Things Fall Apart So Things Can Come Together

Last year when my hubby and I were thinking we needed to spend more time together- we decided to take a pottery class (there is a bit of irony in this because pottery is actually a very solitary, almost mystical activity). I had never worked on a wheel before and he had just a tiny bit of experience many years ago. I found it hard. Of course, he picked it up right away, became teacher's pet (I will always believe the instructor had a little bitty crush on him) and drove me crazy offering up tiny bits of advice in his oh so patient teacher-voice. He was almost effortlessly making strong, interesting pieces while my own work was inconsistent, prone to collapse and reminded me of the hand-built stuff my daughter brought home from camp when she was seven. Although we used the same glazes, his always seemed to end up reflective of nature's simple beauty (or so enthused the other students) while mine more reflective of the stuff on the nature trails that you try not to step in. This experience has given me a deep appreciation of the amazing work that potters do and Etsy has many amazing masters. Recently I came across the work of Jeff Campana (CampanaCeramics) and was simply blown away. Through a process of dismantling and reassembling his pieces- he creates the most striking fault lines that add a fascinating dichotomy of fragility and strength to his work. I have always loved the things and places within us that are damaged and scarred and the concept of those things being healed over and made stronger in the process. I hope you enjoy CampanaCeramics as much as I do. I had to purchase the beautiful lavender vase for the V-Day flowers that had better be coming my way from my own Mr. Potter ...

Climbing out of the Box

At first glance this picture scared the heck out of me- some kind of genetic engineering had produced a more space effective watermelon! Yikes- what's next?! But the story is actually a great example of thinking outside the box (or inside the box in this case!). Small Japanese grocers had a problem. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Farmers told the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it. But one Japanese farmer took a different approach. He didn’t assume the problem was impossible to begin with and simply asked himself how it could be done. It turns out that all he needed to do was place the watermelon into a square box when it is growing and it took on the shape of the box! This has got me thinking about my own assumptions, habits (I have saved myself so much time in my studio lately by asking myself if there is a better way I could be doing something), being able to look at problems from a fresh perspective and seeking the possible even in the face of what appears to be the impossible!

Olive's First Sleepover

After being advised there would be no boys, no drinking and no prank calling- Olive put on her favorite Lucky Fiona collar and headed over to Ruby's 4th birthday sleepover party. Ruby brought out her favorite recycled toy from WoofPurrCreations and the girls had a great time. They finally collapsed about midnight, although I've been told Ruby's folks didn't get much sleep.

My Bubble Popping Addiction Intervention

Since kiddiedom I have always loved to get a package wrapped in bubble wrap and being able to pop and stomp away. But now that I am a regular user (the glass test tubes I ship pretty much require it) of this plastic eco nightmare (plastic will never biodegrade in a landfill) - I have found a source for the latest biodegradable wrap. A new wrap called Bio-Bubble is oxo-biodegradable; which allows the wrap to break down into water, carbon dioxide and some biomass for mico-organisms in a year or less (that should be enough time for my packages to arrive!) when exposed to sun and water. I am so excited to get my test tubes shipped out safely without having nightmares about the piles of plastic bubbles I am creating! If you don't have any of this addictive wonder around to pop- here is a fresh sheet ....