Raspberries & Ramps, Art or Craft

Last year I noticed a volunteer raspberry growing in our retaining wall. At first I thought it might be poison ivy but then I saw the thorns. Then I thought it might be a blackberry but I noticed the stem was round and not square.

It grew all year long but never flowered. This year it has lots of flowers.We hope we get at least a few raspberries from the plant this year.

This past weekend was the Ramp Festival at the Farmer's Market. What is a ramp? It's a wild leek or onion native to the mountains around here.

The onions are very pungent and are supposed to be really good for you. At the sale I sold quite a bit of pottery; a few serving bowls, serving platters, small dishes and the rooster planter. I stepped away from my booth at one point and a customer was telling Gary what she thought of my pottery. She said, "This isn't art, this is craft, this is real craft and I love it all. If I could afford it I'd buy every piece." Apparently this consumer considers craft to be more desirable than art. Who knew. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Cathedral Window Bowl

Cathedral Window Bowl by Linda Starr
1.5 x 12 x 12 inches
handbuilt, slip, glaze, cone 10 reduction

When I was about 12 years old my grandmother tried to teach me a paper piecing method to make a Cathedral Window quilt. At the time the method seemed too complicated and I gave up. Now I wish I would have had more patience to learn what my grandmother was trying to teach me. Years later, in my late 20's, I took up quilting again and used cardboard templates, cutting each piece of material out separately. Nowadays a rotary cutting tool allows many pieces of material to be cut at once.

The pattern on this bowl is based upon that same quilt pattern Cathedral Windows. I used one color of slip which I thought would be green but the color turned out more of an ochre or umber color which I'm glad it did. This color gives the bowl an antique quality. Next time I'd like to try this pattern using a different color slip for each diamond window. Click this link to feast your eyes on more Cathedral Window quilt photos.

Today I am reminded ceramics is an art and a craft. An art and craft requires a lot of patience which is a virtue I have always struggled with. I am an impatient person, but luckily I am also persistent. My persistence keeps me coming back to clay trying again and again to be successful in my attempts for each piece I make. Many of the pieces I made recently were not successful, but thankfully some of them were. With each unsuccessful piece as well as each successful one, I learn something I can apply to my next attempt at art and craft.