Julie Whitmore Pottery

green fingers

2012-02-08T16:39:00.001-08:00

My camellia is in full bloom. Its ten feet tall and looks like its covered with snow there are so many blossoms . When we moved here it was a scraggley five feet , I cut the berries that were choking it, cut off the dead wood and I might even have talked to it a little bit. Does this mean I have green fingers?
I have flower fever lately. Here's the pot right by my front door, I have a habit of stuffing it like a turkey at Thanksgiving but its always blooming for me.
More painted pots just out of the kiln
I went to the nursery today just to see if the rannuclus were in. Not yet. Any day now they promised.
Blooms from a wild geranium that grows all over my garden.
Yes, more camellias, with little sprigs of lavender mixed in. I just looked at my hands and there is not a tinge of green there, I'm not a great gardener but I do treasure flowers and time spent on my plot so much . With true gardeners I think its must be like Reginald Arkell says
'Green fingers are the extensions of a verdant heart'

The mister drew this name from the hat for the hedgehog pot. Pippa's Garden, my email address is jkwhitmore@hotmail.com , I will send this off as soon as I hear from you.

Happy gardening everyone! February is the month to start your sweet peas~

xxx julie
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

tulip trees

2012-01-29T09:57:00.000-08:00

It started when i saw the tulip trees blooming in San Luis, just a few days ago. When I arrived back home, I glazed some of my old clay pots, and painted them with signs of spring.

You can see why I was so inspired.

From left to right, hedgehog with nemesia, viola in a morning glory seedling pot, and thyme and thyme. I think that if you don't have a kiln, you could paint these with white acrylic and do the same thing. Even cut out pictures , glue and glaze with sealer.

Some think of spring as a time to enter their prize tulips in bulb competitions.

There are those who smell it arriving in the very air around them

Then discuss new forget me not seed varieties with gardening friends.

I visualize acres of sweet peas in my tiny side garden.

Some are more the vegetable type

Just this morning I decided to take the path marked 'Spring'.

I hope I meet you there

xxx

julie

ps thank you for you wonderful and sweet comments from my last post, meant so muchxx

pss I forgot to add I'm giving the hedgehog pot and holder to a random commenter,
the pot is originally from France, the little clay holder from our nursery right here

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

you'll never know, dear

2012-01-20T09:48:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking about love alot lately. Married love, friendship love, and mother love especially.
Mr. and Mrs. now. I hope they know whats ahead for them , but you never really do, do you?
Just hope there is lots of luck and love in reserve......
Journey's end in lover's meeting, especially for loyal donkeys
How wonderful it is to have a friend to laugh and cry with!
My beautiful mother on the left with me on the right. You can pick your friends and mates, but not your mom. I was lucky with mine. Fun loving, nuturing, art loving and as you can see, stylish. Here we are on one of those rare days, where everything conspires together for happiness. Beautiful Santa Barbara weather, an art show at the beach in the morning, then lunch at El Paseo downtown and visiting grandma and grandpa in the afternoon. I loved my mother so much. miss you , always will. xxxxx
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

big

2011-12-31T10:48:00.001-08:00

Well, bigger anyway. This is the largest thing I have done in years: Part of my New year's resolve to make some larger things. 24 x 30 and a month of Sundays to paint. Wonderful Sundays with the fog ebbing around , then leaving me for the day with a nice light to paint by.

Swiss artist Paul Klee was one of the pioneers of cubist paintings in the early 1900's.
I've been seeing alot of these riffs on cubist paintings in the last couple of years and have been planning on doing one. Since you portion off the canvas, I thought it was a good way to go big.

I primed the whole canvas first with yellow ochre acrylic. Then I used a ruler to keep the edges square.

I used mostly greens and blues for the base colors, with lots of building up with white, gesso and acrylic mediums for texture.

In a way they are folky like patchwork quilts.

(I'm still going to make tiny things.)

Here's how I start. Over a yellow ochre primed canvas I squared in the blocks of color
on this 8 x 10

When it dried, I went back and tightened things up and added the first layer of color for the images and words.

After more detail I finished with this soft Gel gloss. Its wonderful. I looked long and patiently for the right finish. It adds texture and a subtle sheen.

I put it on and let dry overnight.

Now its time for a new year and do I wish that yours is healthy and prosperous and happy?

Yes

yes,

A thousand times

yes!

xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

jolly

2011-12-15T10:36:00.001-08:00

The tree is what did it, made me feel jolly. Carrying the tubs of ornaments up the stairs, setting them on the red chair and looping them over bristley branches. All the while listenting to the plunking of a A Music Box Christmas.
I've made some new ornament designs. Like my very first deers, and this cat with fish.
And some standbys from down on the farm
New pages in my autograph book for hedgehog fans.
I hear Santa is resting up by the seaside before his yearly voyage
Drinking lots of fortifying punch!
Here at the faded and seaworn Foggy Cottage we'll be home for Christmas,

with grateful hearts and plenty of Christmas cookies..

Thinking of you all and wishing you all the joy of the season

xxx

julie
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Christmas in their hearts

2011-12-05T16:06:00.001-08:00

I am a needlework fan. This is the wall next to my bed, where I put my book at night, and my glasses too, before I put out the light.

Some of these craftswomen have sent me the most wonderful things, like this embroidered bird, from Jone at Pantry Violets. I keep it with my spice jars, right in my kitchen.

http://www.pantryviolets.blogspot.com/

This beautiful bunting was knit by Lori. I had a big blank space over my bed, and then Lori sent me this package and I nearly tripped running down the hall to hang it here! Isnt' it amazing how the colors match the quilt?

http://www.loritimesfive.blogspot.com/

Mary Stanley sent me this little house which was just what the neighborhood on my wall needed. Mary hooks rugs too, and is a wonderful needlewoman.

http://www.marystanley.blogspot.com/

this isn't exactly needlework, but its a gift from my talented friend Delila in Finland.

http://www.robinandthesage.blogspot.com/

Its resting against a sketchbook, with a needlework cover, by Viv at Hens Teeth.

Viv is a rock star in the stitching world~

http://www.hensteethart.blogspot.com/

A close up of my quilt, the lady who made this cut out and appliqued these flowers all over the top of this, its so lovely. Got it at a garage sale in Santa Barbara. yup.

close up of Lori's work

These ladies are all the best, and feel like 'old friends'.

Little needlecase from New Hampshire, a gift from my mom.

Thanks for stopping by, always such a pleasure to have you visit

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

snow flurries

2011-11-21T09:19:00.001-08:00

Its snowing in there.
When I saw an article on Martha Stewart.com explaining how to make snow globes, I made a few figures .
After all I grew up on snow globes like these above, all from California. (From an antique website)
So I went out and found supplies, distilled water and isopropyl alchohol too;
I rushed back home
washed a jar
When the figures were glued on lid (roughened up with sandpaper to make glue stick) I waited 24 hours and added the ingredients to the jar; Filled nearly full with the distilled water, a dollop of glycerine and another of the alchohol and a tablespoon of glitter. I shook it, definately the best part.
Here's another one drying. Now when I go to the grocery store, I can't keep away from the bottled goods section. I'm looking for a more globe type shape. I think I'll have good luck in the orange marmalade section.
Hope you all have a thrilling Thanksgiving!
xxx
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

remember me

2011-11-06T07:59:00.001-08:00

Autograph books are small time capsules. You can almost hear the pen scratching across the page as you look at them. Beautiful sentiments to a friend, like the one above.
"Life is short, Oh may it be
full of happiness for thee."

Some of my Etsy customers might recognize these as they are thank you's to put in with pottery. I've just added some watercolor images, and color copy them on cardstock and there is my notecard.
Since Carrie put a butterfly die cut next to her name,
I put wings on her

And some dancing animals for Dwight

Here's a painting of the era by Felix Vallotton. I'm sure many of these people signed thier names in autograph books, besides I wanted to show it to you because its so wonderful.

As shure as comes your wedding day,

A broom to you I'll give,

In sunshine use the brushy part,

In storm the other end....

Victorian ink bottles, what the signers would dip thier pens into before writing

Lydia, Way back here where nobody will look

I'll sign my name in your book~

I even used an old water color palatte to paint on the paper.

Another watercolor box of the era.

This is just as found , all hand done in one of the old autograph books.

Remember me!

(I'll remember you)

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

from the heart

2011-10-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is Lori. Stellar photographer, wonderful knitter, and all around the kind of person who its good to know is walking the earth. Lori has a great blog.
http://www.loritimesfive.blogspot.com/
This is acrylic and a little bit of oil pastel on canvas, 8x10. I primed the canvas with burnt sienna, then drew in the face with charcol and began to add the layers of paint.
The bird is a roller, from Africa. Lori's favorite bird.

One of Lori's beautiful portraits.

I learned that if you paint things that mean something to you it adds to the still life.

So here is my favorite glass, one of my cafe au lait bowls and the last of the summer peaches.

The geranium blossom is from my mother's garden, and now is rooting in a flower pot!

Lots more cafe bowls to paint...

We went to Santa Barbara for my birthday. Yes, its really this gorgeous

After the museum we stopped in at the ultimate grocery store, Lazy Acres. Can you even believe this produce section?

More ornaments to list today........

Thanks so much for visiting

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

back to the woods

2011-10-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

Everyone knew the time arrived to get back to the woods.

Except for Red Riding Rabbit, who'd decided to take a detour.

Let's go Red! all her friends called........

The nights were coming on sooner

Fox was very savvy and carried two lanterns.

Red dropped off the cake to Grandma and hurried on.

This gingerbread deliciousness was made by Kary.

www.myfarmhousekitchen.blogspot.com

They would come back and see the farmlady at halloween though;

Everyone would think they were in costumes!

Only you and I know their secret.

Have fun in the woods, but be careful of the wolf.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

sleeping flowers

2011-09-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

The last week its been a challenge to cut a boquet because all the flowers are going to sleep.

I've collected my sweet pea seeds, the plants themselves dug back into the earth.

And I hope you'll pardon the paint on my hand. I really do wash up before I cook dinner!

I did manage a late summer boquet, but most of the blooms come from my mother's beautiful garden. There's even a rogue grapefruit blossom there. The fragrance is heady and intoxicating.

I started out with a spoon for the sleeping flowers, but have been wanting to paint some canvases.

These are 'warm ups' five by seven inches. Acrylic and oil pastel on masonite board.

Thats butterflies flying around the still unfinished braided girl on the left.

Since I especially like to paint people I know, here's Nina wishing a hummingbird safe journey til next year. But you will be seeing me alot sooner, I promise!

xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

jam session

2011-08-18T10:12:00.001-07:00

There I was all set to make plum jam, when I saw a flat of strawberries at farmer's market.

I added a few ripe nectarines too.

And inspired by summer's continuing bounty, I made some new jam jars and even a lid for an old transferware piece.

I saved the stems for the wild birds.

They seemed to enjoy them

After the jam was canned I took a sea break and got there just in time before the fog bank rolled in. It smelled so fresh and briney.

Passed the wild fennel whose stalks I add to my spagetti sauce.

Time to test the jam.

With strawberry tea and scones. The jam is okay. I can taste the lemon and the nectarine adds a nice sharpness.

The red winged blackbirds in the berry bushes are saying fall will visit soon. So I've got a small listing ready.

Wishing you a lovely weekend in your snug house this weekend. I'm now searching for a strawberry jam tart recipie. I think you know why!

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

a summer day

2011-07-24T19:01:00.001-07:00

This summer day I got dressed, grabbed my favorite apron and went to the plum tree.
This California native plum is in my mother's backyard and its forty feet tall. I set my basket in the crook of a limb and got to picking.
There are thousands of plums this year. More than I've ever seen in the twenty years I've been picking them.
I filled my basket and picked some for a friend and went to deliver. We ended up visiting for an hour. We talked about cooking, and books and even canning.
Home again with my basket, and some fresh geraniums from mom's garden.
Don't they look just like rosebuds? After the flowers fade I plant them and they just root so well. I've got rosebud geraniums all over the garden.
I decided to make a clafouti. My first one. I mixed it up and put in in the oven.
I did a little housework.
Well, I washed the dishes at least!
Emptied the kiln
The clafouti was done so I tried a piece. I sifted powdered sugar over it just like they do in France.
I thought it would be more like cake, but it was almost like a fruit custard. I guess I liked it, though.
I've still got an awful lot of plums. And the tree is laden still!
So I ordered a new canning book. I've heard good things about this. I'll let you know.
Might be plum jam appearing on my shelves soon.
xxx
hope you are having a wonderful summer
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

gold dust

2011-07-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to add gold embellishments to my pottery. I think growing up in California exposes you to gold fever. So there is a brush stroke here and there on the porcelain cups above. Can you see it on the tips of the bird's wings?

Cup backs. These are slab built porcelain.

I panned for gold when I was ten. I remember the little particles of gold dust glinting in the sun.

This is my husband's ancestors from Sutter Creek , California. Gold Rush country.

I visited this house and met Gramps standing up in back on the right. He was 97at the time. I was 20. They had chickens coming in and out of the kitchen and an ancient orchard out the back. The floorboards creaked like a chorus of frogs. I loved it there.
div>
They came out in the 1840's not to strike it rich in mining, but in logging. All those miners needed wood for houses when they struck the mother lode.

The dog's name was Sampson.

An old plate with gold paint next to a beaker.

These are porcelain, so they are light.

My plans for these cups. The instuctions for using the gold are:

Immaculate brush only used for gold. Apply gold to finished piece in its own firing. These pieces were fired three times.Wipe down a glazed piece with rubbing alchohol.

Cleaning brush in the special solution to keep the brush supple. It goes on red, so its easy to see your strokes.

Fire at 018. Which is about 1377 degrees.

A vase shape where the flowers spill out nicely.
my first bud vase!
I'm hoping there is a pink butterfly out there somewhere.
Also did a couple of cups the old school way!

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Best Pal

2011-06-23T15:29:00.001-07:00

I never met a dog I didn't like. Our first family dog, Jasper, used to yank mom's best percale pillowcases off the clothesline and blast down McConnel Avenue, dragging them in the gutter.
I didn't care, I liked Jasper.

Dogs trust us. If they are hurt we want to make it better. We want them to be happy;

Like my beautiful Emmie

And Kary's toy poodle, Teddy.

What do we care if they are of indeterminate parentage?

I painted some dogs and other things with new art supplies, thanks to Lynne Hoppe.

Lynne has a wonderful and inspiring blog, and talks about interesting ways to put images on different paper surfaces. Plus, she generously lists what supplies she uses.

Oh, and her work is brilliant.

www.lynnehoppe.blogspot.com

Here is a smattering of my new supplies. Pastels from France, Crayon watercolor pencils from Switzerland, and paper from U.S.A.

I have just one more thing to add about dogs.

I think the dogs we loved and have gone on before us are waiting to join us again.

Like Mattie here. Something so full of love and goodness just must be forever.

Hug your dogs for me!

Julie
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Summer Pie Party

2011-06-13T09:48:00.001-07:00

Donkey told Chicken that he would celebrate the first day of summer with a pie party.
"Am I invited?" Chicken asked.

"You may have the apple peelings." answered Donkey.

Donkey returned to his pink house and scoured his recipie box. This was one of his favorites, from Viv in the pie country of Stafford. http://www.hensteethart.blogspot.com/

In need of more pies, he trotted to Farmer Julie's and found her gathering beefsteak tomatoes.

He asked her to make a cox orange pippin apple pie.

"Am I invited?" asked Farmer Julie.

"Yes", said Donkey, "If you don't comment on table ediquitte."

So Farmer Julie made a pie. She kept the peelings for Chicken.
And she cut out the shape of a donkey with a toothpick and placed it on the top.
Hedgehog, however, made the tastiest pie of all. Strawberry rhubarb with a dash of lemon zest and extra cinnamon and a sprinkling of castor sugar on the top. It was a tiny triumph. She also wore her favorite bonnet.
All arrived at Donkey's on the first afternoon of summer.
They pulled their special cups from the sideboard. They ate pie, drank tea and gossiped.
There were some frightening manners displayed, but Farmer Julie kept right on sipping and smiling. After all, she was very happy to be in Donkey's pink house, with all of his pie-loving friends.

Happy Summer everyone!
xx
julie
juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Outside, Inside

2011-05-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

Can you blame me for going twice to this mustard field in the last week? Its been three days since my last visit and I'm already plotting ways to return today. A bridge spans over the creek, and the swallows have built a metropolis there. There are hundreds and they swoop all around you, emitting soft little peeps as they dive after the insects that drone above the water.

The mustard is so high this year. If I were to clomp around down there, it would be about two feet over my head. All this yellow, all these birds and sweet clean sky make me feel airborne too, just like those swallows. So clomping seems unseemly.

Looking North from the bridge, our house is about two miles from that clump of eucylptus.

A squirrel watched me, hanging from a new fence that keeps the cattle from creek trespassing.

I nearly stepped on this one foot long lizard, I was so intent on looking up, not down. He skittered away just in time.

A brand new winery up the highway. They planted fields of lavender and roses. Olive trees too.

I was hesitant to go inside . In overalls, boots and a sweater with a patch on it I decided to wait til I wore my Sunday best to try their wine tasting.

These are their cabernet franc grapes, just emerging.

Now we are home. The inside part. Thought you might like a gander around, and this is my pantry. If you open the doors its full of dry goods. I only have about two built in cupboards in the kitchen and so this has given me a wonderful excuse to indulge my cupboard love!
The painting above of Moonstone Beach is by Terry DeLapp, a local tonalist painter.

English cupboard in the kitchen. I know this because there are little hooks in the side with donkeys, from Clovelly, near Devon.
heee haaaw

Dining room. The wall is painted a pale robin's egg blue. Old botanicals on the wall.

Dining room again. This is the first antique I bought. I got my drivers' liscense on my 16th birthday, drove to Orange, near our house in Southern California and bought this with my babysitting money. I had borrowed my brother's convertable and brought it home sticking straight up from the back seat. I still can't believe I didn't get pulled over.

Now just so you don't think I live entirely in a Charles Dicken's novel, I do like contemporary things too. Especially craft. This rabbit is by Paulina Temmes. Paulina's things are tender and exquisite. She doesn't have a blog but does have an Etsy store:

http://www.lemmikkiapina.etsy.com/

Pottery by local Potter Paula Teplitz. Dark clay, wax process. I really don't understand how Paula makes this , I just know its beautiful. Paula shows her work at Chamber's Gallery in Cambria.

A Cathy Cullis heart with a poem about a traveller. An anniversary gift from the mister.

The back as wonderful as the front!

In pottery news, new lady and animal plates.

and beakers too.

Back outside!

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

my green sky

2011-05-10T08:41:00.001-07:00

I know flocks of girls who admire bluebirds. There's Carolyn, Barbara, Pat , Nancy, Sandi, Delila Vicki, Colette,Dana, Lori, Nina, Jody, Janet and Heather. And Carol g! and thats just the beginning. They must feel like Thoreau who said 'The bluebird carries the sky on her back'....

Every once in a while I paint a bird girl piece. This pale pink wall in my studio is holding them up for now

While we are in my studio, right outside my window, there's a blooming going on of pink and white petunias

Back in side, here's one of my first girl and birds, a swan.

I've got loads of spoons to list. They're dangling from an old rake while they wait for me to
get busy with the camera.

But instead of being productive, I decided to write down things that are pink.

I forgot mouse ears.

and cotton candy!

A pink breasted pigeon. Isn't she beautiful?

This is my best friend, Kary. she is a little shy, loves red gingham, Teddy, home, and 1962. Calls this hairdo a 'birds-nest'. And her favorite bird is the owl.

http://www.myfarmhousekitchen.blogspot.com/

Emily Dickinson wrote 222 poems about birds, including The Hummingbird.

Here's what Pablo Neruda had to say about humming birds;

The small bird on fire

Which dances out of the pollen

Just a short drive from here the pink sweet peas are washing the hills

Standing in the middle of this pinkness I was swaying with the scent . I wanted to lie down and sleep there. But I carried that scent home with me, in the form of a single sweet pea .

Because I beleive in the Chinese proverb

'If I keep a green bough in my heart,

The singing bird will come.'

wishing you a pink spring

xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Pot dogs

2011-04-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

` As dog figures go, the Staffordshire Spaniel has no peer. It was a quintessential mantle ornament to any home loving, dog adoring family in Great Britain. I've been making some of my own 'pot dogs'; keeping true to the basic idea but adding embellishments here and there.

One dog above has a bluebird around his neck and dreams of going back home, while the other sits on a river bank as a fish swims silently by .

Cats qualify for the mantle too, especailly tortoiseshell cats. One has a teapot, the other a cup.
The tiny pair in front are salt glazed, about 1820.

The Spaniel mania began in the 1660's when King Charles II came to the throne, his adoring crew of King Charles spaniels capering around him at the palace like a gaggle of geese. And in the center of England, there were the Staffordshire potteries with all that clay, salt , water and coal for firing and the icon of all dog figures was born.

Above, a sample page of more things the potteries produced. This charming page courtesy of

James Kent Potteries and Reggie of Reggie Darling. He has a wonderful blog, and an amazing array of Staffordshire too.

www.reggiedarling.blogspot.com/

All this beauty and whimsy came from this remarkable, bottle kilned, coal spewing, terrible, beautiful area of England. Women, men and children worked in shocking conditions and usually for twelve to sixteen hours a day. At one time more than 100 seperate potteries operated here, the center of the pottery world.

My little piece of history, a small black elephant.

When Victoria became Queen, her Spaniel, Dash came along too. Right after her coronation she returned to the Palace, hurried upstairs and gave Dash a bath. There's a woman who has her priorities in line!

Even though I walk by a rose covered bower on my way to work, I still felt a connection to the hard working, brave craftsmen and women in whose footsteps I followed as I painted these, and they are very hard footsteps to fill, even with my size nine shoes.
xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

beautiful japan

2011-03-30T10:29:00.001-07:00

Japan is rich in many things, and symbolism is one of them. The Cherry blossom is compared to the fleeting cloud , its beauty and swiftness of life. I've been thinking about Japan and all it has given to the world of art and of culture. Not just their brilliant pottery, woodcuts and the haiku poetry but their grace and dignity in the face of this recent disaster.

Since the third century people have gathered under the cherry trees for celebration of life.

I have watched like you have how the earthquake and tsunami has seemed to weave them more tightly together, their stoicism and and sometimes selflessness heart wrenching. Like the workers who stayed behind at Fukushima , risking their lives so others might be safe.

I've made a bluebird perched on a mound of cherry blossom and offer it for sale,

all the proceeds to go to Save the Children for Japan. If anyone is interested, bluebird is five inches tall and six wide. **This little bird is flying away, Thank you so much , Jacki!xx

The bluebird because it brings luck and happiness. He is 90 dollars and that includes shipping.

Also a pottery friend , Maki, has a 1,000 bird project on her blog and is making wonderful bird chopstick rests, all proceeds to help Japan

http://www.makikohastings.blogspot.com/

The goldfish in Japan symbolizes perserverence in adversity, watching them takes the viewer to otherworldly states, as these rabbits will testify to!The temple bell stops.

But the sound keeps coming

out of the flowers

Basho

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

1810

2011-03-07T09:32:00.001-08:00

1810 was a banner year for crafts. Samplers, silouettes, and paper mache flourished.

In Staffordshire, the world's pottery center in 1810, classical themes were abandoned and potteries began to represent current events in their pieces. This couple are wearing the fashions of the time. Tee Totaling was popular, but you can see the mister isn't too happy about it.

This was made while Jane Austen was writing Sense and Sensiblity down the road apiece. And Beethoven was preforming live in Germany.

So when Ann Wood offered a tutorial on her blog, one for a cup that reminded me of early nineteenth century pottery, I printed it out and bought a tub of wallpaper paste. I have alot of pent up paper mache love. My theme for the cups is 1810, even the paper on the butterfly cup is 200 years old. When you moisten the newspaper with the paste its very much like clay. And the pattern is so refined; Ann is not only brilliant, but generous.

Here is a pile of paper crockery of Ann's, showing how evenly she lays the paper strips.

One of Ann's other creations. All can be seen here:

www.annwoodhandmade.com/

French paper mache doll head of the era.

Just like the ones Jane wore as she dipped her pen nib into an inkwell and scribbled away.

I took Ann's pattern to the print shop and had it enlarged to make this loving cup.

The best part was adding the gold ink to make it sparkle a bit.

Listing as promised today and tomorrow

And over the weekend I went looking for spring.

I think I found it!

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

flutterby

2011-02-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

I guess its the metamorphosis from grub to winged beauty that draws us in. That and the way they look like a floating flower as they drift by. You just can't help but follow them til they are out of sight.

I didn't want to forget the moths. This is a peach blossom moth flitting around sweet peas and ground daisies.

Below is a photo of the migration of the monarch , the California state butterfly. They are the only living things besides birds to migrate in such great numbers.

butterfly handles too

Queen Alexandria's Butterfly, Wing span of twelve inches!

blooming on the kitchen shelf

butterfly books in the dining room

Now let my bed be hard,

no care take I

I'll make my joy like this

small butterfly

walter de la mere

Atlas moth. Don't worry, they don't bite.

Butterflies like milkweed, asters, wildflowers, hollyhock, zinnias and many more.

Good caterpillar host plants include clover, dill, Queen Anne's Lace and fruit tree blossom.
Of course pesticides are out of the question, but you already knew that.

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

The Cup That Cheers

2011-02-09T09:46:00.001-08:00

Is it spring yet? A cup of tea might just perk you up enough to realize it will be here soon.
The right way to make tea: Pour hot water from kettle into teapot. Very important. Tip out and add tea. One teaspoon per person and one for the pot. Pour onto the leaves boiling water to oxygenate. Leave to steep five minutes. Pour small amount of milk into cup and add sweetener last. This is from Barbara Rogerson, an Englishwoman who lives in Northeast London and if she doesn't know the proper way to brew tea , who would?
www.ramblingsfromanenglishgarden.blogspot.com

New cups without handles, made just to go with Lori's hand knit sleeves. They keep the tea or coffee warm, and look smashing at the same time.
www.loritimesfive.blogspot.com

All the seeds are stirring and the animals are waking

Here is the glaze for the tea bread. I ran out of lemon juice and used orange too.

All this tea talk got me to baking. Lemon tea bread with lemon balm.

three o clock repast.

In February? Yup, First the rains came, then the frogs sang all night for weeks, then yesterday this rose appeared dangling above my head on the porch steps. A promise of good things to come.

Lemon Herb Tea Bread

3/4 C milk

1 T. finely chopped lemon balm

1 T. finely chopped lemon thyme

2 C. all purpose flour

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

6 T. butter, room temp

2 eggs beaten

1 C sugar

1 Heaping T lemon Zest

butter a 9x5 loaf pan.

Heat milk with chopped herbs and let steep til cool

Mix flour, salt and baking powder in bowl

In another bowl, cream butter, gradually add sugar til light and fluffy

add eggs beat

add milk and flour mixture a bit at a time til just blended

pour in pan, and bake til toothpick comes out dry, about 50 minutes

Mix juice from two lemons and confectioners sugar til thick, but loose enought to pour over bread. Pour over while still warm.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Cambria Wine Festival

2011-01-27T09:51:00.000-08:00

We are having a wine festival in Cambria this weekend starting tomorrow, January 28th. Wine tastings at the Vet's hall, lots of artists 'demoing' their craft and I've made some pottery glasses and cordials too. Mostly woodland animals holding up a cup for you to sip framboise, amaretto or grand mariner.

You can take a break and have a picnic at the beach. The weather is in the seventies. Bring your shades and coppertone.

Now just for instance. At the grocery last night I faced the wine isle. Hundreds of local wines. The wine distributor was stocking the shelves and I told him what I wanted. Zinfandel. Old Vine. Good with Italian food. So he handed me this. Dears it was only ten dollars. And it is a concerto of fruity xanadu. There are wine shops here too, and a couple of great places for lunch, but what I'd do is get a to go at Sotos Market on Main Street. The Number six sandwich and plenty of napkins.

cordials are just for a sip or two. Wines large enough for a few nice healty gulps

Watch out for the snow egrets on the rocks at moonstone beach

Check out Chambers gallery on Main Street.

Patricia Griffin Studios in the Old School house on Main next to the library

The brand new Terry DeLapp Gallery in the Creamery building on Main. Terry paints tonalist paintings of the farms in the surrounding valleys and coastal seascapes. He's a town treasure and a brilliant painter.

Hope to see you .

Don't forget a corkscrew

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

bird girls

2011-01-20T09:19:00.001-08:00

Here are a few warning signs that you, dear reader, are a bird girl. Firstly, you find yourself looking up when you see a flock of birds zigzaging across the sky, and watch raptly until they dissapear.

You mark Bird Festivals on your calendar. While there, you bite your lip over the ultra lightweight deluxe binoculars and calculate if you give up chocolate for the entire year you might be able to wedge them into your grocery budget.

Here's my very own second sighting this past weekened at the Morro Bay Bird Festival. He stalked frogs as quietly as the grass growing beneath him.

My first sighting happened above, at Morro Rock. I watched a pair of Perigrine Falcons. The fastest birds in the avian world. 200 MPH in dives!

Bird girls are postitive there are birds in heaven. This is irrefutible.

I can see you nodding now. See? you are a bird girl......

These lovliest of wrist warmers were knit by Helen Lambert. Aren't they exquisite?

Helen sometimes features her work on her blog:

www.helen-lambert.blogspot.com

Listing as promised today.

and thank you for the comments on my last post.

what generous hearts you have.

julie

April to pilot them

May speeding after

And each bird's compass

His small red heart.

john clare

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

poetry cups

2010-12-31T08:51:00.001-08:00

My heart, in hiding, stirred for a bird.
gerard manly hopkins
(Now thats poetry for you)

I've been making poetry cups over Christmas. Its really because of those car trips back to Milwaukee to see my grandparents. After a group sing- a- thon of every song in the family canon my dad would lean back, settle in, and begin to recite poetry. He was fond of Carl Sandburg , Edgar Allen Poe, and Robert Service. Sometimes the words floated around the inside of the car like butterfly wings, but then when Dad started 'Chicago! Hog butcher for the world! City of the big shoulders!' I'd have to roll the window down and let those words hurtle outside and clomp off down the highway.

Sitting there and listening to dad's beautiful , animated voice, as farm houses , cornfields and masses of birds passed by, I mostly felt jubilant about the world and its possibilities. But sometimes the poems were about loss.

I shall never see you run

through the orchard anymore,

or hear the scratching of your paws

in early morning at my door.
I shall never watch your tail

saying you are glad of me,

Or know at meals your eyes are turned

Upon my plate reproachfully

I shall never see you sleep

like a ball curled in the sun

Or feel your nose pressed in my hands

Now all your dear dog days are done.

rachel field

reverse of cups

The whole world was a vast moving screen of snow

but even now it said peace;

It said remoteness,

It said cold,

It said sleep.

conrad aiken

Over Christmas I had a momentary sink-me-down, so I crept off to the bedroom and laid on the blue flowered spread and pulled out this book. I was thinking about how people I loved were either in transit, or out of touch, some under a blanket of earth covered by an inch of snow. But by the third poem an inchworm of promise began crawl inside me. I picked myself back up , combed my hair and decided to make butterballs. They are a family tradition. Along with the lopsided angel at the top of the Christmas tree, a drive around town to see the lights shine against all those pine trees, and the best one of all, poetry on car trips.

Happy New Year dear readers!

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Donkey Christmas

2010-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

I mean that in a good way. Donkeys play a big part at Christmas here at our house in the pines
Here is one destined for the Christmas tree

And a friend from Sweden on the mantle. A photo by the wonderful Becky at Vintage Fairy Tales. If you haven't visited her blog, you should. Its a very happy place ~

Http://beckybus.se/wordpress

Here is a donkey clomping through suburban neighborhoods, dining on thier lush lawns.

And on the hutch with his friends, waiting for Santa.

Can you see him in the forest of pines?

After all, a donkey attended the very first Christmas.

"I" said the donkey , shaggy and brown,

"I carried His mother uphill and down,

I carried her safely to Bethlemen town,"

"I" said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

From the Christmas carol, 'The Friendly Beasts' with a little spun donkey from Russia.

Happiest of holidays from the donkeys in the pines!

xxx

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Snowman has an annoucement

2010-11-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

Thank you for your comments for the drawing. I wrote names on slips of notebook paper and asked my friend, Snowman to pick one. No peeking. Snowman reached in the bowl with a mittened hand and drew out the name Lori, from Lori times five, for the ornament set. Then owl piped up.
"Don't I get to draw a name too?" so Snowman and I obliged, and owl pulled out the name
Christine, from A Mermaids Tale.

So Christine, (all because of Owl) will be receiving the two little cups above. Bluebird and farmhouse in the snow. I will email you both ladies, as
Snowman wants to send these two parcels off on Monday.

I've made a baker's dozen of spoons. Some are long , for deep mixing bowls, and others shorter for serving at the table. There are both oval shaped bowls and rounded bowls.

There are mice with pies, foxes with vegegables for their stews and hedgehogs all set to make strawberry jam.

There is even a cornish rabbit with a cornishware bowl.

All can be hung from a hook, as there is a hole and I've strung through waxed linen thread, durable and sensible too. Listing this weekend. And I hope yours is a lovely one.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Christmas give-a-way, ornament starter set.

2010-11-20T09:53:00.000-08:00

All for you. An ornament starter set including a mushroom house, a grey kitty with a red holiday bow, rabbit's cup to hang from the tree, a rabbit with a toadstool, chicken on a silver nest and there has to be a bluebird flying by spreading happiness over your holidays.
just leave a way for me to find you if I draw your name with your comment. And don't be shy now. I'd love to send these to you no matter where you live, that means from Greenland to Sydney and back again.

'Trixie'. An oil on board by Laura Ferrara. Every time I look at this (I've only had it one day, but still) it lifts my heart. Gentle and moving, quirky and endearing. Laura's beautiful spirit eminates from her works.

More of Laura's wonderful works. I think I might be a collector. Blog and links here:

www.larabeeandliza.com

Listing update this weekend.....

A new spoon design with a fox looking down on a snow scene in the country

and a dog who is hoping someone will invite him in. He's yearning to show off his new hat.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Mushroom Town

2010-11-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Trek far to the north,
lope uphill, then down;
When the woods turn thick
You're in Mushroom Town.

In winter there's a feast,

to mark the Christmas time;

Each creature brings a gift,

of food or song, or wine.

Mr. Leif Green

a culinarious fox

brings watercress soup,

and a silver snuffbox.

He loudly recites

a Shakespeare sonnet,

as he sips the soup

and pours sherry on it.

He gulps, he slurps,

his eyes shine green,

he's the shockingest diner

you've ever seen.

Tawny rabbits

in vest and pants

sing Christmas carols

and Gregorian chants

Greyish Wolf

will bring a pie,

if you like chicken,

please stop by.

Greyish ventures

out by night

and shops for fowl

by lantern light.

I'm quite appaled

that wolf has crashed,

(he wasn't asked)

There is a chair

saved just for you,

Please bring more tarts

and acorns too.

Squirrel will seat you

in a chair of green,

There's badger and donkey

and you in between.

The table's brimming

the candle's bright

O Merry Christmas

O Holy Night.

Update this weekend

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Woodland visitor

2010-10-22T09:25:00.000-07:00

I walked right up to a moose once. Being ten years old, I didn't have the sense to be scared, only amazed at the size of his gargantuan head and horns. How did those spindly legs hold them up? A few days ago, that would be a couple of great strides into fall, I had another woodland encounter. Only this time he wasn't in a parking lot in Montana, he was right in my front yard.

He blends in so well to the earth, it took a moment for me to become aware of him. He stood so close, I expected him to rear up, and braced myself to react if he charged. But he just stared steadily at me. That thatch of fur between his ears is the prettiest brown I've ever seen.

I slowly walked away and went back upstairs for my camera. I wanted you to see him too.

See how nicely he posed?

After twenty minutes and lots of clicking he stood

turned

and sauntered away. Good-bye Mister Magnificent.

Update as promised .

Lots of woodland things. I bet you can guess why.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Pot de Terre

2010-10-05T08:48:00.001-07:00

I inherited my grandparents four poster bed and its under a blue flowered quilt in that bed that I used to dream of throwing clay while I waited for sleep. I had a setback a couple years ago and haven't been at the wheel since. But we've set it up again, repaired frayed cords and I'm back in the batter's box. When I first stared my pottery in the nineties, I called it Pot de Terre.(Pots of Earth)
Carolyn, Kary, Sue, do you remember that?

Throwing again means olive oil bottles, cups and pitchers,

and teapots. Here's one with Hedgehog setting out a pie for a tea party. Fox is bringing an egg, neighbor hedgie a rosemary tree and rabbit is flying in just in time. The teapot has a stand or trivet to rest on too, so the table won't get a mark on it.

To celebrate , we took a trip to the apple orchard.

We picked Gopher Glen , its got the very best cider and twenty seven different apple varieties
After awhile your jaws get tired from chewing all the samples!

plums, pears, and fresh picked zuchinni and squash too.

The first thing I did when we got home with our bounty was to pour a glass of cider and cut up an apple. A limbertwig. In the bowl are spitzenbergs too, seckle pears and Santa Rosa plums.

** I want to here and now say that you, my treasured friends and customers never said a word about the lack of thrown things, you have been steadfast and kept me in business and I am

a lucky potter girl to have such loyalty. That I know.

Julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Early fall on the pumpkin farm

2010-09-16T09:12:00.001-07:00

Who could possibly live in an acorn? A gnat for one. Imagine how tiny it's bed would be. It's cup and spoon would be naked to the human eye. But the acorn would be as roomy as well,
an acorn.

Some diligent farmers are already tilling the soil for new seeds next spring. While bothersome crows wait for lunch.

Owls are busy filling thier burrows with herbs and the last of the wild asters.

Interlopers are tiptoeing about with golden treasure, ready to bolt if need be.

Some unruly mice are so thrilled at the prospect of fresh pumpkin seeds, they are dancing by moonlight with very little decorum.

And this potter girl is going to put new things in her shop tomorrow.

Happy early fall from me and all the farm peeps.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Home is Best

2010-08-26T08:46:00.001-07:00

Yes, its a potato. Right on top of a heap of russets, it's siren song called to me on the produce aisle. I brought it home, propped it against this pitcher, which brings me to my point: Home.

My first home (away from home) was a minor disaster. I moved four hundred miles north to San Francisco where one neighbor practiced jazz saxaphone very loud, the landlady had a love affair with gin and no one liked my dog. But I did take harpsichord lessons and developed an admiration for Victorian houses that has never lost an inch of ground. I'd walk the hilly streets, sketching, memorizing and admiring. And its where I made my discovery. Home is Best.

Not the fountain of youth exactly but I bet its something we can all agree about. I can see you nodding your head now.

This is a spread from Romantic Homes Magazine, September issue. It's Jen O'Connor's house.

Jen represents some all star folk artists including Julie Arkell, Laurie Messerol and Debbie Thibault.

If you squint you can see one of my rabbit domes in her corner cupboard. What's it say on the front? 'Home'. Jen has an online shop too. http://www.earthangeltoys.com/

Wonderful kitchen, Jen.

A deer whose made a home in the fern wood. A new and larger sconce for casting more reflective light as the days begin to grow shorter.

Now about that potato. I think I'll cut it in thin heart shaped slices and fry them up in olive oil with herbs, and serve with ahi steak and spinich salad. Do you think its a worthy enough homage?

julie
p.s. I abandoned the harsichord lessons for pottery ones.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

My kingdom for a button

2010-08-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

In the warm gloom of the Fox Fullerton Theater, Iris nested down into her plush seat. Her blue dress rustled, throwing off a faint scent of violets. She wore that fragrance tonight, and the snug shirtmaker dress, because they were Roy's favorites. Roy, the pot and pan salesman who'd been her steady for two and a half years. "I want to discuss something with you, Iris dear, after the show tonight. I've got our table at Luigi's reserved." As Iris watched the coming attractions for the new Russell Crowe movie, she pictured their waiter ushering them to their corner table, followed by the chianti being poured, and Roy pulling out a small square box from his pocket. He might even kneel, though his knees would creak from the strain. But his arthritis only endeared him to her.

After all, working at the bakery all these years had given her an extra padding that made it difficult to button her dress tonight. But Roy said snuggling with her was like kissing a cream puff. How tender he was! From the screen a lovely glow filled the theatre and the music began to swell, the night was theirs. Iris took a deep breath and the button right at her bustline popped off and flew off into the dark. Her dreams turned to ash...........

Moral: Don't be caught without a replacement button in your handbag, or you may not get that ring on your finger.
**

Above is a poetry button used to fasten a cuff braclet. See that little green button on the left?

Its wooden, worn, and for some reason its my favorite vintage button.

New buttons, I'm branching out with plans to paint more strawberry buttons,

shank ones with bird portraits and even

shoes. Buttons and shoes seem to go together somehow.

Here's what I pulled from Ruby this morning. Ruby is what I call my kiln.

The buttons took up most of the room.

** Okay, Roy did eventually propose to Iris. But not that night. Iris excused herself right before the movie began, claiming a splitting headache.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Dancing Bear at The Nightime Circus

2010-07-17T08:07:00.001-07:00

Danny O'Dare, the dancing bear,
Ran away from the County Fair,
Ran right up to my back stair
And thought he'd do some dancin' there.

He did the Polka, he did the Twist,
He bent himself into a pretzel like this.
He did the waltz and the boog-a-loo
He did the hokey pokey too.
He did the bop and the mashed potato,
He did the Split and the See Ya Later.
And now he's down upon one knee,
bowin' oh so charmingly,
And winkin' and smilin'- Its easy to see,
Danny O'Dare wants to dance with me.

shel silverstein

The Night time Circus animals are found in the woods when off duty, often at the riverside as you can see. There is also Rabbit bareback rider, drum playing Elephant, Tiger of many stripes, and the Lion who could not roar. Admission is free, but it's difficult to find them, they keep they're preformance locations rather quiet. Next time you're in the woods when the stars are cast densely across the sky, and the moon is low, listen for shouts and laughter, oooo's and ahhh's , and you have probably found them.
Their motto is: Pour etre forte. Pour etre libre. Pour la danse!
Att vara stark. Att vara fri. Att dansa!
Para ser fuerte. Para ser libre. Para bailar!
To be strong. To be free. To dance!

xx
julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Flocks of Buttons

2010-06-28T14:11:00.001-07:00

Is there anyone who can't recall sifting through a button box, searching for just the right button to replace the one you lost off of your favorite blue blouse? Our household button box was a green MJB coffee can. It held other artifacts too, a dented brass thimble, a liberty dime, and a tape measure that pulled out of a small red plastic crabapple.

I'm following a long line of craft with my porcelain button offerings. Egyptians liked them, and the Greeks too. But it was the Germans in the 1200's that devised the buttonhole. And more button frenzy followed;

Porcelain 'calico' buttons from the mid ninteenth century.

Hand painted Victorian birds and mammals

My idea of high fashion which is not very. More of a country cousin look, where everything appears homemade, because most of it is. My buttons are two-holed and about one and a half inches in diameter. They are lightweight, and once attached to apparel, do not like to be thrashed about in a washing machine, but rather sloshed gently in lavender scented water then hung on a line to dry in the warm summer sun, country cousin style.

Now all this button talk has made me hungry for a piece of crabapple pie.

Care to join me?

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Stages

2010-06-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

Elf light, bat light,
Touchwood light and toad light,
And the sea a shimmering gloom of grey,
And a small face smiling,
In a dream's beguiling
In a world of wonders far away.
Walter de la Mare

Now sleeps the crimson petal, Now the white,

Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk,

Now winks the gold fin in the porphyry font;

The fireflly wakens. Waken thou with me.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Circus stages and woodland ones too.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Keats and Fanny

2010-05-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

Now hold on just a darn minute. I see the month of May is nearly over and I'm not ready to say goodbye. I want it back. May has been good to me and I would like to do it all over again.
For instance: In the sky the swallows are swooping and spinning. Climbing roses have topped the garden with squishy pink clouds, and in the studio I am making Boombah pieces again. Like the two rabbits above, "Keats and Fanny" in honor of the English poet and his true love.

This shadow box is nearly ten and a half inches tall. It qualifies as a boombah too. The lady reaches up to a passing bluebird, who flies by with a heart in its beak. The word 'away' is written on the heart and there is her small suitcase too, just out of camera shot. The moon looks down on the whole scene.

But looking forward, June has good things brewing too. Fresh cherries, apricots and baseball games. Migrating pelicans, birthdays to celebrate and talk of a tea party at a friends wonderful house close by. So we will have to let May go. And one of these days, just like a dear friend, May will come visit us again.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Homemade rocks

2010-04-30T13:48:00.001-07:00

Grandma couldn't cook. Overdone meat, mushy veggies and eggs sorta rubbery. She even gifted my mother a cookbook on her wedding day, and its inscription read

"To Marjorie, with the hopes she become a better cook than I"

But us kids saw it different. My sister and I still talk about the big slab of chocolate cake she'd put in front of us on a red flowered plate, the frosting dense with bitter chocolate and all washed down with a half a quart of milk so cold it froze your throat. Did I mention she made the cake with bacongrease?

But her masterpiece was Molasses cookies. And she made them in the big bowl in the top picture. Then she'd store them in a coffee can lined with wax paper. That can always seemed to be full of cookies. Chewey, gingery, and and big as baseballs.

So this morning I decided to throw out a batch of rocks. I've had the right molasses for weeks in the cupboard, it has to be Brer Rabbit because thats what she used. I am happy to trumpet the news I can still operate a mixer, follow a recipie and my spices are even reasonably fresh.

At the last minute, I decided to add extra raisins.

Here they are baked and stacked on a pedalstal cookie stand I made special just for today.

I only got sappy once while making these, the moment I took the first bite. The light-as-a-cloud texture, the cinnamon and dark molasses taste and I swore I could feel her standing in the kitchen with me. Its not really about the cookies, its about the love.
Pottery news: new pears in my shop tomorrow

Here's the cookie plate painted with a naturey theme. The base is made to look like a tree trunk.

Grandma's Molasses Cookies

One half cup shortening creamed with 1/2 Cup dark brown sugar

Add one beaten egg

3/4 C. dark molasses

1/4 C. boiling water. mix

dry ingredients

3 C. flour

1 t salt

1 t soda

1 t baking powder

2 t cinnamon

1 t ginger

1/2 t cloves

One cup raisins*

Mix to drop consistancy

Place on silpat well apart, they spread.

Bake 15 to 20 min at 350.

*I mixed black and yellow raisins and its very nice.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

A new workspace and I can't stop making pears

2010-04-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you, sun, for blazing through the clouds this morning. I can now wear one tee shirt instead of three, reassure myself spring really is here, and take photos of my new claywork space.

A whole five foot worktable thats deep enough to allow me room for making larger pieces. Above which I've arranged some old plates and some of mine too. And a clock I like, which does not work, but reminds me not to fritter time away.

I can stretch out here, roll out big slabs to make things like this fourteen inch platter fresh from the kiln. A country lady with her donkey, rabbit and stripey stockings.

I don't have to scrinch in my elbows. And more than one spoon at a time!

A long bench to store clay, tools and works in progress. Can you see the boquet of lupin to the right? I risked jail time for that bunch of flowers. My mother informed me its against the law to pick them. I hope she doesn't drop a dime on me.

(Scene of the crime.)

See what I mean about pears? My sister and I decided this morning they are one of the most beautiful shapes in nature. Here they are drying on a shelf under a sunny window, which I can open when the afternoon sun hits. This was a bit of a motherlode in terms of time and sweat equity (Mostly my husbands), but I can't wait to arrive here in the morning, put on music and turn the lights on, one by one.

julie

Look what Nina did with a couple of my simple bird charms..........

Isn't she amazing?

www.ornamental.typedad.com

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

I Brake for Donkeys

2010-03-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am partial to donkeys. If my father's people came from County Kerry in Ireland doesn't it follow that they may have owned a donkey to convey peat back to their cottage, and that donkey's name could of been Sally or Seamus? So its in the blood. Thats why I visited the Donkey ranch today in Harmony, just a few miles from our house.

They came up to visit me as I sketched. Donkeys like people. They are kind and sociable and I'm not just making that up. I have a first hand knowledge.The summer I was nine, the donkey ride came to our town and set up in the school playground.

I stood in line, plaid shirt starched , my favorite jeans turned up at the ankle and blue keds tied tight. I hoped for the furry, taffy colored burro with the flicking ears and thats just who I boarded. His name was Tommy. I thought I would take a benign stroll around the playground with the other kids who were riding at a steady gait in a large cirle, but Tommy had other ideas. Get away ones.

As soon as I was situated, bridle in hand, he tore off down the hillside and to the open field, carreening towards the eucalyptus grove. My ponytail streamed behind me as his hoofs pounded over the dry summer grasses. Soon the head handler galloped along beside me and bellowed "Tighten your knees!, Pull his head up!"

I knew riding terms from watching TV westerns, but for a moment I wanted to run off to the woods too. Me and Tommy camping under the canopy of stars, eating beans from an old tin pie plate while coffee percolated on a smouldering oak fire. But the ramrod cut us off and we stopped short. He pushed back his stetson and scratched his head. "Never seen the like" he said. and we turned and plodded back. My legs shook and my rear was sore, but I felt a little bit like Annie Oakley. I made plans to memorize cowboy songs and learn to play the harmonica.

Back at the playground I climbed off and felt sad to leave, but Tommy flicked his ears at me and almost sort of smiled. "What an adventure!" he seemed to say. and it was.

Donkeys can live to be fifty years old. That means my wild and free loving friend could be chewing spring grass in some field today, just like the one in Harmony. Maybe once in a while he even thinks of me. I know I think of him. Love ya, Tommy, wherever you are.

The tattered outlaw of the Earth,

Of ancient, crooked will

Starve, scourge, deride me

I am dumb

I keep my secret still.

from The Donkey by Chesterton

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Green Fingers

2010-03-07T09:24:00.001-08:00

On Friday I delivered a pottery order to Birds of a Feather on Main Street, and thats when my temperature started to climb. Because the sun is back out on a regular basis and I think everyone around town has a case of March Madness. One of my first symtons is always a craving for nasturiums. On the way to Bonnie's I stopped at our garden center and found myself swooning over bags of compost and flowered garden gloves, which I never wear. I like to get soil on my hands and my knees damp through my jeans.

For the last few years I've been using the Hit or Miss gardening method. I have planted and lost, but I am not deterred. All arrows point to woody herbs, shrub roses, scented geraniums and the afore mentioned golden lovliness of nasturtiums.They grow so well here that I feel like an accomplished gardener as I tuck them in every available space around the fence. Even though I know in my soul of souls that even Charlie Brown could succeed with them. All my garden horizons are dripping with froths of Magnolias in blossom, clematis exploding over doorways, and cabbage roses so enormous I could lay my head on them to rest from all my gardening glories. In the meantime I've got the rustics.

I left the garden displays long enough to take pictures of some of the lovlies Bonnie collects for her shows. A gardening friend.

This is only a smattering of the ribbon.

A rural looking bird cage that relembles a cottage.

Can a person get heart palpitations over a garden hat? Yes, I'm living proof they can.

http://www.2birdsofafeather.com/

Candlesticks from Bonnies. With dark cherry wood showing through worn putty colored paint.
And though my house is beginning to be mistaken for a florists shop, I couldn't resist the potted deliciousness of this homespun nasturium, 'Black Velvet' . Its so much more than a pretty face.

I wanted to share Lesley's work from Bird Ahoy. I sure was fortunate to win this beautiful necklace of carved stone, which is so light! The stone is carved with a key, and the second stone asks as a fastener. Simple and the kind of piece that goes with everything. The earrings too, light and simple, and a surprise from Lesley, they are going to go with all the grey I wear. Yup, love the greys. Thanks so much, Lesley! Both pieces are beautiful.

http://www.birdahoy.blogspot.com/

http://www.birdahoy.etsy.com/

Spring

The Spring comes in

when no one is looking.

You're lying in bed

with a cold in your head,

Or you may be cooking;

Putting new covers on the chairs,

When, suddenly, taking you unawares,

A thrush in the orchard starts to sing,

and once again, you have missed the spring.

Reginald Arkell

xx and happy planting

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Keeper of the Bees

2010-02-20T09:45:00.001-08:00

For the past year I've been peering closely at my rosemary plants conducting my own personal bee count. Good news first. Bee count is up. But I'm biting my lip because I've given the lavender and rosemary bushes free reign, and they've taken over the front garden, along with a robust mint. All three are rudely pushing all comers out of thier way. But the bees are happy.

Support your local beekeepers. If you eat local honey, it fends off allergies. Then there is a natural antibacterial bonus too, so slather plenty on your biscuits. Beekeepers do, and that working group suffers less from arthritis than any other worldwide.Bees are drawn to blue flowers. The girls are obviously aware it shows off their yellow stripes to best advantage.
Pots of edible honey have been unearthed from Egyptian tombs. So I guess its safe to finally uncork this dark honey from Ambleside that I've been saving for ten years.

There's fun in the community too. The worker bees preform a circular dance in a particular direction according to the position of the sun. This tells the other workers the direction and distance to the closest nectar source. Bee's like yellow flowers too. Brilliant of them.

Keeping modesty in mind, I do think the bees approve of me. I rescue them when they zig-zag into my studio and I shun pesticides in my garden. On a grander helping scale, enourmous swaths of farmlands in europe have been designated as 'Recovery zones' to help against the collapse disorder, where nectar bearing plants flourish without pesticides. And in 2008 the Beekeepers of England in their protecive suits, and even carrying thier smokers, descended on Parliment and marched to Ten Downing Street to hand over a petition demanding more research for what was called in the 19th century 'Dwindling disease'. And its working. The losses are down 20 percent in the last year. I did a bee dance all my own when I read that news.

This plate, painted with a super that looks just like a clapboard cottage, is the image I painted on my very first piece of pottery. I'm still painting them every spring.

I am not at peace, though. I hanker after one of my own bee houses, vibrating with activity. And one of these wide brimmed hats with the flowing netting. If my neighbors call me the mad beekeeper of Cambria, so be it. In fact, maybe I'll get my first tattoo (strictly henna) to commemorate my hive. A bee? a skep?

nuh-uh. Just the beekeepers motto and the three words that I adore: Nothing Without Labor.

Now and then the honey bee

Laden with her treasure

Darting from the clover blooms

Hums her drowsy measure.

julie

For Mr. Toast!
www.goodteatoo.blogspot.com

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Farm fresh

2010-02-07T09:52:00.001-08:00

Lately, I've been giving some serious leeway to my inner farm girl. Planting mounds of bulbs, filling the pantry with dry goods and painting roosts of chickens. Its my grandpa who is responsible. He who always smelled like half and half pipe tobacco and could be found in his woodshop or tending his sprawling garden. If I prodded, he'd tell me stories of life on Lakeview Farm in Munsonville. Tapping maple trees for syrup, then boiling what had dripped into the tins in vast kettles on the cast iron stove. Gathering blueberries, which his mother put to use by making a few pies before breakfast on a New Hampshire morning, before the family set their hands to the milking.

Here are a few unwritten codes to being a farmie.

1. Homemade jam on your toast, yellow flowers in the house, and very strong tea. I let mine steep until the spoon stands right up in the cup.

2. Chickens are treasures and the backbone of the farm. They even have names; Hannah, Billy, Maude. And Goliath for the rooster.

3. No turning your nose down at cracked dishes. "There's life in the old girl yet" is the farmer's refrain.There's the man himself. After working the farm all day, him and his brother would creep down the stairs with their ice skates , join their friends and jump barrels on Granite Lake. Grandpa held the record, thirteen barrels. Just takes momentum, moonlight and New Hampshire grit.

By the way, I don't care if I'm pushing it, I've decked out the house for spring. Can you get any more farmy that this? I guess you could, if there were some live chickens in this shot.

I might not be able to watch as grandpa digs around his potato vines, or listen while he helps with the washing up while Burl Ives croons on the Hi Fi, but every time I plant a bulb, roll out pie dough or even paint a chicken, I sometimes smile to myself. I'm a farmie at heart, just like him.

Happy early spring

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Like two birds

2010-01-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we decided to fly away, just the Mister and I.

First, I cut a boquet, the first of this year.
I pulled a scarf from the rack by the front door.........

We boarded our donkey. (Wait, that part I made up.)

And like two birds we flew away.

I needed to stop at the ranch to see if the white pelicans were back. They were not, but I did have a stare down with a squirrel. He won.

I stalked the wine section at Cost Plus, and evesdropped while the clerk raved to a customer about a certain red, the best they had at the moment. It just so happened thats exactly what I needed for Saturday night supper.

Stopped at the beach too. The big waves tossed up more rocks than I'd ever seen there.

More seaweed than ever before too. Enormous tentrils, wrapped around the rocks like vines

Home again, home again. My prized bottle of wine, to go with
steak, brussel sprouts and scalloped potatoes. Shortbread for dessert

And for our winged friends, that's fresh wild birdseed in the jar.

Happy Saturday friends!

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

A Cup a Day

2010-01-23T15:40:00.001-08:00

A cup a day. A vessel, beaker, potion, goblet, mug, demitasse, chalice and taster. Every day. That is the plan. To be posted on Flickr, starting tomorrow morning with this cup.

Now this is supposed to look like a piece of patched material. So loved by its owner that she couldn't bear to throw it away, and added snippets of fabric to the worn spots. The fact that its clay is just a side issue.

Here is something from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Its so delicate, so eighteenth century. Can you imagine holding a butterfly for a handle? I can, and there is already one made and drying in the sun, which is gratefully beaming on us again after six inches of rain this week.

V and A again. Designs for cups. about 1800.

From the pinnacle of design, to this humble enameled cup, made in Mexico.

And just in case you wondered, the word 'cup' is from middle English, 'cuppe' about 1150.

Now its my pleasure to introduce you to someone, just in case you haven't met.

I wanted to tell you about Viv at Hens Teeth, in case you didn't know her works. I'm holding a needlecase here, so beautifully crafted and the best size, the kind of needlecase that makes you run for your sizzors and pin cushion so you can get started Making.
The back is just as pretty as the front. Viv and I swopped. I feel very lucky today that she likes my pottery.

I'm going to use this sketchbook for my cup designs. All these stitches are single thread, the craftsmanship is stellar and the size again is just right for sketching. The papers are a wonderful quality. Viv's blog is delightful and links to her Etsy shop.

http://www.hensteethart.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping in for a visit, and wishing you a very happy, healthy 2010

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Winter Bird festival

2010-01-17T09:23:00.001-08:00

Over 200 species of birds. That is the winter bird count in Morro Bay, on the Central coast of California. The Audobon Society lists it as one of the top five areas for birding in the United States. So where do you think I took myself on Friday, along with my husband and sister? To the Winter Bird Festival right down the road.

There's sighting walks, and boat rides, hikes, and a Common Room with bird related things for sale. This work above is by a pottery friend, Paula Teplitz. I thought seriously about one of her mortar and pestles to grind herbs. Aren't they wonderful?

I turned a little dizzy I looked through so many books.

Here's the one I chose. And one of Paula's tiny cups painted with a beetle.

In the late afternoon I did a little birdwatching on my own. Can you see the group of birds sitting on the rock? Black cormorants. This rock is usually crammed with white pelicans, so this was an interesting sighting.

Here's the ranch where I go birding, just a couple of blocks from our house

Looks like I found a bird egg. But its a sea rock, rolled and tossed into an egg shape over many years at sea.

It came home with me too.

The Bird Festival is every mid January in Morro Bay. If you want to attend, I'll share the best places to camp or stay, and restaurants too. Don't forget your birding binoculars.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Away away

2010-01-07T09:12:00.001-08:00

Last night I dreamed
that I was swept
up to the blue
where stars are kept

It could be the flocks of birds I've seen lately, or some I've been making out of clay, or maybe I'm just feeling happy at the start of this new year. It seems as clear and lucid as a pool of fresh rainwater.

I've been dreaming alot about flying. I looked it up, and the combined wisdom writes that meanings include: Inspriation, relief from tension, or striving for something better.

And of course the desire to get away, for a bit, and just soar up there.

So tuck a bird feather under your pillow and dream away, and I promise you'll land safely again.

Listing today in my shop, some flying pieces and down to earth ones too.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Merry Christmas from Cambria Pines by the Sea

2009-12-23T07:42:00.001-08:00

Cambria seems alot like Brigadoon to me. My grandparents wanted to move here in the forties, when they were nearly giving land away to draw settlers, but work was scarce, so grandpa, a fine carpenter, chose Santa Barbara instead.

Driving the three hours up from Santa Barabara to visit here as a teenager, I liked the way the terrain changed slowly from benign to dramatic. The pine stands start in the hills and are thick all the way down to the sea. I thought then it would be wonderful to live in such a natural and unspoilt place, and it is. Its a constant joy to be happy where you live. I've lived in other places, and some were , well, dispiriting. But I'm not naming names.

And rocks jut up from the ocean floor, like this one, in Morro Bay

Downtown with its streets unusally filled with cars for Christmas shopping. See the pines in the background?

Its still a thrill to see deer graze right across the street from our house. Once a baby fawn came to our door.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. Thank you for visiting this past year. I hope your Christmas is loving and beautiful in your very own Brigadoon.

xxx

Beautiful necklace by Nina Bagley

http://www.ornamental.typepad.com/

and the olive tree and redwood branches from the garden of my best friend, Kary

http://www.myfarmhousekitchen.blogspot.com/

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Shy, not sly

2009-12-05T08:49:00.001-08:00

In 1650, an Englishman, Robert Brooke, imported twenty four red foxes from Britain. They came by ship to America. Most of them escaped into the woods where the horses could not fit through the thick stands of birch and oak. Today, they range all over the U.S., why I've even seen one or two in my neighborhood. You have to be very still around them, however. They dart away at the slightest gesture.

Some countries consider the fox the deity of farming. They repress the mice population, its true, but extra precaution must be taken to keep them from loitering around the henhouse. A fox necklace is pictured here, with an old calico button, and a venetian trade bead, and strung on Irish Linen tread.

Foxes use the same den for many generations. They like to remodel and expand on deserted homes of badgers, and stoats. Often they add long secret tunnels, leading to pantrys and secret storerooms.

A fox weighs about twelve pounds, it comes as rather a shock to see their consumption of pie. This one is president of the Mince Pie Society.

Its best not to inquire into too much detail concerning the ingredients of said pie.

Here is the Christmas ornament from last week, dried , fired and painted. Oh, and if on some crisp night you hear three successive short yips, it might be you've been lucky enough to hear the "lost call" of the red fox. Listen carefully when you turn out the lights tonight......

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

A Woodland Christmas

2009-11-27T07:49:00.001-08:00

Trek a ways to the North,
At the White Oak, turn East.
On to a dell, then through the Pine wood,
and there you'll find the Feast.

Squirrel ages apple cider, and there is a roomy teakettle, so everyone has plenty.

Mouse leaves her house and brings plum pudding

Hedgehog brews the finest punch, with essense of rose hip and elder flowers

Fox procures a goose egg. Let's hope he asked for permission to take it, like a gentleman.

Rabbit finds the perfect tree.

Barn Owl leads everyone in carols. 'The Friendly Beasts' is a crowd favorite.

See you there at three o'clock sharp. Bring more candles, if you please.

The ornaments start out small, about two inches tall, somehow though, they start to come out larger. This fox, made on Thanksgiving morning, will need a substantial branch on the fir tree.

He's almost four inches long!

See you at the party

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Pottery adornments

2009-11-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

I think of these necklaces as good omens. I paint things that bring good luck or happiness.
A rare green bird, a rabbit leaping through a meadow, or a home on a hill with a fireplace crackling inside. And its all because of a special linen thread, dipped in beeswax and imported from Ireland. Once I held it, and began stringing odd buttons and faience beads onto it, I was a goner. That led to finding the right glass beads, subtle colors with alot of emphasis on green.

The cottage necklace. A house shaped bead, accented with an old calico button, a heart painted to look like old crockery and a bee buzzing close by. The clasp is artisan sterling. It hits, this necklace, right above your heart.

A simpler version, with a scalloped heart, and glass accent beads.

This is a bracelet, and its definately a statement piece, because its big. Maybe to be worn with a a whopper of a hand knit sweater. I'm using the 'S' hooks for the necklaces, but for this , I've strung it on wire because it seemed imperative to put the green pearls inbetween the beads. So I'm researching for the best clasp. You see, I'm a potter, not a jeweler, and this whole experience has made me appreciate authentic adornmanet makers like Nina Bagley. For a treat, look thru her sold items at her Etsy store. Things that look like they were worn by heronines and divinities. www.ninabagley.etsy.com

A rabbit has stoppped to watch you inbetween his leaps thru a neighboring meadow.

All these necklaces will find their way to my Etsy store.

One week until Thanksgiving! I hope yours is joyful.

xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Bird party

2009-11-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

All the lovely ladies waited patiently in line until they heard the shop bell ring, and Bonnie opened the door and welcomed them inside. The annual Christmas party then began.The name of Bonnie's shop is Bird's of a Feather, but everyone I know calls it 'Birds'. Full of antiques, books and craft, its as warm and charming as I hope these pictures show. It was wonderful to see friends there, like Dana, Barbara and Jana. And Marsha, those brown sugar cupcakes you made were delicious. I brought one home to Kim and he's dropping hints right and left about me wheedling that recipe out of you.

I even made a special necklace to go with my outfit. Remember the bits of pottery in my studio?

I added some new ones, found beads that reminded me of bird's eggs, and made some faience beads painted like shards of old transferware.

Ready to string on waxed linen thread, a new rabbit necklace.

I always drift to this cupboard at Birds. Full of old Children's books and herds of tiny animals.

My pottery was lucky enough to be represented at the show. Here is a cake topper, with slots for candles and animals marching in a circle singing happy birthday.

I thought I heard this black and white cow moo my name several times.

A collection of socks, stripey and othewise.

Bonnie carries these beautiful felt purses by Cindy Ferris. They are light and just the right size for a checkbook, lipstick and a little phone. This one flew home with me. What do you think, Liz? These remind me of you.

If you are in Cambria, do stop by. Birds is on 2020 Main Street in the old Creamery Building.

and there is a website too.

www.2birdsofafeather.com

I promised a better picture of this bracelet by Pamela at Thatch and Burrow.

So here is Eve in the Garden. Isn't it something?

xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Portrait of a Badger

2009-10-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

There is a crick in my neck because I've had my head down making and storing, like the badger here. I'd practically finished everything for two shows in November, so Thursday was set aside for painting and making new pieces for my lately neglected Etsy shop.

But I woke up Thursday thinking uh oh, feeling a bit low. Was it the dreaded Pork Pie Flu?

So I slogged around the house, in a blue checkered nightie, peachy striped socks and two different flowered tee shirts. Oh, and hair that looked even worse than when I'd just alighted from the Tilt-o-World at the County Fair. Then this morning, things were different. I felt like I could paint a comittee of badgers, and make them supper too. I think it was the chicken stock I had for dinner and the fresh fruit. And maybe a little bit was the antibiotic the Dr. gave me.

The badger joins the rabbit, who dreams of living in a house by the sea. A house with many windows. All the animals are members of the Ambleside Association for the protection of the countryside, hedgerows, dells , and woodland.

It felt awfully swell to go out to my studio with real clothes. Although I still think the hair needs work.

And I even came up with an idea for all these pieces of my broken pottery which involves drill bits and waxed linen thread.

New pieces in the works for my little store with the always open sign freshly washed and the door knocker polished.

julie
That bracelet is by the talented Pamela of Thatch and Burrow

www.thatchandburrow.blogspot.com

i promise a better picture of this lovely piece soon.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Where I work

2009-10-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

As I step into my studio, this is what I see to my left. Its where my animal busts live until they migrate to a show or to Etsy. This week I have new members of the Association. There's a pricklepin, a wood mouse and a barn owl.

I found most of these old cabinet card frames on Etsy. They make nice windows for the animals to look through.

This is my desk and usually its loaded with clay plates and cups in various stages of drying, but I cleaned it off so you 'll think I'm tidy and diligent. (don't be fooled)

My inspiration board for fall. The photo of the sleeping doll with the stuffed animals waiting for her to wake up is the work of Rekecka Ryberg Skott. Her work is imaginative and always tells a story, plus her sense of color is wonderful.

www.beckybus.se/wordpress

This moblie is something new I am working on. Different small clay components, with beads, and even some sewing. All strung on waxed linen thread. I call them 'Good Omens'. That
piece of art in the background is by Cathy Cullis. I always ask for a piece of her work for my birthday from my husband, and as I write this, I think my newest gift should be flying over Maine about now.

http://www.cathycullis.blogspot.com/

my pottery tools

In the nineties, I owned a shop here in Cambria. Finnie McClure. I sold some antiques, old books, and things I made. But twice a week after closing I would drive to attend my pottery class. And soon, I couldn't think of anything but a life in clay. Still, i loved my little shop. This chalkboard hung right by the front door, and now it hangs in my studio. The words and colors are a little faded, but i won't erase it because I like the sentiment.

So there's more but isn't that enough of a tour for today? While i have your attention, I want to thank you for your comments, support and encouragment. Means the world..........

xxx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

It's 3 o'clock Somewhere

2009-09-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

A teapot has always reminded me of a house. There's the lid for a roof, and the spout is the chimney. The handle, the trunk of the tree that shades the house in summer. And inside, life-affirming tea. This is my first teapot in awhile, and its slab built with a scalloped crown and seam up the side. The Tea loving lady on the front holds a red polka dotted cup in one hand and a forget me not in the other. A bee buzzes at the top of the handle. And dears, this teapot holds a generous amount of your choice of rose hip, mint or Earl Grey.

Tea that helps the head and heart

Tea medicates most every part

Tea rejuvinates the very old

and warms the hands of those who're cold

Jonker of Amsterdam. 1676

Reclusive, ellusive,

wandering nightly,

unprickle the charms

you've rolled up so tightly.

This domed piece could hold a nice stack of shortbread. That's what always brings oohs and aahs here at the treehouse. The base of the dome is made to look like a tree trunk, adorned with woodland plants and bugs. The top has Mr. Pricklepin for a pull.

Here's my shortbread recipie:

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, cut in 1/2" pieces

1/2 t. vanilla

2 C. flour**

Mix sugar and salt, and cut in butter with pastry cutter or food processor til smooth.

Add flour and blend til crumbly. Roll in ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1/2 hour

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Divide dough in half and press each half in a 9 inch diameter pie plate., score the top into wedges and add fork tine marks if you like.

Bake 30 minutes. Rotate, and bake another 20-30 minutes longer, until pale golden.

Cool in pie plate at least ten minutes. Remove and cut into wedges.

Now for chocolate adoring personages, melt 1/2 c. semi sweet chocolate chips in a pan resting in a pan of simmering water, (so the chocolate doesnt' get nasty and burnt) add 2T. cream and blend. Dip the tip of the shortbread wedge in the melted chocolate.

**I've read that if you substitue 1/2 c. cornstarch for the Flour , in other words,

1 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 c. cornstarch, it makes a very flakey cookie. I'm going to try it next time

and I'll report back on the results.

Don't forget, Jacques and Julia are on PBS today at 4:30 PST

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Remembrance cups

2009-09-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

its you whatever a moon has
always meant
and whatever a sun will always
sing is you

A wedding deserves a token of affection to celebrate eternal love, but sometimes the nicest things happen all in a rush and no invites have gone out. And you want to remember.

Like the fall when a rare bird landed so close to you , you could see its heart beat beneath it's feathers. Or the moment when your baby said her first word. (This yellow butterfly cup says 'flutterby' on the reverse.)

Mr. Pricklepins. I remember the first time I saw a hedgehog. They are so small!

all the pretty birds dive into

the heart of the sky

all the fish climb through

the mind of the sea

Have you ever seen a bird's nest in your very own garden? This nest piece is actually more like a bowl. It would hold a nice portion of granola, (very nesty) or vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce. Maybe even a little whipped cream.

Or seen a fox dash across a clearing, his white tipped tail all lit up like a candle?

The reverse reads;

joy was his song and joy so pure

a heart of star by him could steer

Thank you for checking in to see my new cups. Let's light the fire now and put the kettle on.

all poetry courtesy of e.e. cummings

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Greencoat Squirrell and Little Red, Part 2

2009-09-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Greencoat and a few of his cronies stood beneath the pines, having a confab.
"She's always been inpetuous" said Bunny Two Shoes, "And there's that tendency to linger and pick boquets." Songbird bobbed his head and sang a sweet air.
Mouse stood very straight and raised her voice. "We're coming with you, Greenie! There's strength in numbers!
Greencoat wondered how much strength a mouse posessed, but was glad of the company. They headed out, with songbird as their scout, searching from the sky, every hollow and rotten stump for danger in the form of a Wolf.
At the cottage, Red found the front door stuck, so she entered through the back. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of turnips and moldy potatoes.

"I'm here, gram!" she called.

"Alright, dear." Gram's voice echoed through the timbered cottage.

Red stoked the fire, and set the kettle on. She placed fresh rosemary on the hob and cranked open windows, then uncorked the port and carried a tot into Gram's bedroom. 'This will liven her up.' she decided.

Gram wolfed it right down. "I'm famished, dear, do I smell egg? And may I have more of that scrumptious cordial?" Gram's bonnet covered most of her face, but Red saw alot of brown. Perhaps she'd been working in the garden?
"Yes, there's egg and Greencoat Squirrel has made your favorite cake." A thump rattled the front door. "There he is now."
When Red opened the door, she saw it had been jammed shut with an ebony walking stick.
Curious.

Squirrel sniffed.

"Smells badgerish in here."

"Gram's awfully peckish," said Red, "And you know how much she adores squirrel stew. I wouldn't get too close today." Squirrel blanched and set the cake down.

The band of woodland animals peered through the window, watching and waiting. As Red carried the tea tray to Gram, the animals crept inside.

Red and Gram each had their own special cup. So when Gram grabbed Red's cup, and then began to slurp and belch noisily, without uttering a word of Grace, Red jumped up.

"You are an interloper! Where's my Gram!" Her friends tumbled in the room.

Bunny Two Shoes yanked off the bonnet and gasped, "You're not even a wolf", he said , "You're just a smelly old fox!" Mouse lobbed a walnut at fox's head and he yelped. "Crikey, that hurt!"
Fox sprang up and bounded past them and out the front door. While they gaped at his exit, Gram entered throught the back with an apronful of mushrooms. "Oh, grandaughter, you've brought your lovely friends. Let's all have tea!"

Later, a fox could be seen, leering, as he sauntered through the glen with an ebony walking stick.

He cradled a bottle tenderly in his arm. A bottle of Elderberry Port!

The end of the first official Pinewood Tale
I hope you enjoyed the adventure!

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Greencoat Squirrel and Little Red, A Pinewood Tale

2009-09-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

Squirrel's pecan cake trembled in his paws. "Please, Red, don't take the path through the Oaks. The Pine wood will be safer." he said. "I smell Him out there."

Red sniffed the crisp autumn air. "Oh, poot." she said, "All I smell is Watercress and fresh earth. Besides, my way's shorter." She adjusted the bottle in the crook of her arm. "This elderberry wine is like lugging a cannonball around, not to mention what else is in my basket."

"Devonshire cream?" asked Squirrel, "And ginger scones?"

Red nodded. "And hard boiled goose egg, too." She kissed his cheek. "I'll have tea ready when you get to Grams, and remember, no sampling the cake!" She tripped off to the oak glen, while Squirrel took the safer path.

Neither one of them saw the long snouted face that peered at them through the hedgerow. He drooled profusely, and there shone a strange, golden gleam in his eye.

As the glen turned into the Oak wood, Red walked more briskly. She stopped for a handfull of fresh rosemary, and felt sure someone was watching her. She turned back, but only saw a rabbit in a yellow vest, sipping tea from a red polka dotted cup. She waved a hello, and hurried on.

Soon she came to Gram's cottage. Smoke puffed from the chimney. How snug it would be!

She crunched over pine needles and turned the knob, thinking surley, no one had ever been as hungry as she!

Most certainly to be continued........

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Tea & Talk

2009-08-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

Just flying by to let you know that I've done an interview! My hostess was the lovely Melissa, at Melissa loves. The experience was really like a tea party, and I enjoyed every sip of tea and the last morsel of Victoria Sponge Cake. Here is the link:

http://mloves.typepad.com/melissa-loves/

xx

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Laundry Day

2009-08-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

Out of doors
the sun has dried
many a shirt
and sheet that glide
in the wind.
I pin them up,
end to end
and when I'm done, I sail with them;
An unexpected dividend.

The first day in our new house, the clothes froze solid right on the line. I'd been busy

lining kitchen shelves with blue gingham contact paper, and anyway how was I to know the temperature dropped to thirty when the sun set in Jackson, California? I reeled in the pulley style clothesline and sure was relieved for the darkness so my new neighbors couldn't see my mortification. I tossed the stiff laundry in the bath tub, and hung them again the next morning.

Laundry crisis averted.

My mother had the Tee pole style clothesline, with three long lines. I used to walk through the billowing white sheets and pretend they were clouds. Its the closest I ever came to flying. The cups above have clothespin handles, and are decorated with outside things, including a little beehive house.

I see your teacup is empty. Would you like a refill? I've got plenty more shortbread too.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

To Have and To Hold

2009-08-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

You are walking on a woodland path, and there on the earth in front of you lies a cup. Tell me, what does it look like? That is a question from a Victorian party questionairre; Each item you encounter on the path is a symbol for something. The cup is a metaphor for home. Of course it is. It warms your hands filled with black coffee or earl grey tea, and its a vessel, like a house is, to enclose comfort, ritual and nourishment.

Even a broken house that has been through troubled times and it's share of heartache can be pieced back together into something lovely again.

Every day most of us go through the same ritual. We stumble into the kitchen brew our drink of choice and reach for a favorite cup. Once it is filled with coffee, and in my case a tablespoon of honey and a dab of milk, we breathe, sip, and are ready to face the day. It's one of the common bonds that transcend everything else. You may be a librarian, a stevedore, or a diplomat, it doesn't matter. A hot morning beverage in your trusy cup is the great leveler.

Here's one with a butterfly for a naturalist, and another with a blossom and basket of flowers. For a dedicated gardener, or a dreamy type who likes fresh blooms from the farmer's market on the kitchen table. No green thumb required.

A walker, who likes to observe the out of doors at dusk. Hold on, I think I hear the kettle boiling now.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to the Treehouse, and stop in for another cup of friendship soon.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Fly to me

2009-07-25T09:25:00.001-07:00

I never met a bluebird I didn't like. I'm inculding jays, too, and herons, swallows, buntings and kingfishers. Whenever one appears, even in a blue blur, dim prospects brighten and the world seems like a hopeful place again.

According to John Burroughs, the naturalist, the bluebird is considered the harbringer of peace.

Their back is the color of the sky, and their chest that of the red clay of earth, so that in them, the celestial and the terrestial strike hands together in harmony and are fast friends.

I have a whole flock of bluebirds that fly on the wall above my stove. They are pleasant company while I flip pancakes or wait for the water to boil for tea.

My dignity evaporates when I see a bird with blue feathers. "Pull over!" I screech to my husband, as we wend our way along the estero in Morro Bay. "Its a Belted Kingfisher!"

I'm lucky enough to see it dive into an inlet, and surface again in five seconds with a squirming minnow in it's arrow like beak. Maybe we (I'm including you in this, I know you feel like I do) love them because what we really want is to hitch a ride and neslte in all that blue loveliness.

I know his necklace looks as if it were snatched from the neck of a sleeping mermaid by a heron. But its the creation of the wonderful Nina Bagley. http://www.ornamental.typepad.com/

Saturday night supper among the blues. Tonight it will be citrus honey baked chicken, green salad and potatoes mashed by my husband. They are so light, you don't even need a spoon to scoop them out, they just drift from the pot right onto the plate.

Thank you for visiting my treehouse. I hope you'll call again.

julie
P.S. I've been tagged by Lesley at Sea Blue Sky and Abstracts.

Six Silly things that make me happy:

When my dog yawns

Hearing a belly laugh

When a stranger smiles at me
Finding a bird feather
the smell of fresh chamomile

dreaming of flying

Now its your turn, Farmhouse Kitchen, Aunt Jenny and Bird nest on the ground!

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

A Cottage for Sale

2009-07-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

I bought my first real estate parcel for ninety cents. Wandering over the wooden floors of Rasmussen's Emporium in Solvang, I let go of my grandma's hand and picked up the little green house with red roof above, which was bundled up in a net bag with a little carved dog, cow, and lady. I was seven, and since then, no house purchase has given me more pleasure. Over the years I've added to my township, inhabited mostly by animals. There's herds of cows, half a dozen sheep, a stork, an owl or two, and a spitting goose which is fiercely protective and snaps at intruders. The pottery house piece behind the goose is two pieces, and would be handy for butter, or a scoop of goat cheese. This piece and other cottagey themed dishes, soon to be up for sale in my Etsy store.

My kitchen cupboard in summer. I do adore dishes of all sorts and maybe its why I never tire of making them. Really. Never.

Here's a farmhouse on Santa Rosa Creek Road. Cows graze right in the front yard and sometimes we have to roll to a stop so the goats can scoot out of the road. I like this house because its not fancy, even the lawn furniture is practical aluminum and plastic netting. All it really needs is a clothesline. I hear two brothers live here, and have since boyhood. I'd love to see the kitchen, but I'll settle for being able to drive by and get close enough to a goat to pet it.

Yesterday, after I returned from our drive in the country, I painted this cup with house handle, thinking of that farmhouse and the clothesline I'd put in the grassy yard. I made this for cereal, or soup, but think it might work as a scoop for laundry soap. I see my friend Jenny is selling it in her Etsy shop. The jelly was so wonderful, I think I might like to try some of her soap, too.

www.auntjenny.etsy.com

Oh, and Rasmussen's is still there, on the corner of the main street in Solvang. The stock has changed, but there's the same old worn doug fir floors, the smell of carnation soap and coming through the open doors, you can get a whiff of the fudge being made across the street in the candy store. And if you can resist going there to buy a piece after all that shopping, you are a stronger person than I am.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

At the Sign of the Hedgehog

2009-07-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

I like a sign on a garden gate. It lets you pause and collect yourself before you enter inside. I took a ramble in this rose garden today, and got stuck. As soon as I unhinged myself from one thorny cane, another reached out for me and held on, until I picked up the knack of holding in my arms, that is until I saw this rose:

Butter yellow, shell pink and raspberry tinged. So I stood there awhile, because it smelled sweet, and because bees zipped by and there was a sort of lonesome, longing wind through the pines. Then I remembered I was hungry.

So home I came, but look what I brought back with me.

These new garden signs are porcelain, run over with lace pressed in by a brayer, then a medallion is added. This one is painted with a farmhouse, larkspur and other summer blooms, with a watering can weather vane. Below it reads 'All the seasons run their race in this quiet resting place.'

Oh, and a rabbit piece because I can't seem to paint a batch of pottery without adding one to the firing.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Speak To The Earth

2009-07-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

My mother really has the prettiest garden in town. Every spot is tenderly watched over, and I've just taken pictures of one small corner. That's me lurking in my clay clothes at the top of the walkway. If I turn to my left, I can go up the stairs and be in the kitchen. Today, there were brownies waiting. I love to wander around this place, I can find loved ones who I miss and thought were gone, but I find they've been here all the time.

Duck as you walk by the grapefruit tree, and go into the rose garden through the wire gate, added to deter the white tailed deer, who browse anyway. And if the house looks grey to you, don't tell my mother. She insists it's blue.

The pathway to the back door.

I found this anonymous poem in an old garden book. Its spoken from the point of view of the garden itself. Its been pinned to a corkboard in my workroom for years, I thought you might like it too.

I, Your Garden

I bring serenity to your life.

No human pursuit gives more pleasure to your days

than the creating of me.

I am outwardlly your own accomplishment,

but in the business of me, God is your more

than equal partner.

I am at once your solace in sorrow and your

inspiration for endeavor.

My flowering hand is outstretched to welcome you

at the end of the day;

My leafy arms reach yearningly for you when you return

from the longer absence.

I keep your feet on the ground, both physically and spiritually,

and something, none the less acutal because unseen,
flows from me into your body and soul, something that makes you valiant

and gives you the joy of living.

I am your flowers and vines and trees,

and the soil that gives them life.

I Am Your Garden.

Speak to the Earth and It shall teach thee.

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Rosy June Morning

2009-06-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

My paintbrush has developed this recent habit of gravitating to all the pink paint pots. This rabbit may be wearing a blue scarf, but the plaid accents are raspberry, a country cousin to pink.
I've looped a bunch of thyme over this rabbit's neck, and in back, there is a deep indention in the clay, at an upward angle, so he stays securely on a nail.

This bird is holding a necklace by Nina Bagley, a very simple but earthy one that seems to go with everything I wear. Even overalls, well especially them. The egg is glass and is a lampwork bead made by her sister, Ellen.

http://starcatcher.etsy.com

Pink again. See what I mean?

This jar contains rose petal jelly. I wanted the sun to light this up, so you can see the clarity and lovely pure rosiness of it. Its made by Jenny, who gathers the rose petals in her Utah garden.

http://auntjenny.etsy.com .

The name drawn by my seafaring husband: Daffodil. I've written her, and want to thank all of you. you know I'd like to send you all a honey pot, but you do have my good wishes and gratetful heart.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Heartfelt Giveaway

2009-06-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

I feel so lucky. And in large part I owe that to my customers, many who have become friends. I'm showing my gratitude in the form of a honey pot. There's a teapot and pie painted on the front, which is still warm from the oven. A pink house serves as a pull. Its' hand built with a scalloped seam. There's a spoon on the back and what else but a Forget-me-not?

If you are new to my blog, please leave info so I can contact you if your name is drawn.

julie

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Tea Party

2009-06-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

These new mugs are the result of a few requests for a roomier cup for those who like caffe lattes, lots of milk in their tea, or just more of it. They are porcelain, so are lighter. I've added a very thin strip of clay to the base and wrapped it under to guard against leaks. Of course so far they are all different sizes. I don't seem capapble of making matching sets.

A squirrel with a peach pie, a fox with a basket of tea leaves, and a gardening lady whose been watering her herb garden. These are now on my kitchen counter, filled with water and sitting on a dish towell to make sure they don't spring a leak! Soon to be for sale in my Etsy shop if there are no tell tale water marks.

Here are my mug and honey pot, used daily. That's my dog, Emma on the front. I made the honey pot for my husband to commemorate a happy day at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. A memorable day on which we saw a painting by Paul Cezanne. That honey pot was in the painting. Cezanne must of loved faience pottery, because he painted it many times. I bought a post card of that work, brought it to my treehouse and recreated it as faithfully as I could.

This tea, Calming moment, came all the way from Finland. My friend Delila sent me four different varieties of Forsman Tea, with the ingredients transalted into english. Wasn't that thoughtful? This one is my favorite. It has a meadowy, summery fragrance, and I think I can say without any exaggeration, it changed my tea drinking life. I couldn't imagine going on without this elixier, and just so I wouldn't have to plead for more from Delila, I found a little company in Washington state who sells it! By the way, Delila has a charming blog, robinandthesage.bogspot.com

If you want to have a Finnish meadow in your kitchen you can find the tea here;
www.ForsmanTeaUSA.com

juliewhitmorepottery.etsy.com

Pincushion Friend

2009-06-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

This wanderer of hedgerow, lane
and wood, this spiny hog,
comes gently, snuffling, once again,
emerges from the fog
of centuries bygone, of dreams,
And curls before our sight,
And smokelike, grave and secret seems,
This denzien of night.
Yet charm as ever, conquers all,
As caring holds the key,
To woodland haunt, to coarse brown ball,
To hedgehog mystery!
frank marples

I think its time to form a Society for the Adoration of the Hedgehog. We can serve rosehip punch and custard. Ginger cookies in the shape of acorns. I can think of two people at least who would join in. What about you? Do you want to be the Hedgehog's friend?

In this grouping, there's a herb holder, a little portrait plate, and a lady holding her garden friend. There's a statue too, and a tiny cup to go with it, be advised Hedgehogs like LOTS of milk in their tea.

Ned Poon, Owl and Fred Mears, Rabbit

2009-06-06T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is a surprise for my friend, Kary, who loves owls. I know he looks serious, and he is. An owl of few words. As soon as the sun slid behind a hill, he rose from his seat, flapped his great wings once, and glided away. One of his feathers fell away and drifted right onto the table. I've left it there for you to see.

Fred Mears, the rabbit was altogher different. Full of friendliness and charming stories of the district. I hope to tell you some at a future date.

In my pottery life, I've got a firing in the kiln and will be listing tomorrow.

Gilbert White sits for his portrait

2009-06-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is Gilbert White, named for the naturalist from Selbourne, England. Gilbert is the founder of the Ambleside Animal Association for the protection of the woods, wolds, moors, meadows, etc. of the Lake District Countryside.
He agreed to pose for me, and all was proceeding quite well, until a great Horned Owl showed up at the cottage to arrange for his sitting. Gilbert dashed out, knocking his mug over in the process. I feel I must make amends, and plan on making him a new mug, as his was cracked.

Portraits soon to be available in my etsy store.

passionate poet

2008-12-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

I made this shadow box because I revere the poems of Gerald Manley Hopkins. Faith and doubt in God is what he's known for, but I've always seen almost a holy reverence for nature in his words. When you read him, you can almost hear him breathing in the room, winded from one of his lengthy trapses in the wood. This stanza is from 'Insvernaid' written about 1880.

What would the world be, once bereft of wildness and wet?
Let them be left, oh let them be left,
Wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

This outdoor loving woman is standing on a rock while the river rushes by her. A speckled trout has jumped into her arms. Birds fly overhead and water rats hold everything aloft.

Gerald, who suffered from depression, but fought it bravely died of typhoid fever in 1875. His last words "I am happy, so happy."

Cranberry Sauce

2008-11-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

I think there should be three kinds of cranberry sauce at the Thanksgiving table. Plain,which is clear and tart, then the whole cranberry style,which looks like a dish full of jewels, and finally ground cranberries and oranges. If I were to make a list of what I'm grateful for at Thanksgiving, it might begin with husband, friends and family, our dogs and Joe the Cat, but it wouldn't be complete until it included cranberries. Hope you have a loving, happy Thanksgiving.xx Julie

Song Thrush nest

2008-11-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

The shearwater lays her egg in a bare hole dug in the peat; The kingfisher gradually ammases fish bones for a bed for a tiny fist sized cave in a riverbank; the song thrush builds its nest in a thick hedge or ivy growing against a wall, and it's as tightly woven as a teacup. My bird books list song thrush along with the wood thrush. One book even shows its song in musical notes! The eggs are beach rocks I've collected from Otter Cove. Bird eggs are full of promise, like Robert Louis Stevenson says
Younger than we are
Oh children and frailer;
Soon in blue air
They'll be singer and sailor.