Tomo Potters @ Peters Valley!

Itsuko, Sandy and I will be at Peters Valley Fine Craft Fair next weekend, September 29th and 30th. (please click on 'Peters Valley Fine Craft Fair' for craft fair details, including coupon)

We have been working hard, getting ready. And we look forward to seeing you! This is a lovely craft fair, in a beautiful part of the New Jersey countryside. The work presented is some of the best, and it is hard for me to keep myself inside the booth, I want to check everything out.

We will be in booth 5-108, so please stop by.

Also, the Potters Guild of New Jersey will be there, with a wonderful variety of our potters represented.

It's a desert time!

I finally found the best ice cream cup.  It's Ellen Mulligan's.  I love her heart-warming artwork.   This cup is the right size to hold one scoop of my favorit ice cream for the desert after our dinner.  I always get one for me and one for my husband so I chose the slghtly bigger cup for him.

 He enjoys it.

These cups make us happy and healthy!!  Thanks Ellen!



Breakfast with Itsuko

I have been stock-piling photos of my breakfast for a few days, so I could show the range of bowls I have by my friend, Itsuko Ishiguro. Besides being a wonderful friend, she is a very, very talented potter. And I can't resist adding to my collection when we are setting up for a sale, and Itsuko has a new series of bowls. They are just beautiful!

As usual, the breakfast is yogurt, berries and pumpkin flaxseed granola.

This bowl (I have a matching mug) is one of my first purchases:

My niece and her husband are proud owners of a dinnerware set of this pattern.

This earthenware bowl has a slightly off-center shape that fits perfectly cradled in my hand. It is used almost every day, and has the chips to prove it!

This bowl has a lovely carved pattern. Itsuko does a series of these, with each bowl having a different, intricate pattern. This is not really clear from these photos:

So I took a photo of the bowl upside down:

Today's breakfast was in a special bowl. It takes a bit more care to use, but it is so much fun...the delicate bowl, inscribed with blossoms in white-on-white, has a rounded base and sits on a dark, unglazed and textured base, with a circle cut-out for the bowl to rest in. I use it both installed in the base...

...and cradled in my hand:

(Thanks, Honey, for helping me take this photo!)

The reward at the end is a wonderful view of those delicate incised flowers:

Sorry my photos aren't better, but trust me, the level of craftsmanship is very, very high. I enjoy every moment spent with this work, and look forward to every show that we do together. The unpacking of Itsuko's new work is exciting for all of her fellow potters. Thank you, Itsuko!

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TGIF

Today's bowl is one of my favorites (I know, I know, I am repeating myself). But really! Actually, I love it so much that I am trying not to wear it out..the glaze is 'aging' a bit, but no more dishwasher, for sure.

My same breakfast, but it tastes a bit more playful today, I think..

I love monkeys, of course, but especially I love this monkey.

The bowl is by Ayumi Horie. If you are not familiar with her work, please click here, and check out her website...and take your time, it's fun there. There are videos, pots for sale and a great selection from her many fans of 'pots in action'. I can't compete with these photos, unless I borrow someone's adorable baby. But for now, my friendly monkey and bird will keep me company.

And believe it or not, I am not even close to running out of bowls!

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Clean and chewy

On Tuesday, my breakfast was in a creamy white, a little smoky bowl by Paul Chaleff. Again purchased at the annual pottery show and sale at Old Church in Demarest, NJ. I don't think that these type of dishes are the same as his usual work, maybe it was a dinnerware set he was selling as individual pieces. I bought two plates and two bowls, and I love them. They have a wonderful feel, and I just want to bite them! (i think i have...)

I decided that this time I had to show the bowl empty. Great, huh?

One of my biggest regrets of pottery-left-behind was a beautiful bucket. I think he makes these lovely buckets for potters to use while working. Just think how much better every day sitting at my wheel would have been, if I had bought one! I really regret it

Monday, Monday

So this morning my bowl is a favorite, very sturdy...with a rolled rim and a side handle. I hold it in my left hand, shovel in food with my right.

This bowl is by Lorna Meaden, a very, very accomplished porcelain potter. She was a wonderful demonstrator at NCECA a few years ago. I bought this bowl at the show at Old Church in Demarest, NJ a few years back.

And in this photo you see the luscious drop of glaze, hanging off that side handle! Breakfast for a winner!

Friday's Breakfast Buddy

Today, same boring breakfast as yesterday, but an exciting bowl! This is Jeffrey Kleckner, whose work is incredibly well-made, and beautiful. This bowl is as light as a feather...