A Little Bit of Spring

It was inevitable.  You must have known I would be back to post at some point.  Today inspiration hit me as I made myself busy in my tiny backyard greenhouse moving herbs around. In my mission to shed any trace of winter left inside, I tucked a few plants into this pretty wall container.   

While outside, I found just the crowning touch for a dessert I had made earlier as I scrambled to get something together to bring my Mother tomorrow.  A velvety purple viola I plucked from a few volunteer blossoms.  

You can find the dessert I made here on Pinterest called Lemonies (Lemon Brownies).  There is no chocolate involved, the name is simply a way of describing the consistency of these delectable squares.  (I just love brown eggs, don't you?)

Still life of violas and a lemon, with a bit of zest scattered about on my time worn wooden board.  

Henri has been busy too.  Here is a piece of his raku pottery fresh from yesterday's firing.  I am leaving it on my kitchen counter for the time being.

Two more of his pieces that I had fun arranging.  One in a metal stand.  The other propped up to show the beautiful raku lustre inside.

And did you notice the 'frog' protection right there?  I just love that Discover card commercial.  So silly. You can view it here.  Good to be back on here again.  Happy Spring and Happy Mother's Day!  And while I'm at it, Happy Birthday to our youngest daughter Angie who had a birthday today!  

Acting Artsy

On Saturday we attended an artist's reception at the Gallery Grand in Ellsworth. 

Here are a couple shots of downtown Ellsworth looking out from the gallery. 

The reception was for our dear friend Helen Douglas, a sampling of whose work I have shown below. 

Guess who Helen invited to join her in this rotating artists' gallery until mid-November?

  I can't even begin to tell you how honored, flattered and excited we are to have this opportunity to join Helen.   So come on inside and have a look around! 

Remember the driftwood tree I showed you in my last post?  It was for in here.   

I took these pictures throughout the week as we were getting everything set up.  

What a fun week we had getting everything all ready to open. 

It's just feels so good in here with all this glorious color. 

We're still pinching ourselves to have been given this opportunity.

And simply savoring every minute of it too! 



Throwing Pots

Here's a few shots of Henri throwing some pots today. This is a lump of clay he started out with and already has it centered.

This is what it looks like after he hollows out the center. He wears latex gloves when he throws because there are groggy bits in the clay that are very abrasive on the skin.

Here he is drawing up the sides.

He has finished shaping the pot and is finishing up the rim.



Here are some of the pots he threw today. Tomorrow he will turn the pots over and finish up the bottoms.

These are some pots that have been bisque fired, glazed and are ready for the final raku fire.

It was nice to have him keep me company today while I was continuing to work on our studio redo.

Fresh From the Fire

Here are a few of our raku pots from our latest firing.

A closeup showing the copper flashes.

This one shows a few pieces of sea glass that fused into the bottom of the pot during firing.

Firing day is a little like Christmas around here.

From Raku Pots to Lobster Pots

Last night's raku firing

Long tongs being used to retrieve glowing pot fired to 2000 degrees F.


A sampling of our pots finished in a glaze of white crackle and copper lusters.

It's like Christmas retrieving them from the trash cans where they sit overnight buried in sawdust.

And would you look what I pulled up in one of our lobster traps this morning.

Get a load of those CLAWS!

This is one lobster that did not make it to our lobster pot. We threw him back in spite of him being a keeper. I know at least 1 person who will probably be upset about this though. Dan?

Schoodic Arts Silent Auction

Schoodic Arts is having a silent auction on July 26 at 3:00 p.m. in Winter Harbor, and we have donated a couple pieces of raku pottery for this event.

The inside of the pot has a few pieces of sea glass that we added during the firing.

And this small shiny copper plate is fresh from a recent firing.

Check out the calendar of events on the website link above too! The location is Hammond Hall, 427 Main Street in Winter Harbor.

Raku = Joy

Here's the little guy that survived the 2000 degree heat in my previous post. He now proudly takes his place on the shelf with the other pieces having pulled through the tremendous thermal shock of the raku firing.



Shortly after we last saw him, hot as a burning ember from a woodstove fire, he was transported via long handled tongs to a trash can that had been sitting in the 30 degree night air. Next, he was sprinkled with sawdust that was quickly ignited by the heat emanating from his modeled clay body. After about 30 seconds, down came the lid on the trash can until shortly after dawn the next day. A perfect hour to reveal the magic of raku. You can never predict the results. But the immense joy you feel as you see what is waiting inside that can for you, is nothing short of how a kid feels opening presents on Christmas morning.

The Art of the Fire

These whimsical fish were sculpted by my husband in an attempt to use up the extra clay that is wasted from working on wheel thrown pieces. Each one of his creations seems to take on it's own unique personality.

They have been bisque fired and glazed, but their true identity awaits and will be revealed in the next post.

Tonight was the night a few of them made it to the fire. This glowing creature is the result of

having spent about 30 minutes in the raku kiln where the temperature rose to 2000 degrees fahrenheit. This moment is part of the excitement of raku, when you lift the top off the kiln and are met with the very heart and soul of your piece. Tomorrow they will look quite different.

Our pots will be fired later, but tonight it was all about the fish.