Poppy

Spring is on it's way I can feel it in the air. We cleared out a little area to plant some spring vegetables in the back yard and lined it with some cinder blocks that were here. Now we need to find somewhere to get some good soil. The soil here is all sand and it doesn't have many nutrients at all.

Since it was so much warmer today than it has been, my mind wandered to thoughts of summer flowers. I remembered a blue poppy bowl I was inspired to make last year after seeing a blue Himalayan poppy on Cindy Shake's blog. The bowl had a crack on the edge before I even bisqued it. I decided to fire it anyway just before I left California to see how the slip color would work out. It fired nicely all except for that small crack at the rim.


I decided to make another poppy bowl this evening, this time in lavender and blue since I had just enough of those slip colors mixed up to make one large bowl. Hope this one doesn't get any cracks. I also made some rustic planters for window boxes, thinking those would be nice to plant herbs and put on a kitchen window sill. Tomorrow I'll mix up more slip and replenish all the colors I work with so I can make small bowls and other pieces.

In my last post, Benefactor Wanted, I mentioned my request for wanting a benefactor in a light hearted way, but I was actually serious about the request. I've often wondered what I would do if I won the lottery or some huge inheritance. When I was a landscaper I always said if I won the lottery, I'd build a botanical garden which was educational so folks who came to visit could learn and come to appreciate all the plant kingdom has to offer. I never won the lottery, but I accomplished my dream of a garden with the lavender farm I created at my last place, where the public came and enjoyed it. The garden ended up being a small scale botanical garden like the one I dreamed of.

Now that I have another love, that of clay, if I somehow came into a large sum of money I'd build a wonderful clay retreat with galleries, studio spaces, all different kinds of kilns, and I'd have lots of potters come to teach workshops. It would be a place where folks could come to learn and have fun with clay. And there would be stipends for folks who couldn't afford the cost of travel so they could avail themselves of all the clay retreat and workshops had to offer.

I figured if I would want to do that if I had the funds, then there might be someone who would want to be my benefactor. It doesn't hurt to ask or to dream. Sometimes dreams come true in one way or another. So I keep working towards my goals even if my steps are small, my steps all lead in the direction I dream of going. Comments are welcome.
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Black and Blue

Dancing Ravens by Linda Starr
3 x 12 x 14 inches
handbuilt, slip, glaze, cone 10 reduction

Sometimes I decide to fire a piece even though I know ahead of time it won't be perfect. Both bowls developed small cracks on the rim in their green state, which I tried to repair but was unsuccessful. I fired them because I wanted to learn how the slip would react with this glaze, and wanted to be sure the bowls wouldn't warp at cone 10. I tried B-Mix instead of Windsor Porcelain for these bowls and each clay has different characteristics.

Other than the rim cracks, one small unglazed dot for the raven on the right, and some kiln wash which unfortunately fell into the poppy bowl at the studio where I had them fired, they would be fine. The slip colors turned out just like I wanted. I'll make these again and be more careful drying the rims. Also this transparent glaze fits like a glove, does not pit or run, and isn't overly shiny.

Blue Himalayan Poppy by Linda Starr
2.75 x 11 x 12 inches
hand built, slip, glaze, cone 10 reduction

I plan on making these two bowls again and I'll be more careful drying the rims. I really enjoy painting on clay and I have so many more ideas. I can't wait to move and set up my new studio. Please make comments and come back again to see more of what I've learned from recent firings.

Blue Poppy

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.