Earthgirl Pottery

Blog updates delayed because of my very SLOW dial up!

Here it is the completed Flour Power cookie jar.  JR picked it up, along with the last of the first cutting of rhubarb not to long ago, the rhubarb was baked into a tart and the cookie jar sits on the counter of the bakery.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I really had the best intentions when I started out.  But living up on the hill with very slow internet access has been difficult.   One day we will have a faster service but for now it is dial up, about as quick as a herd of turtles.


 I have been working in the studio, making cookie jars, vases, cups and mugs and bowls of all sizes and shapes.   I have also been in the garden, weeding, cutting and arranging flowers and picking the sugar snap peas that never seem to make it as far as the kitchen (delicious).  I will post pictures as time allows and with the kindness of my friend Cindy who is my graphic and web designer and home of  lighting fast internet.


Thanks for bearing with me. I plan on getting off of the hill more when winter sets in again and there is not so much to do around here- then I will be able to make a better blog effort.  I hope to catch up to the current century before the end of this one.

Here are some of my back to the basics pots, still look like me but no faces, no flowers- still happy.





This vase happened after a visit to the Museum at BethelWoods.   A little tie-dye pottery.  The Museum was a like taking a step back in time, a great place to spend an afternoon and get in touch with your inner hippie, even if you have buried it deep inside, a ride on the magic but will bring it bubbling it up.

Posted by Earthgirl Pottery at 7/14/2008 1:31 PM | Add Comment

The Power of Flour

Recently I went for a visit to the Flour Power Bakery, opened and run by my good friends the Rowley's.   It was an afternoon filled with pastry, coffee, laughter and inspiration.  JR ( stands for Jean Robert-say it like you were born in Paris) and Denise Rowley ditched their high profile jobs as commercial stylists and now spend all their waking hours creating magic out of flour, butter, sugar and eggs.   JR was a food stylist and is French so each pastry, cookie and loaf of bread is a work of art and tastes as good as it looks.  Denise, who is no slouch in the baking department, has styled the bakery into a retro 60's tribute to peace, love and pop-art flowers.  Together they are like super-heroes and their costume is a fine dusting of flour.  Visit Flourpowerbakery.net on line , but for a real treat find them in Livingston Manor or wait for the Farmers' Markets (Sullivancountyfarmersmarket.org) to open up, in early may, and find the Flour Power goodies there.

I have dropped off some pottery, bowls, platters, cups, cookie jars... all covered with dots in all manner of color combinations for the baking duo to sell and now I am working on a very special cookie jar for the Flour Power team to fill with melt in your mouth treats.  The process of making any pot is slow, first the ideas need to bounce around in my brain for a while, then I can start to throw the form.  It may take several tries for the perfect shape to arrive.  Then the piece starts to come to life.  Here you can see the decorated but not yet dry or painted Flower Power cookie jar.  Denise- you will notice it is more detailed then we discussed.   I just can't seem to help myself,  when it comes down to it, the philosophy of more is more, has my name written allover it.   I'll post updates of this work in progress as I get it painted and then fired, glazed and fired again.  Fingers crossed.


Posted by Earthgirl Pottery at 4/15/2008 2:20 PM | Add Comment

spring



Spring is here.  Okay on the calendar it's here but right now it's snowing again. The snow and cold has not stopped springs' progress, maybe just slowed us down a bit.  Last week I went to visit my great friend Jen of earthangelstoys.  We had a beautiful birthday lunch, her birthday, in Warwick at Charlotte's Tea Room.  The party included two of Jen's 3 children, Rory and Charlotte and our other great friend Kitty B.  Kitty makes fabulous boxes with bits of castoff treasures and witty sayings.  Visit earthangels.com to check them out.  

The lunch was delicious and the Tea Room is a cool as a cucumber sandwich.  You can shop and eat all in the same place. Joanne, the mistress of tea, made a 5 tiered blue frosted chocolate cake.  Diet has once again been posponed.  

This week I will start my seeds, visit my mom on Long Island, and make more pots, always happy making pots. 


Posted by Earthgirl Pottery at 3/31/2008 8:48 AM | Add Comment

before and after

Even now after all these years it is still a bit of a surprise to see what a new firing will bring.  There is always room for something unexpected to happen, a variance of a couple of degrees temperature in either direction can ruin weeks or months of work, where the pot is placed in the kiln can change matte to shiny or the other way, and the subtle difference in the thickness of the glaze can change everything.  There are variables too numerous to mention, so when a kiln fires exactly as I wanted it to it's time for a sigh of relief and a happy dance.  This morning there was dancing. 

Now you can see into my kiln, fresh hot pots.  These pitchers look like they are ready for iced tea, lemonade or sangria.   The spotted cups will be perfect for coffee, the batter bowls for pancakes or eggs; breakfast on a shelf.







 
    

Posted by Earthgirl Pottery at 3/19/2008 10:41 AM | View Comments (1) | Add Comment

It all began with a ball of clay

In the beginning it was just a class . A way to reconnect with a girlfriend and spend some quality time getting dirty. Pottery soon became an addiction. This one ten week session of classes changed my life, moved me to the country where I bought an old farm,  introduced me to my husband, and threw me into a fresh new world outside New York City.  Any decision can be life altering. 

Recently I made a trip into the City. This is a rare occurrence, three times in 2007, so far once this year. This picture was taken in the home of Mud Sweat and Tears.  This studio is on the corner of 46th and Tenth, Hell's Kitchen. Bob was my first teacher, a patient man -seriously I was a very bad student. Bob is also really talented and gracious.  On my right is my best pal Lisa, met her and her daughter Bella at a craft show, I was selling pottery, she was looking for dinnerware. A match made from clay. 

If you are in the city and feel the need to take a spin behind the pottery wheel Bob is still teaching and still patient.  Check out Mudsweat-tears.com or call 212-974-9121.






Posted by Earthgirl Pottery at 3/13/2008 10:33 AM | Add Comment