Ballantyne Magazine and a Teapot of Ours!

I'm sorry I have been too busy to post lately! I was excited to see Samantha's post about the article in Ballantyne Magazine that features pots of Seagrove including one of Bruce and Samanthas of  Bulldog Pottery and one of mine and Pam's, as well as some of our neighbors in Westmoore, Michael Mahan and Westmoore Pottery and one of Whynot. Thank you Ballantyne, and thank you Sam for pointing it out!

Pam and I do collaborations, similar to the one above, on teapots, she makes the teapot and I do the handles and lids in sterling silver, forged, stamped, formed. We've done these collaborations over the years and they have been  very successful and we appreciate all that have supported our efforts! It has been really a nice thing to be able to add my work to the teapots and I appreciate the magazine attributing the teapot to me, but it was a collaboration of both of us, not just me!! Credit must be given to all that deserve it!!

If I could turn pots like Pam, well wow. She is some thing and someone, so creative, smart, fun, interesting, and she is my BEST friend!! I feel so lucky to have my sister be my best friend, and to have someone like Pam be my sis! Life is good, very, very good!

It is cold here, very cold for this time of year and we have had snow-yippee!! Bring it on, but maybe wait till January. We have had the wood stove and fireplace going and the house has been very warm. Kitties in the morning like to stay close to the fire--this is less than 2 feet away from the fireplace. Chester has taken the pillow I made Bacchus, as his own, and Tasha has resisted leaving the heat to letting Rusty hang out above her. This is huge, she is a princess, but she is my princess!

Tis the season, be kind, be loving and make some changes and start the new year on a positive note!

Jugtown Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening - Dec. 4

Saturday, Dec 4 is the Jugtown Pottery Annual Kiln Opening. There are lots of beautiful pieces from wood and gas fired kilns. I will be working all week to create some new pieces and more of my birds on perches.

The museum opens at 7am with hot drinks and refreshments. People come early to get a number for the line, then peek in the windows to start their lists! Doors open at 8:30!

Later that afternoon from 3:30-5:30pm the NC Pottery Center will host the opening reception of Collectors Eye, Series I: Seven Perspectives.


So come early, there are several other holiday openings Saturday including Westmoore Pottery, Chris Luther Pottery, Bulldog Pottery, Avery Pottery and Tileworks and Thomas Pottery and end up at the NC Pottery Center. The exhibit looks great!

 Here are some images from the Jugtown web site.

Bird(s) in the Oven

I started the day making more of my little birds, as all but one sold at the Celebration! But then soon Wes, Bacchus and I headed for Aberdeen, Southern Pines and I had the day off!!! Bacchus had a "spa appt" as Wes calls it, at PetsMart Grooming, for a bath and freshening up. He was not too happy when we left him, in fact, he jumped that gate to try to go with us, rather than into his "spa". When I go into Chakra's for my spa treatments, you couldn't pay me to back out. The difference between me and my dog!

We, then, went shopping to get ready for tomorrow, and this evening I have been preparing the food. But first I must give a plug to Fried Green Tomatoes in Aberdeen (1 south to 211, first left and down a bit on the left). We've been there a couple times and Wes wanted fried oysters in a big way (despite the fact that we are having oyster stuffing tomorrow). They aren't on the lunch menu, but the French (truly a French Chef) chef, Philippe Brainos, is so very accomodating and said "But of course", in a large French accent. So I ordered them too, with a double order of slaw (you get 2 sides). OMG, were they ever good, cooked perfectly (I worried after ordering if we should have requested lightly fired) and that is what we said about our first visit so if you are down in the Pinehurst area drop in here. Not a ton of atmosphere, but not bad-definitley run by a Frenchman and defintely serving great food! Plus they have a dinner menu.... if you get on their email list you see it weekly, and they have a back room for dinner that has a bit of a Moulin Rouge feel, well kind of, sort of, maybe if you haven't actually been to the MR in Paris ( I saw no scantily clad, fabulously outfitted women, but if you've been to the MR, you know you do have to pay the pretty penny to see it all). But it is a room one would feel at home in and perhaps think of as Parisian! And the food so far has been fabulous, and extremely reasonable.

Anyway back to Thanksgiving, I thought I might post some pictures of my preparation for Thanksgiving. Not many of us so if you are alone and needing a place, call me!

acorn squash to be roasted and drizzled with a vinaigrette made from the below garlic, pepper, cilantro, etc! Sounds yummy, hope it is!

Roasted garlic for the red mashed potatoes!

Naturally greens from the garden, arugula, and we have 4 different lettuces and baby spinach. All with tunnels to go over them for a year round crop of fresh greens, beets, turnips etc.

Jellied Cranberry sauce, I can't live without that and there are the oysters for the

GLUTEN FREE oyster stuffing or is it dressing, when you don't stuff it in the turkey?

Fresh natural, hormone, anti-biotic, etc free turkey is brining in cider, with some sea salt, sugar, smoked paprika, chipotle, ginger, clove and allspice.

And the neck and giblets are creating the stock for the gravy.

Part of this gallon went into the brine, but there is still about 1/4 of a gallon left for some nice warm cider tomorrow.

That is a bit of what we'll be having. I haven't cooked a turkey in a while and really wanted to do it, so I am at it full force! We stopped at Sandhill's Winery on the way home today (a great shop in 7 Lakes if you don't know it) and picked up a couple cases of wine, so we are set!

Now I just have to go wrap things  up, make my notes and off to a nice night of snoozing and sleeping in!

Celebration of Seagrove Potters

Shame on me no pictures, but I am sure that Samantha will have some more on Bulldog's page. Sam and Bruce are our resident behind the scenes photographer and marketing subcommittee for Seagrove! Many, many thanks for all the work that they do for our area. AND to my luck, they are my neighbor at the Celebration. Wow, what wonderful work they have (will try to remember my own camera tomorrow!!) and I am so lucky to count them as my good friends. If you don't know their work, check them out above. They do the most incredible work, the colors, crystals, images, surfaces, wow. Absolutely amazing, Sam and Bruce are incredibly talented!

What a  great event so far. Thanks you to all that came by the booth. It was great to get to meet and re-meet people like Heather from our Facebook note and earlier Hermitage meeting, to so many faces and friends from each year. I love these events just for this reason, to see all of you and sometimes get a glimpse at earlier stuff I've done! And to say missing those of you that couldn't make it (Jeanne and Ben, boo... first pottery fest missed in a while isn't it? and thanks for sending word). And to all my new friends and customers. Thank you all so much!

I hope you can come visit the Jugtown Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening on Sat the 4th of December. Doors open at 8:30, (museum opens at 7am with hot drinks and warm snacks  to keep you warm in between window peaking for your preveiws!) . Come stock up, and then doors open a bit later for holiday kiln openings at Chris Luther, Westmoore Pottery, Bulldog Pottery and Thomas Pottery. Go to this page to find NC Pottery Events.

Again thanks to all who came by , Ihope to get my web site more updated, thanks for looking at it and I'll keep at it! Any questions or comments??? Email me!! jennie@jlkjewelry.com.

Birds of a Feather?

Celebration of Seagrove Potters.....this weekend! Sometimes I just like to try something different. I've done my pottery bird and chicken earrings since I came to Jugtown and thought about expanding on that and creating some year round ornaments. My test run putting them in the shop at Jugtown worked, first one sold within 2 hours! So I will have a selection of these birds this weekend.

Teapots

Teapots by Pam Owens, lids and handles by me.

Art and Nature

16 days....That is all that is left until the Celebration of Seagrove Potters. If you haven't gotten your Gala tickets, go directly to the web site and buy them on line!

I am working away on some new designs. Here are a couple that I have just finished. This is such a busy time of the year for all of us here in Seagrove, and of course all artists and craftspeople.

Yesterday morning our dog was at the pond barking like mad. Wes went down and thought he saw two beavers swimming around, and I joined him. Of course, Bacchus launched himself into the hyacinth filled water, the lab in him suddenly kicking into full gear. He swam in circles all around the pond, completely oblivious to the fact that these "beavers" were more adept in the water than he was. I was afraid he'd run out of steam in the hyacinth and go down. We finally coaxed him out and back into the garage. We were thrilled! Beavers eat water vegetation, and we have a ton of it! The water hyacinth is very pretty and horrendously invasive! (And people will pay $2-3 per plant for it, in nurseries.) We thought perhaps our answer to getting rid of it had come....two cool resident beavers to clean out the pond!

After a bit more research on line, after Wes saw them on the bank cuddling and noticed that they had long straight tails rather than big flat ones, we discovered that they were a pair of NA River Otters. That had been my thought when I first saw them swimming, they reminded me of the otters I watched in the Shed Aquarium, years ago. River otters are not vegetarians, they eat fish and sometimes small mammals. We had about 200 small koi put into the pond earlier this year (though we soon acquired a resident Great Heron right after, so there may not have been any left in there). I don't know if they got any koi, and I seriously doubt they wiped out our huge mole and vole population. They may not have been really keen on seeing 5 of us on the hill by the pond armed with cameras and binoculars, while they cuddled together, wrapped arond each other. I don't know what the deciding factor was, where they came from, or were they were going, but this morning as soon as it was light I went looking. No otters to be seen. We were thrilled though to have their 24 hour visit and hope that they'll be back to see us one day.

Home Again

New England in October is always such a wonderful time. We drove up on the 10th and spent some time on Cape Ann before heading to NH. I love the New England coast and all the great seafood that goes with it. Then back to NC with my parents and Max the cat, and spent a week here goofing off.

Now it is only 4 weeks til the Celebration of Seagrove Potters with the Jugtown Holiday Kiln Opening following right behind, on December 4th. I have come back with my mind bursting full of ideas and now need to organize myself to get everything produced! Though it is hard not to head out for the yard and garden with this beautiful weather!!

With my mind on the Dunes at Crane Beach, off to the studio I go!

Back from the Mint

Back from the Mint Museum's 6th Annual Potter's Market Invitational. Once again it was a great show, and the selection of pottery was outstanding. I had hoped to get some pictures of other booths but time was not available for that! I did get to visit with many potters and customers that I hadn't seen for a while, came home with a few pieces from Matt Jones and a nice order for the new Mint Museum gift shop opening in downtown Charlotte in a few weeks!

Anna King, Pam Owens and Jennie just before opening

This was my first time with my new booth set up. We have streamlined a lot of it, so we are much more organized, have a lot fewer "pieces" and a much better look. Lighting was not so good in the tent for a photo, it was overcast (which was great for temperatures for the day!).

6th Annual Potters market Invitational at the Mint Museum

JLK Jewelry and Jugtown Pottery will be back at the  Mint on Saturday, September 11, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Admission $10 ($8 after 2 p.m.)

Read the article in Carolina Arts Unleashed. Tom Starland always does a great job promoting the arts!

Participating potters for this year’s PMI include: Blaine Avery, Michael Ball, Tammy Leigh Brooks, Kyle Carpenter, Donna Craven, Jeff Dean, Stephanie Martin, Judith Duff, Kim Ellington, Steven Forbes de-Soule, Terry Gess, Bruce Gholson, Samantha Henneke, Becky Gray, Shawn Ireland, Nick Joerling, Daniel Johnston, Fred Johnston, Carol Gentithes, Maggie & Freeman Jones, Matt Jones, Matt Kelleher, Shoko Teruyama, Crystal King, Terry & Anna King, Eric Knoche, Sid Luck, Robin, Rob, Beth Mangum, Will McCanless, Phil Morgan, Ben Owen lll, Pam, Vernon, Travis Owen, Jennie L. Keats, Shirl & Jim Parmentier, Jane Peiser, Ronan Kyle Peterson, John & Scottie Post, Rob Pulleyn, Amy Sanders, Akira Satake, Ken & Connie Sedberry, Jenny Lou Sherburne, David Stuempfle, Hiroshi Sueyoshi, and Liz Zlot Summerfield
We hope we'll see you there, it is a fantastic show with top artists and a huge variety of beautiful pieces to take home.

New Rings and Things

Rings-the 3 on the left are adjustable, hand patterned sterling silver, pottery center cab, 14K GF on two and labradorites on either side of the center stone. Far right is sterling silver with a labradorite center stone.

Sterling silver rings with pottery cabochons.

Hand forged bracelet with center pottery cabochon from a recent reduction firing.

I have about 6 doves left from the Seagrove Potters for Peace sale-they are available to  purchase at Jugtown or on my website http://www.jlkjewelry.com/.

8 more days!

Chinese Blue Dove Pendants for Seagrove Potters for Peace.

Beth Gore has done a fantastic job organizing this great fundraiser.

August 14!

Seagrove Potters for Peace-August 14

24 potteries will hold a sale of specially signed vessels to help Greg Mortenson build schools in impoverished areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan as a long-term solution to terrorism. (Sorry - no early sales!)

Each pottery will produce a unique item, specially signed for this event. The pottery will be for sale at the individual shops on Saturday, August 14 from 9am to 5pm. There will be no early sales, but any remaining items can be ordered by email or telephone on Monday, August 16. Some potteries will also have copies of Mortenson's books for sale.

I have posted my dove pictures earlier and will have a few more that are being fired tomorrow in Chinese blue!! I hope I glazed and placed them in good spots! They will all be avaiailable at $24 and there will be the option of buying a 16" steel neckwire with magnetic clasp or 16" satin cord with sterling clasp for another $6. the doves are clay with a sterling silver handmade bail on back. And they are stamped SPP and JLK.

Beth has done a great job on this, she is passionate and detailed and I hope you will stop in at Cady Clay Works. We also have a Facebook page and I encourage everyone with pieces to post a picture there and for you, faithful readers, to go have a look! And come and see us on the 14th! http://www.seagrovepottersforpeace.com/
The Randolph Friends of the Library will hold a community discussion about Afghanistan and Mortenson’s work on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, at 7pm, at the Randolph Arts Guild, 123 Sunset Ave in downtown Asheboro, NC (about 12 miles from Seagrove, just off Hwy. 220). The discussion will be led by Dr. Jeff Jones, associate professor of Russian and world history at UNC-Greensboro. All ages are welcome. Copies of Mortenson’s books and a variety of pottery vessels will be for sale. Change will be collected for “Pennies for Peace”. Refreshments will be served.

For further information contact Beth Gore at Cady Clay Works by calling 910/464-5661 or e-mail to (cadyclayworks@yahoo.com) or (seagrovepottersforpeace@yahoo.com). Or you can call me too!

Volunteers

We are fans of volunteers (well and volunteering for that matter) in our garden. We use organic and heirloom seeds so we can be pretty sure we know what we have or close to it! This must have come from seeds in the compost, because we haven't planted cantaloupe before. There are quite a few of them out there mixed in with some volunteer tomatoes and cucumbers. We tried it for breakfast this morning, yum! Maybe the rain we have finally gotten will help!

Now time to get down to business. I have had kind of a lackadaiscal attitude this month as far as working in the studio goes. Yesterday was my first day really working hard......... I got a wholesale order:) and the Mint Museum Potter's Invitational will be here before long. So back to work and new inspirations.

Seagrove Potters of Historic Busbee Road

Here is our new rack card for the Historic Potters of Busbee Road. There are 10 shops along Busbee from 705 to right around the corner to Jugtown Pottery (home of the Busbee's). We got together as a group and recognized that we have a lot more to offer collectively for the shopper as a group, a wide variety beyond pottery,something for everyone when you visit the Potters of Historic Busbee Road! Not everyone coming to Seagrove is looking exclusively for pottery and we have options for them, as well as the pottery shopper.

We have a world class and renowned Blacksmith, Jerry Darnell (who is at John C Campbell School teaching this week), Jerry's shop has so much fun work, plus you can see the forge and talk to him and see what and how he does everything, talk about an educational visit! Wes and I love to stop by there.

15 +/- potters working at 10 shops creating such a wide variety of pottery that there is something for everyone. Several shops offer crafts, Jugtown offers a wide variety of American handmade work from wood, to glass, to textiles, candles, cards, books, and more, to metals, to me......Turning Mud into Gemstones, handmade stones set in sterling silver. Not the kind of ceramic jewelry that you find in many shops. My work is all hand done, set in sterling silver, hand fabricated designs that are one of a kind, quality jewelry made for a lifetime!

Cady Clay Works offers a variety of complimetary items to pottery and Westmoore Pottery has the most wonderful hand blown glasses that go so well with all their beautiful reproduction pieces.

All the shops offer something different. We have museums at Jugtown Pottery and Original Owens Pottery and one to open soon at Chris Luther's showcasing his family line of pottery. Check out our Facebook page and look for our brochure at the NC Pottery Center and in our shops when you come to see us, or email me if you want a larger copy emailed to you!

Need Earrings?

I just set stones in a new batch of earrings. All sterling silver with pottery cabochons and semi-precious stones. They are in the shop at Jugtown and will soon be on my web site!

Weathered Bronze pottery cabs with amethyst and moonstone

Chinese blue with labradorite

Turquoise with cobalt with moonstones

Peachbloom with garnets

Weathered  bronze with amethyst and 14K gf

Peachbloom with labradorite

Turquoise with cobalt, moonstones and 14K gf

Peachbloom with garnets