Tomatoes!

It was such a beautiful Spring day today and I can just feel the warm summer days soon to come and imagine the taste of the tomatoes right out of our garden.  This necklace by  Eleanor Jane Jewelry on Etsy sums up my summer daydreams perfectly. It looks good enough to eat! Yum!

Sprouts! on Sale!

This box is a continuation of a series I did back in 2001. The little container is topped with bright green forms resembling sprouts coming out of the earth. The main body of the box is left unglazed except for Robin's egg blue polka dots. The inside is glazed in various shades of blue and green.

Use it to hold you hopes and dreams and tiny treasurers.

Handmade Pottery Sale!

I need to lighten my load!  We put an offer in on a house and will be moving soon. Check out my pottery sale section for some great deals!  I also have a sale section in my vintage shop.

Installing new heating elements for my kiln today.  This should cut my firing times in half.

Woke up in Winter!

Aftermath

Easter egg shells on Riviera 7 inch green fiestaware plate.

Wabi-Sabi Wasabi - Handmade Spoon Rest

In making this series of spoon rests, salt cellars, and soap dishes, I wanted to move away from my usual style of thinly made, and refined pieces. I wanted to exaggerate the raw nature of the clay and have that feeling remain in the finished pieces.

This spoon rest is rustic and earthy and really shows the malleable qualities of the clay in its unfired form. It is made of thick clay glazed in a wasabi colored glaze and with recycled melted glass pools in Caribbean blue.

First the clay was thickly rolled out and curved into a rough bowl form, then impressed with a primitive stamp in the middle which was filled with melted glass when fired. The result is bright and earthy and really appealing to me.

See more miniature curiosities here.

Miniature Handmade Ikebana Flower Vases

Check out my new simple little miniture Ikebana vases for Spring! Great gift idea for Mother's Day. These are all handmade by me on my potter's wheel and finished with a flower frog firmly attached inside. Makes flower arranging easy!

View from Rainbow Hill

Ultra-Violet

Dandelion greens...fiddlehead ferns...morel mushrooms...this Spring I've been struck with foraging fever.

After living many years in the high plains desert of Wyoming, where only sage brush cares to grow, I am back in the Midwest for Spring and feasting on the abundance growing in my own back yard.

Today I spent the morning harvesting purple violets to infuse in a simple syrup that will bring the freshness of Spring flooding back even in the heat of Summer or cold of Winter.

My favorite ways to use this treat are drizzled on broiled grapefruit halves, splashed into a cool glass of sparkling water, lemonade, or other icy drink, or mixed into chamomile tea.

It is nearing the end of violet season, but if you want to try this recipe yourself just follow these simple directions. (the hard part is the harvesting)

*Gather clean, pesticide free blooms and using a canning jar, cover with equal parts boiling water. Cover and let sit for 24 hours shaking gently now and then. Strain the blossoms but do not press on the flowers.

*Add lemon juice to the violet juice one teaspoon at a time. This will turn the violet juice from a deep blue to a colorful purple. Stop when you reach the desired color. I went a bit too far this year and would have preferred a slightly deeper color, but it is still beautiful.

*Now you make a simple syrup out of the juice by boiling it with 1 1/2 cups of sugar for every cup of juice. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Place in a sterilized jar with a screw ring top and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes for longer storage or refrigerate and use promptly.

I also tried my hand at candying a few of these beautiful blooms, that didn't go as well. I think I'll figure out the technique with a few more sturdy specimens like mint leaves first and try the violets again next year.