Jenny Mendes

It took me a while to get through all of these.  Every year I am slower and slower..... But they do look happy all together!

A quick listen, some great words.  I've probably put this here before, but every now and again, remembering these words is a good thing.  Give it a listen, it will take less than 2 minutes...

A friend was using a tiny corner of this studio in Key West this month,  so we got to visit John Martini's studio one night after dinner.  I can only imagine if I had this much space what I might make!  Amazing!

"Technique and skill must be absorbed and wrapped up and put away to become such an integral part of yourself that they will be revealed in your work without your thought" - Shoji Hamada 1894 – 1978

Something cool one of my favorite customers made from my tiles!!  hmmmmm this gives me an idea!!

“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve…You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on

My favorite movie of 2012..... did you see it?

The Wassailing Bowl This bowl was made at the Ewenny Pottery in Glamorgan. It is made of red clay with a yellow glaze over a white slip. Wassailing bowls were always decorated in the same way and this one has nearly all the expected traditional features. The man on the lid sits with out-stretched arms and wears a tricorn hat. He originally sat on a barrel with a glass in his hand. Other lid decoration includes four handles, a fox, dogs, birds and sheaves of corn. On the very top stands a cockerel. The body had eighteen handles and is decorated with 'sgraffito' (scratched) decoration. Designs include a compass and some plants, possibly hop flowers. The inscription reads: "Margt Thomas / Decr 9th 1841 / Bridgend". Our Christmas tradition of carol singing door-to-door grew out of wassailing. The bowl contained mulled wine which the householder drank for good luck before adding more wine to the bowl. In South Wales, a wassailing bowl often accompanied the traditional

Betsy Youngquist and yours truly

I have a friend who stayed with me for a week once who got up early around 4:30 every day and did Qigong to this music.  I would slowly come to consciousness inside these sounds.  I really loved it, but didn't know what it was, and found her yesterday, so I'm sharing.  Listen, maybe without watching.

Snack!!

Last of the small bowls for the moment.  Since I'm coming back to Florida for the Coconut Grove show in February, I thought I'd try some sea themes!!  Always a fan of mermaids!!  

http://www.dinovalls.com/

Two Swimmers At Rivers Edge (Collection of Francesco Clemente)

On a very sad note, our friend Ako is gone. Rest in Peace little friend.

The birds they sang  at the break of day  Start again  I heard them say  Don't dwell on what  has passed away  or what is yet to be. Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. ~leonard cohen

Those who will not slip beneath the still surface on the well of grief turning downward through its black water to the place we cannot breathe will never know the source from which we drink, the secret water, cold and clear, nor find in the darkness glimmering the small round coins thrown by those who wished for something else. -- David Whyte