.blogspot.com


New cups without handles, made just to go with Lori's hand knit sleeves. They keep the tea or coffee warm, and look smashing at the same time.
www.loritimesfive.blogspot.com



All the seeds are stirring and the animals are waking

Here is the glaze for the tea bread. I ran out of lemon juice and used orange too.

All this tea talk got me to baking. Lemon tea bread with lemon balm.

three o clock repast.

In February? Yup, First the rains came, then the frogs sang all night for weeks, then yesterday this rose appeared dangling above my head on the porch steps. A promise of good things to come.

Lemon Herb Tea Bread

3/4 C milk

1 T. finely chopped lemon balm

1 T. finely chopped lemon thyme

2 C. all purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

6 T. butter, room temp

2 eggs beaten

1 C sugar

1 Heaping T lemon Zest

butter a 9x5 loaf pan.

Heat milk with chopped herbs and let steep til cool

Mix flour, salt and baking powder in bowl

In another bowl, cream butter, gradually add sugar til light and fluffy

add eggs beat

add milk and flour mixture a bit at a time til just blended

pour in pan, and bake til toothpick comes out dry, about 50 minutes

Mix juice from two lemons and confectioners sugar til thick, but loose enought to pour over bread. Pour over while still warm.

xx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Cambria Wine Festival

We are having a wine festival in Cambria this weekend starting tomorrow, January 28th. Wine tastings at the Vet's hall, lots of artists 'demoing' their craft and I've made some pottery glasses and cordials too. Mostly woodland animals holding up a cup for you to sip framboise, amaretto or grand mariner.

You can take a break and have a picnic at the beach. The weather is in the seventies. Bring your shades and coppertone.

Now just for instance. At the grocery last night I faced the wine isle. Hundreds of local wines. The wine distributor was stocking the shelves and I told him what I wanted. Zinfandel. Old Vine. Good with Italian food. So he handed me this. Dears it was only ten dollars. And it is a concerto of fruity xanadu. There are wine shops here too, and a couple of great places for lunch, but what I'd do is get a to go at Sotos Market on Main Street. The Number six sandwich and plenty of napkins.

cordials are just for a sip or two. Wines large enough for a few nice healty gulps

Watch out for the snow egrets on the rocks at moonstone beach

Check out Chambers gallery on Main Street.

Patricia Griffin Studios in the Old School house on Main next to the library

The brand new Terry DeLapp Gallery in the Creamery building on Main. Terry paints tonalist paintings of the farms in the surrounding valleys and coastal seascapes. He's a town treasure and a brilliant painter.

Hope to see you .

Don't forget a corkscrew

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

bird girls

Here are a few warning signs that you, dear reader, are a bird girl. Firstly, you find yourself looking up when you see a flock of birds zigzaging across the sky, and watch raptly until they dissapear.

You mark Bird Festivals on your calendar. While there, you bite your lip over the ultra lightweight deluxe binoculars and calculate if you give up chocolate for the entire year you might be able to wedge them into your grocery budget.

Here's my very own second sighting this past weekened at the Morro Bay Bird Festival. He stalked frogs as quietly as the grass growing beneath him.

My first sighting happened above, at Morro Rock. I watched a pair of Perigrine Falcons. The fastest birds in the avian world. 200 MPH in dives!

Bird girls are postitive there are birds in heaven. This is irrefutible.

I can see you nodding now. See? you are a bird girl......

These lovliest of wrist warmers were knit by Helen Lambert. Aren't they exquisite?

Helen sometimes features her work on her blog:

www.helen-lambert.blogspot.com

Listing as promised today.

and thank you for the comments on my last post.

what generous hearts you have.

xx

julie

April to pilot them

May speeding after

And each bird's compass

His small red heart.

john clare

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

poetry cups

My heart, in hiding, stirred for a bird.
gerard manly hopkins
(Now thats poetry for you)

I've been making poetry cups over Christmas. Its really because of those car trips back to Milwaukee to see my grandparents. After a group sing- a- thon of every song in the family canon my dad would lean back, settle in, and begin to recite poetry. He was fond of Carl Sandburg , Edgar Allen Poe, and Robert Service. Sometimes the words floated around the inside of the car like butterfly wings, but then when Dad started 'Chicago! Hog butcher for the world! City of the big shoulders!' I'd have to roll the window down and let those words hurtle outside and clomp off down the highway.

Sitting there and listening to dad's beautiful , animated voice, as farm houses , cornfields and masses of birds passed by, I mostly felt jubilant about the world and its possibilities. But sometimes the poems were about loss.

I shall never see you run

through the orchard anymore,

or hear the scratching of your paws

in early morning at my door.
I shall never watch your tail

saying you are glad of me,

Or know at meals your eyes are turned

Upon my plate reproachfully

I shall never see you sleep

like a ball curled in the sun

Or feel your nose pressed in my hands

Now all your dear dog days are done.

rachel field

reverse of cups

The whole world was a vast moving screen of snow

but even now it said peace;

It said remoteness,

It said cold,

It said sleep.

conrad aiken

Over Christmas I had a momentary sink-me-down, so I crept off to the bedroom and laid on the blue flowered spread and pulled out this book. I was thinking about how people I loved were either in transit, or out of touch, some under a blanket of earth covered by an inch of snow. But by the third poem an inchworm of promise began crawl inside me. I picked myself back up , combed my hair and decided to make butterballs. They are a family tradition. Along with the lopsided angel at the top of the Christmas tree, a drive around town to see the lights shine against all those pine trees, and the best one of all, poetry on car trips.

Happy New Year dear readers!

xx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com