I'M TRYING AGAIN ON THIS!
I SEEM TO BE SLOWED TO ALMOST A STANDSTILL BY ALL THE FOLK WHO WANT TO BE FRIENDS ON KlubFAB! NICE BUT VERY TIME-CONSUMING.
MY COMPUTER SKILLS ARE MINIMAL AT THE BEST OF TIME, IMAGE MANIPULATION LEAVES ME IN A DAZE
AND OSTEOARTHRITIS IN THE HANDS MAKES TYPING A MISERY!
SO HERE WE GO FOR A NEW TRY!
PLANT OF THE DAY
There is so much coming up in bloom every day right now. Because of our super-mild winter this year, everything is about three weeks ahead of normal. Since I am as much gardener as potter these days,
I thought I should share some of the beauty that I am surrounded by and has given me both pleasure and decoration ideas for many years.
There is so much coming up in bloom every day right now. Because of our super-mild winter this year, everything is about three weeks ahead of normal. Since I am as much gardener as potter these days,
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| FAWN, TROUT OR DOG LILY (ERYTHRONIUM Tuolomnense "Pagoda") THIS YEAR'S CROP IS THE BEST EVER. THE WILD OREGON LILY IS NOW IN BLOOM Photo: Judi Dyelle |
The bi-colored earthenware bowl below is from the earliest period of colored clay use. It is made by laminating colored clays, bending into wave like patterns and pressmolding into a bowl form about 5" diameter and 2.5" deep. It doesn't have to be big to be beautiful! It is covered with a clear lead glaze that turns yellow from contact with the iron in the clay. It was fired in Oxidizing conditions. It was made in China in the Tang Dynasty 660AD - 920 AD, a little over 1200 years ago.
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| Marbled Earthenware Bowl - Tang Dynasty China - Collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. Toronto, Canada. |
Colored clay use has been in sporadic, irregular use through a little over a thousand years. The Lidded Chocolate Pot below was made in the Stoke-upon-Trent or Potteries area of England in the mid 18th Century. Chocolate was one of the favorite beverages of high society at that time.
The process of making is basically the same as the Chinese bowl, but instead of Earthenware it is made in white stoneware and white stoneware stained with cobalt and manganese. It is salt-glazed, a Mediaeval method developed in Germany.
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Salt-glazed Agateware Chocolate Pot - Staffordshire - England - Circa 1750 - Collection of the Chipstone Foundation. |
I'm trying to pace myself so I have decided to do a little at a time and, hopefully, with a little more regularity. Please let me know if you like this format.
Best wishes, Robin
Super Robin, love the agate ware examples, especially the chocolate pot, and I've never seen such a healthy dog lily, strange you are ahead of us here in Florida for Spring.
ReplyDeleteTHIS YEAR IS QUITE UNUSUAL, BUT VICTORIA, BC HAS A SPECIAL CLIMATE KNOWN AS MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME, LIKE THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. A GREATER VARIETY OF PLANTS FROM SUB-ARCTIC TO SUB-TROPICAL CAN BE GROWN HERE. THAT IS WHY I MOVED HERE IN 1976. AS AN AVID GARDENER SINCE MID-TEENS, THIS HAS BEEN THE PERFECT PLACE FOR ME TO LIVE AND GROW
ReplyDeleteI SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT : A GREATER VARIETY OF PLANTS FROM SUB-ARCTIC TO SUB TROPICAL CAN BE GROWN HERE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN NORTH AMERICA.
ReplyDeleteNice to see a spot of color! Thanks! Not much going on here in Ohio. Garden season seems far off but it does make for more time in the studio! The agateware is something to behold, agree with Linda on that chocolate pot. Trying to pull the process apart in my head of the maker went through to get the finished piece.
ReplyDeleteHappy Spring to you! Loading a kiln today with old arthritic hands...... This growing old is not for the faint of heart.....be well!
Thanks for the flowers and pots. The world will bloom.....eventually! Everything here
ReplyDeleteis still about a month behind. My studio is still cold on (the many) too cool days. The daffodils and crocus are finally blooming. The columbine is just coming up......spring will come.
We'll see, Grasshopper......we'll see..............