June at the Lake, and making pendants

June!  I finally made my out to the lake for annual pilgrimmage!  As always, there is that moment driving down the road from the highway, when I roll down the window and breathe in the air, with its blend of memory inducing power.   Could I use the word, "fecund?" (it is a word I remember learning from Arta). Such a mixture of things growing up from the earth in a tangle, and returning back to it in the same measure.  Doral and Anita's handprint from their earlier spring visit was visible in all the work stewarding the lawn and garden.  such a treat to walk around the porch, listening to the burble of the stream, and the red-eyed vireo (i think) chattering away in the trees.

As soon as I was unpacked, my mind was skipping ahead to Janet's pottery studio, and I start planning the summer work.  First things first, pendants!  And so, I wandered around, visiting trees and bushes around the property, to gather some leaves and branches.

cedar and spruce by the road

ferns and thimbleberry

bracken ferns

And then, for some quiet time at Janet's with slab roller, scissors, and a view.  So, here is the 'photo essay' of the first pendants of the year, from start to finish. 

getting things prepared

cedar pressed into clay

fern, hops, boxwood

finding their shapes

getting ready to add holes

oops. waited too long. now it's hard!

through the bisque fire

adding wax resist and glaze while admiring view

into a second firing

...and finished!

The Pottery Wheel

... one of the views from the Pilling Pottery studio ...

When a piece of pottery breaks, Rebecca chants the mantra, "It came from dirt, it returns to dirt", and then she laughs off any feeling of regret about broken pieces my say, "We can make more -- don't think a minute about the loss."

Formerly I was of the opinion that the bowls she left in our kitchen were to be saved.  But this year they are out on the sideboard to be used on all occasions.

There are flatter bowls, some with high sides, some that carry a cup or less of food, some that carry 3 cups of food, some bowls that are footed and some that are pedestalled, some with decorative insides, some stamped, some imprinted with fern fronds, some with multiple glazes, some slab work and some thrown.

Yes to it being the summer to get those in circulation rather than hidden and saved.

What was I thinking of, previously?

Arta

Janet's New Kiln

Janet has a new kiln.  I don't know how long the list would be of people who have been getting pieces ready to fire in it.

 ... part of the production process ...
or
... loading the kiln ...

Tonia and Rebecca like to sit at the wheel and turn pots.

Others gather around to do slab work. Some are interesting in making jewellery pieces.

"Use all of the bowls made in past years," Rebecca told me.  "I will be making new ones for you this year, many of them, given the size of Janet's kiln."

So the bowls are out on the sideboard at our house.  All shapes and sizes.  They can be filled with breakfast cereal, salads, soups, pastas -- just about anything where a person doesn't want to chase their food all around a flat plate.

Good times using home-made pottery can be had by all.

Arta