Connections

Visit me at the Dedham Farmer's Market on Wednesday, August 15th from 12-2.

I will be demonstrating on my pottery wheel

...a vase, a bowl, a plate and bowl (chip and dip), spoon rest and tumblers!

I'm a Potters Place potter and a Dedham Square Guild Artist.  Ask me about both!

Potters Place is my cooperative pottery studio in Walpole, MA.  I make my work here with 22 other clay artisans.

Dedham Square Artist Guild is my cooperative gallery where I sell my ceramic art with 28 other artists. It's right down the street from the farmer's market at 553 High Street.

Purchase your fruits and veggies, plus a lot of other wonderful fresh options (seafood, bread, ...) at the Dedham Farmer's Market.  Think about serving these items in locally made pottery.  That's the food and pottery connection!

Lily of the Valley

1982 Postage Stamp

On Saturday, my cooperative studio, Potters Place has their BIG studio clean up in preparation for Spring Show & Sale on May 4,5 & 6. 

I've been concentrating my work on the show's theme: Flora & Fauna

Using postage stamps for inspiration, the "LOVE" stamp has proved to be a favorite.  I use small square dishes or tiles, as a painter would use oil sketches, to do much of my experimenting for larger work. For this series, I began by playing with the flowers that make up each letter in the LOVE stamp.

L

O

V

E

I liked the "E" dish best and although it did not start out as Lily of the Valley on the stamp, it became that to me.  I choose that design and translated it to other forms.

Tumbler with white liner and baby blue rim

Bowl with floral motif

Wheel thrown mugs with slip-trailing decoration

Plate with carved rim

The Food & Pottery Connection:

 Today, it is the pottery that inspires the food...

Fill the Plate with carved rim with roasted asparagus; it's in season! Fill one bowl with floral motif with jasmine rice and the other bowl with a green salad with cut veggies to bring in color.  Fill a tumbler with your favorite beverage to complement your menu, the other tumbler can hold a small bouquet of flowers for the table. The finale: a cup of tea in a mug with slip trailed decoration and shortbread cookies served on "E" dish. What a delicious spring meal inspired by my Lily of the Valley spring collection!

Roasted Asparagus

2 bunches asparagus, dry ends snapped off

Line a roasting pan with foil and spray with olive oil

Place asparagus on pan in single layer, coat with more olive oil

     and sprinkle with kosher salt

Roast in a 450 oven for 12 minutes

In a small skillet, brown butter, add balsamic vinegar and reduce

When asparagus is done, move to serving plate and drizzle with

     vinegar.

Visit my website to see more Flora & Fauna inspired work.

Vacation snacks & Pottery workshops

This Friday marks the start of school vacation week in Massachusetts.  It can be a challenging time for families not going away on vacation.  Parents look for things to keep kids happy, active and having fun. Dedham, Massachusetts, for the third year, will institute "no TV week" It's a great idea that encourages parents and kids alike to think outside the box, literally, and get out and about.

On Wednesday, April 18th from 10-11am, I will host a make a clay bunny workshop for kids first grade and older. Parents too!  

Learn to make a bunny out of clay by pinching and pulling.  Then add details like ears, eyes, feet and a nose using the scratch and slip technique. 

bunny with glaze awaiting kiln

I will dry your bunny, give it a clear glaze (see above) and fire it in a kiln at Potters Place

When your bunny is done, you can come to the Dedham Guild for pick up. It takes a little while, but I'll let you know when you can take your clay pet home.

meet "Flora", my country bunny

Sign up through the Dedham Guild. Click here for more information.

Kids need snacks to keep them fueled for creating!

Also called GORP

GOBBLEDY GOOK

4 cups chex rice cereal
1 cup peanuts
1 cup raisins
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pretzels
3 tbsp. margarine, melted

Place all ingredients in a 2-quart re-sealable plastic bag, seal and shake until mixed. 

 The Food and Pottery Connection:

add colorful m&ms to the mix

now they're ready to play with clay!

I'm also offering a tile workshop for teens and adults.  Click here for information on my Saturday, April 21st workshop through the Dedham Guild.

Some of the above photos have been added to illustrate my ideas.  Search google images for photo credits.

Spring flowers and floating islands

Potters Place, my cooperative studio in Walpole, MA hosts a spring show and sale annually over the weekend preceding Mother's Day.  The members who coordinate the show get to choose the theme.  This year it is “Flora and Fauna”. 

I turned to stamps with images of flowers for my inspiration.

 

I'm using tiles as a way to explore some of my ideas.  I really like the way they are coming out of the kiln.

My Magnolia Flower Tile

This stamp illustrates a flowering tree commonly called the Franklin tree. It is native to Georgia. It has been extinct in the wild since the early 19th century, but survives as a cultivated ornamental tree.

I'm anxiously awaiting the final glaze results of this tile. Using some of the same colors as my Magnolia Flower tile, it will work nicely with my Spring "Flora and Fauna" Collection.

Camellia

As a child, I spent many hours looking at beautiful stamps with my grandmother.  It was where I first learned about art, history, and geography.   
 

It seems fitting that I share a recipe of my grandmother's as it was her love of stamps and flowers that inspired the pottery featured in today's blog post.

Floating Island~ serves 6
A French dessert consisting of Meringue floating on a vanilla custard.


Custard:
2 cups milk
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3 T flour
1 tsp vanilla

Meringues:
2 cups milk
6 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt

To make the custard: bring the milk to a boil over medium heat, then turn off the heat and let sit.

In a separate saucepan, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they thicken and lighten, about 3 minutes. Drizzle the just-boiled milk into the pan in a thin stream to temper the egg yolks, whisking all the while. Once the mixture is well-combined, place the pan over a medium-low flame. Continue to stir with a wooden spoon as it heats, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon so that it holds the mark if you draw through it with your finger. Remove the pan from the heat as soon as this happens, and pour the custard through a strainer into a waiting bowl. Stir in the vanilla. Refrigerate until chilled (it will continue to thicken).

To make the meringues and assemble the dessert: Bring the milk to a gentle simmer over medium heat.

While the milk is heating, beat the egg whites, gradually adding the salt and sugar, until they form stiff peaks. Drop rough half-cups of the meringue mixture into the simmering milk. You can form jagged islands, or use two spoons to make somewhat smooth ovals. Let the islands simmer for one minute in the hot milk, then gently turn and simmer for another minute on the second side. Using a slotted spoon, remove the islands from the milk and set to drain on a clean plate. Repeat until all of the meringue is poached. The islands will swell dramatically in their simmer bath, and then shrink disappointingly when they're removed. Serve immediately on a puddle of chilled custard, or place in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. 

Sign ups for my tile workshop have begun.

Carved Flower Tile

The theme is spring flowers. The class is on Saturday, April 21^st from 9am-12pm at the Dedham Square Artist Guild. Click here to sign up. 

In my tile workshop, students will create a drawing of a spring flower using photos and their imagination. Simplify the design and trace it onto a leather hard tile. There will be different tools to experiment with to create an image that is three dimensional.  When the tiles are dry, they will be bisque fire and then glazed in a solid color. 

2-8 participants. Ages 13 and older.

Local Food and how it commingles with handmade pottery

A member of Potters Place (my studio) giving a donation to the Walpole Food Pantry for over $800 raised at our Holiday Show and Sale in November!

Getting out to local farmers markets to share the message of how great local food and handmade pottery go together.

Selling handmade pottery where handmade gifts and home made gifts are featured.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year - may 2012 be bountiful.

Handmade Community

The Potters Place potters will gather this weekend at a member's home to celebrate the holiday season.  In the cooperative nature that we are so accustom to, we will each bring something to share.  I imagine the food will all be served on favorite pieces of member pottery.  We will toast in handmade vessels to the year past and the one ahead.  There will be a Gift Swap where we each hope for the best pottery-like gift (stamps, tools, molds...).  There will be ideas swapped, stories shared, and a merry time had by all.  

Ingredients needed:

1. group of potters

no not those kind of potters

these kinds of potters

2. pot luck food

3. served in pottery made by hand

4. gift to swap

5. good cheer!

Learn more about the community of Potters Place by checking out our website: www.pottersplace.info

Last Farm Stand Sale of the Season

To get ready for the next distribution, I was cooking up all my winter squashes last night.

"Summer squash swell from blossoms to fruit in a matter of days, while winter varieties absorb energy from the sun and soil for months on their way to harvest - no wonder they are such a good comfort food.  The dense, sweet flesh of winter squash brings the light and warmth of the whole summer to your winter table." Farmer John's Cookbook

The three squash I have on hand are Buttercup, a red kuri variety; a Butternut, an all purpose favorite; and a sweet dumpling. 

Peel, remove seeds, cut and cook in a 1/4" of water to steam in a 350 oven.

Bake 45 minutes or so, then drain.

Mash each type of squash and set aside to cool overnight.

When mashed and cool, I will freeze squash for easy cooking with breads, soups or just a warm puree.

Sweet or savory winter squash puree
Joy of cooking

for a sweet puree... add for every 1 cup puree
1 T butter
1 tsp brown sugar or maple syrup
1/4 tsp ground ginger
salt and pepper

for a savory puree...add for every 1 cup puree
1 T butter or olive oil
1 small garlic, minced
1 T choped fresh parsley or sage
salt and pepper

Beat in warm heavy cream or orange juice to sweet or savory mix.

Serve plain or:
top with sauteed onions, zest of lemon, marscapone or sour cream, Parmesan or Gruyere cheese.

While I was baking, I was thinking back to the soda firing I did this past summer at Harvard.  The process creates such beautiful orange colors when the fire and soda connect with an unglazed surface.  I'm already looking forward to the next summer workshop. A group from my cooperative studio, Potters Place plan to attend this friday's ceramic show at Harvard.  I'm looking forward to spending time with them.

my soda fired vases from summer workshop

I was also thinking about the new friendships I'm developing at the Dedham Square Artist Guild, ...after a great Saturday shift, I went home with a homemade mini pumpkin pie made from buttercup squash.

The reason for all this late night baking is to make room for more veggies. This Saturday, December 10th is the last farm stand sale of the year.  It is the second of two winter share distributions and the last pottery sale at Powessit in 2011.  Stop by from 11-4 to pick up your local veggies and check out my handmade pottery.  The two go together so well.

Potters Place Holiday Show & Sale THIS weekend: November 18-20

Potters Place Holiday Show & Sale opens this weekend: November 18-20. The artist reception is Friday evening from 5:30-9:00PM and is open to the public.  This is the best time to visit the studio because all the members are in attendance.  We'll be celebrating our "Festive Feast" Holiday Show work.  

The sale will continue on Saturday from 9:00AM til 8:00PM (New Extended Hours) and Sunday from 10:00AM til 4:00PM.   

Last week, I previewed half of the Potters Place member work, here is a preview of the second half of the alphabet:

 

Food and pottery? Scroll down to the bottom...

Jeannette McGuillicudy

Jeanne Capachin

Jennifer Rose

Kathy Allard Whelan

Linda Gilbert

Lisa W B Walker (me!)

Lizanne Donegan

Ronda Moody

Susan LeBlanc Brum

Susan Sheilds McFarland

Here is a "Festive Feast" recipe that I would choose my own platter to serve it on. The shape and size cwill work together perfectly.

Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly Spread 

- perfect for Potters Place Artists Reception

1 8oz package of cream cheese 

1 Jar of pepper jelly

Crackers

1. Unwrap cream cheese and place in the center of your platter.

2. Open the jar of pepper jelly and spread over the cream cheese. (You may use only half the jar.)

3. Encircle with crackers and spread a few to complete your display.

4. Have extra ingredients on hand as this is very addictive!

See you at the show!  Need directions?  Click here: www.pottersplace.info