Have you ever had a memory recur in your life? Something you thought was so wonderful and beautiful and then forgot about till many years later when something happened to refresh your memory? I had that happen to me recently about a blue poppy I was reading about on Cindy's blog, Artmaking in the North. Cindy showed a photo of a blue poppy in bloom in her yard. It was then that I recalled the only other time I had seen a blue Himalayan poppy.
Gary and I were newly married and living in Foresthill and we stayed at the Monte Verde Inn, on our wedding night 24 years ago. A few months after we were married I was called for a landscaping consultation at the inn. In the middle of the backyard of the inn there was a blue Himalayan poppy in bloom. At the time I felt that poppy was the most beautiful flower I had ever seen. The heavily veined leaves had pushed themselves up through snow with tall buds which opened to reveal a huge blue poppy flower. A flower so delicate looking and yet very hardy since it was able to survive the cold and wet winters, and the dry and hot summers. The color blue occurs only occasionally in the flower world, but it is so wonderful when it does, especially in the blue poppy.
So today I made a blue poppy flower bowl to remind me of the flower in Cindy's garden and the one I saw blooming at the Monte Verde Inn so long ago. I also made a green patterned square bowl with the last of my B-Mix clay. Both bowls were constructed from a slab and then slumped into molds, one metal and one wood. The bowls are decorated with mason stained slip. Although both of the decorations in color appear rather pale now, when they are fired, I am hoping they will darken to a much richer color. These are the same mixtures I used in the past for slip decorating.
In the first garden photo you see a view of the pergola in my herb garden with rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis, and French lavender, Lavandula dentata, growing in the foreground. The next photo is as much of a panoramic view of the herb garden I could get from the North side of my house. All the herbs were planted five years ago from 3 inch pots and they have filled in very nicely. I designed the herb garden to be a tapestry of textures and mostly varying shades of green with occasional pops of color. Lavender is blooming on a mound in the foreground and the herb pergola is adjacent the water tank in the background. All of the landscape boulders you see in the photos I post here were harvested from this property and re-positioned by Gary and I. Gary scooped them up with the tractor we had at the time and I directed him in the placement. Please come back again to see more of the projects I'll be making in clay. I always include a photo or two from my garden and I hope you enjoy them. If you have comments or questions, please don't hesitate as I'd truly love to hear from you.
The pattern on that second bowl looks so 3 dimensional. Did you pattern and then slump or slump and then pattern? It looks like a quilt design my grandmother used to make.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a blue poppy.
Hi Barbara, thanks, I pattern and then slump and I have to be real careful not to disturb the slip when I slump. (Sounds like a Dr. Zeus line, slip when I slump). I have been thinking of quilt patterns recently after seeing Kitty's work, which wasn't a quilt pattern, but reminded me of an Amish quilt.
ReplyDeleteYour gardens are beautiful! I love the boulders set against the flowers. Can't wait to see the patterns fired! Will you put a clear glaze over them?
ReplyDeleteI love blue poppies. There is a woodland part of the Dunedin Botanic Gardens where they grow them. Your mention of them inspired a little google search, and I found http://www.meconopsis.org There is a beautiful collection of photos of Meconopsis on their home page, and yet more throughout their site. Colours include blue, purple, yellow, white and red. Absolutely gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice idea doing the bowl with the poppy design. It will be a real treasure. I like the bowl with the green design and the butterfly wall pocket. You are clever doing slab work. It's funny, but I have done very little of it so far, because most of my time has been spent attempting to learn how to use the wheel. Out of interest, do you dust your slump molds with anything before putting the clay in? (I have seen a dusting of silica recommended somewhere to help the clay release from the mold, but wonder if it is strictly necessary??.)
All the Best to you. Peter
Really like the Poppy. Wondering how ravens and flowers relate? Are there any flowers or herbs that ravens eat? Since they were admiring your garden earlier...well just wondering?
ReplyDeleteI love your gardens! I too am an avid gardener & worked in garden shops/landscaping in my younger years. But I have always lived in a green/lush environment (southern US) & usually don't think of your area as being a place for a wonderful landscape -- but you have changed my mind completely!
ReplyDeleteLove the poppy plate - isn't it great to remember something you treasured & then be able to re-create it!
dang, it all looks GOOD!
ReplyDeleteHi Miri, thanks, yes I am planning on putting a clear glaze over them. These are with Cone 10 clay, next I will be experimenting with Cone 5/6.
ReplyDeleteHi Peter, I will check the site you have about the poppies, thanks. I learned to work with clay with slab work and have never quite done much of the wheel work, although a friend has left his wheel here and I keep saying I am going to practice more with wheel throwing this summer. I must make a goal for myself and stick to it. The slab and hand building for me is so much fun that I figure why switch to the other and I also feel so many others do the wheel why not concontrate on hand building. Also my back isn't the greatest, but the wheel set up here is for standing up so that wouldn't be so bad. For the molds I either use newspaper or WD-40. I prefer the WD-40 as it doesn't leave creases in the reverse of the clay. I spray a little on and then wipe it with a paper towel and then slump the clay. For some pendant molds I have used corn starch as a release agent which is safer than silica if you breath it in and it does work well. Funny potters requisition lots of equipment from other venues to aid in their art processes.
Hi Mary, thanks, I wanted to use the other colors of stained slip on a few pieces for the last of the Cone 10 clay and so I decided to do the poppy bowl and the green bowl. I do plan on going back to the ravens and have a few more ideas in mind. The next ones will probably be with Cone 5/6 clay. I don't think ravens eat flowers or herbs, but that is a good question, I will have to do some research on that - which will probably bring me to even more inspiraiton.
Hi Judy, thanks, without irrigation and lots of it, this area is technically a desert with only 14 inches of rainfall a year and all in the winter. We are lucky enough to have irrigation water with this property so thus the lush gardens. Most places in California are green in winter and the golden tan color in summer unless they are irrigated. But our state has many extensive systems of irrigation water which is provided by canals to farming areas. Many areas are having to cut back due to the third year of a drought and the overbuilding of housing in so many locations which is reducing the water table here. Judy, you would be surprised at how many places there are with botanical gardens and lush landscapes since the weather is so mild all year long, there are many mediterrean type gardens in so many places in the state. Thanks about the poppy bowl, I am so happy I found clay and it is so much fun creating from my memories and from present day too.
Hi Gary, thanks, I'm whipping up a clay storm around here.
I only have the common orange/red poppy in my garden - but love walking around the neighborhood looking at other people's gardens and plant selections. I have begun noticing that some have poppies in other colors such as white and pale pink that are just now blooming while mine are long gone by now.
ReplyDeleteLove the slip decorations your doing right now!
Hi Cynthia, I wonder if the poppies you are seeing are the iceland poppies, which come in multi colors with leaves kind of close to the ground and the flowers on about 2 foot stems noddng above in the air? Thank you about the slip decoration, I am having fun. I am trying to do some shading like a painting, we shall see how it all turns out.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely Linda! Thanks to you I've been enjoying my Blue Poppy even more -and I'll post more pictures as it blooms. The sad part is the Himalayan bloom is very fleeting. Once the petals open, they flutter in the wind for about week then I find them on the ground, like bright blue butterfly wings.
ReplyDeletejust checking in - I like the slip decorations and the flower story- I just came from Cindy's after seeing the flower- so how fitting to your post.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see your pots finished.
Hi Cindy, thanks to you I am going to be enjoying your blue poppies and my own, te he. I brought some dahlias in the house today and when I went back outside I found a trail of petals, they actually looked kind of pretty. The black hollyhock petals are like that too, they get blacker as they dry in the sun. I guess a bowl or a photo of a flower is nice because then you can enjoy the flower for much longer.
ReplyDeleteHi Meredith, thanks, I can't wait to fire these too. I am trying to use up my Cone 10 clay and have enough stuff to make it worthwhile to drive to Fresno to get them fired there. Then I'm switching over to the Cone 5/6 to see how I do with that. Hopefully I don't have a complete new learning curve with that clay and can just jump right in and have some success based on my previous experiences with Cone 10. Wish me luck.
Your posts are always so rich and full. I too, haven't seen a blue poppy in person. Perhaps someday. Now I understand why your landscape is so beautiful, you have a background in landscaping!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Linda, that was very useful information. P.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Amy. The poppy is so large and unusual I guess that is why is is so memorable. Yes I have a landscape contractor's license on inactive status now, I was growing violets in the dead of winter indoors when I was in the fourth grade. I got so many that I had to start giving them away.
ReplyDeleteHi Peter, I am so glad you can use the information. If you want more detailed information just send me an email and I'll go into more detail about how I slump, hump or mold various pieces. I learned about the WD-40 in a back issue of Ceramics Monthly in an article about a woman potter in Oregon who had used that process for years. It was very informative for me. I learned about the corn starch from Yolanda who is listed on my blog list. I took a ceramic bead making workshop from her.
Wonderful post, Linda, as always. The blue poppy is something I have yet to see. But it is good to see it though your eyes. Like your raven pieces, I find myself wishing I could see them. If I can't, I'm grateful you can show them to me. Many thanks !
ReplyDeleteHi Becky, thanks. I took a little artistic license with the blue poppy since I didn't have any yellow stain for the center, I made the center like another type of poppy.
ReplyDeletelovely patterned bowl and your garden shots are scrumptious, maybe when the little one is grown and the dog is old i'll get a garden going
ReplyDeleteHi Jim, thanks. I seem to remember some beautiful shrubs at your place, don't you have some lilacs and dogwoods? If you had this much to take care of you wouldn't be able to enjoy Sofia or have much time for your ceramic work, trust me on that one. I want to move where their is no yard to take care of and an arboretum nearby. That way I can enjoy the plants without taking care of them and I will have more time for clay work.
ReplyDelete