The Best is to Come!

The flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today..... may your garden of life be full and joyful in the coming year!

Birds, Bunnies and Bling

How in the world did it happen? The Celebration of Seagrove Potters is this weekend. I hope you'll come and see me!

The Potter's Palette

It has been a while....sorry I have been so busy, travel, company, shows, stuff, life!! I am so happy to report that I received a beautiful merit award at the Artsfest Show in Winston-Salem. It is so nice to be recognized, especially when there are a lot of jewelers there. I was pleased that Nell Chandler also received a nice award for her wonderful jewerly.

I've had company (M&D!!!!!), and been out of town etc so have been remise in my journaling. It is so great to have family and friends here.

As a NC Pottery Center Board member and supporter, I am excited about another event we have coming up. A couple of Board members organized this event, inviting  NC clay artists to submit a 12"x12" canvas in whatever medium they like. The event, The Potter's Palette, is on October 28 and details are here.

I also was asked to submit a piece. I have never worked with acrylics, never really done anything with painting, but once I tried it, wow, I love it! We'll see if anything else ever comes out. But for what it is worth, here is my very first acrylic painting and I hope that whoever takes it home finds it worthy of it's donation! (The image is much darker than the actual painting!) It will be a fun event, tickets are $150 if you want a painting, and $50 for "tag-alongs" or anyone just wishing to support the NC Potter Center. So if you would like to support it in a small way, buy a $50 ticket or come and visit and join, but please come and see us and enjoy the wealth that the NCPC has to offer.

Celebration 2011 Collaboration

Jugtown Pottery potter Pam Owens and Jennie Lorette Keatts of JLK Jewelry at Jugtown collaborated together on this piece for the Friday night gala auction of the Celebration of Seagrove Potters, November 18, 2011.

A large lidded jar mad by Pam Owens.

The lid is a ceramic collar with a copper forged top with copper and pottery turtles by JLK. Pam decorated the piece with all kinds of water creatures.

This is a one of a kind piece!

 

How Time Flies!

It has been a month and a half since I last posted! We took a fabulous trip to Montana-Wyoming-Colorado for two weeks. It was so nice to leave the heat behind and enjoy the wonderful dry temperate climates. We even needed sweaters in the evening. It was great to see so many old friends.

 

The hiking in Grand Teton National Park was wonderful. We didn't see a lot of wildlife...just a two marmots and a duck. But on our drive out of the park we went through a buffalo herd.

August 11, was the NC Pottery Center's auction in Hillsborough at Leland Little's. It was a lot of fun and about 3/4 of the way through, a big bidding war went on over Takuro Shibata's pot, which brought in the highest bid of the night. If you are not a supporter of the NC Pottery Center, please consider becoming a member and supporting this wonderful museum.

Now time to get back to work. I will be at the Mint Museum's Potters Invitational on Saturday, September 10, from 10am-4pm. This is a wonderful show, showcasing NC's top artists. There is always an amazing display of ceramic works.

September 24, Saturday I will be at the Historic West End Artsfest in Winston-Salem, from 10am-5pm. This is a wonderful show held in Grace Court every other year.

Now I better get to work, something I have not been used to doing the past month!

Garden Critter Companion

Still working on garden art for the Garden party at Jugtown July 8-9, 2011.

This fellow is 8.5" tall and 9" long.

The spiraled wire from his belly fits over a 36" long steel rod so that he can keep watch in your garden.

They're Back!!

Brandywines, Black Crims, Linguisas

Needless to say we are eating a lot of caprese salad!

A Summer Garden Party

July 8-9, 2011 Jugtown Pottery will be holding the Summer Garden Party featuring all kinds of things for and from the Garden. I am working on some copper garden stakes, Wes will have some plants and veggies (grown organically) from the garden, hopefully lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and herbs.

The last kiln load of planters and bird baths was amazing, I am pretty sure I am going to want to go home with some of them.

The sale begins on Friday from 4pm-8pm, and we will have goodies prepared from the garden and some fun beverages, plus all the great garden "art"! We hope to see you there!

Back in the Saddle Again

Back in the studio for a couple of days anyway! Working on some new ideas. Hope this one will be well received!!


Sterling silver, turquoise pottery glazed stone, 14K gold fill, labradorite





Multi-fired pottery cabochon in sterling silver, 14K gold fill, opal and amethyst.



And The Winners Are

The Official Contest Drawers! Look at Ruru..he couldn't jump up there on his own but he tried (and I helped him). He is doing so well and this event was dedicated to him!  Wes drew the names and Ruru purred.  We had 12 names in the drawing and the winners are (and this was a truly pure drawing):

Necklace-Leslie
Sterling Hoop Earrings-Kathy, Michelle, Hal
Bunny earrings-Tami

I may need your addresses, so e-mail me jennie@jlkjewelry.com.

This is a pay it forward, if you have a blog, please do a give away like this. If not, then commit yourself to doing 4-5 random acts of kindness (above and beyond the ones that you normally do!!)

What a fun thing this is and I know you will all enjoy "paying it forward"!!! Keep it going, think outside the box!

Pay It Forward

I was the receipient of a pay it forward event on Leslie William's blog. I have had so much going on in nursing Rusty back to walking, company, shows etc that I am now finally getting around to this! for those that followed Rusty, he can walk, can't jump up onto things, but he is doing really well. And his fur is growing back in, though he may  not want it in this weather.

Pam and I just returned from a great trip to Dataw Island in SC where we stayed with wonderful friends, kayaked, rode bikes and had a generally fantastic time!

Here are the pay it forward items. Everyone that makes a comment on this blog gets their name put into the hat, and Wes will draw the winners. I'll give several days for comments. So if you want a chance at some free jewelry, just make a comment!

Sterling silver necklace with a peachbloom pottery stone and black onyx.

Hand forged sterling silver hoops (1" diameter)

Pottery cab earrings, sterling silver earwires

Pottery bunny cab earrings-sterling silver ear wires

Morning Garden Walk

The past two weeks I have been consumed with caring for one of our cats Rusty. he developed two very bad cases of toxoplasmosis and gingivitis. Two awful infections that led to partial paralysis. He is making progress, though still unable to walk or support himself. He did pull himself along this morning for a tiny little ways. Thank you to everyone that has been sending good thoughts to him, they are working!

Coming in May, (once I have my two shows: Spring Days in Cary this Sat and Historic Rosedale in Charlotte on May 7) behind me and Rusty back on his feet, I will be doing a pay it forward give away. I won a beautiful Hawaiian hat band from Leslie Williams and now it is my turn! I'll post some images of iems that I will give away to 5 people chosen from a drawing of everyone that posts a comment on that posting.  Part of my bargain with the universe was that if Rusty gets back on his feet, the first one will be a nicer piece of jewelry. So check back later in May!

I took a little walk around the gardens this morning. We are under tornado warnings and hope nothing comes this way, and our thoughts go to all those already affected.

Irises in the patio pond





The 3rd of the clematis to start flowering

These petunias in 3 colors are coming up everywhere! We have several hundred of them just in the pots!

Purple irises-the blooms over here are over 6"

All the rose bushes are flowering



Peonies getting ready to open up



Apple mint anyone? No? Then spearmint or lemon balm? All three make a wonderful tea, hot or cold! Massive amounts growing here!

And in the vegetable garden

The end of the second lettuce and spinach crop. This is from the February planting. YUM!

Lots of big asparagus, this is twice the diameter of my thumb.

Beans and squash. Wes started the squash, cucmbers and tomatoes from seeds.

Brandywines

Onions are getting big and round

A New Lower End Line Coming Onboard!

Bunnies made a debut in Hickory. These are also available in a sterling silver setting as a pendant for $36!

Springtime!!

After last year's drought I was worried about some of our plants, but things are coming out like mad. Both bleeding hearts by the patio are in bloom.

The peonies are coming up

Daffodils are still blooming, we love these white ones

and I found one little violet. Wes says violets are weeds, but I love them!

What a great time of the year! I wish it could be like this for everyone, everywhere.

Hickory, Dickory, Show time!

Catawba Valley Pottery Festival is coming right up. I will be back after a two year absence and am looking forward to seeing familiar faces!

I picked up a new Nikon Coolpix yesterday. My Canon and Olympus are just a little too big to take along comfortably to shows. This is my first try with it. I think I'm going to like it!

Now despite fabulous weather outside, time to make some earrings from the freshly fired load of cabochons.

Folding Metal

Cuff Bracelet, heavy gauge sterling silver, with patina and brushed finish.

My first go around with trying fold forming.

A Little Ruskinism!

John Ruskin was the founding father of the Arts & Crafts Movement, a major social movement in England and the United States during the last half of the nineteenth century. The Ruskin Pottery was established in 1898 in a suburb of Birmingham, England. The founder, Edward Richard Taylor,  followed the teachings and philosophy of John Ruskin and admired him so much,  that he named his pottery in his honor. Ruskin Pottery was taken over by Edward's son, William Howson Taylor in 1912, and it was he who was came closest to Ruskins's ideals of arts and crafts.

In the early 1900's, the Ruskin Pottery began producing small round cabochons, which they called,   "plaques" or "enamels". They were made for the purpose of using them as gems to be mounted in metal and wood jewelry. These varied in size from the size of a button to 3" in diameter. They became a major part of the pottery's output. The pottery also made tiles, hatpins, studs, cuff links, scarf pins, and pendants. All Ruskin advertising included "Ruskin Pottery, Enamels and Buttons".

Liberty of London, makers of pewter and sterling silver art pieces, started using Ruskin plaques in place of semiprecious stones. The semi-precious stones had become so expensive that they were no longer cost effective, and the Ruskins cabochons were relatively inexpensive and the colors so beautiful that they immediately gained popularity. These were all leadless glazes and many are similar in color to what I am achieving today with the glazes developed at Jugtown by my sister Pam owens.

Other pottery's such as Moorcraft, Minton and Kensington also produced ceramic cabochons, but they are rare to find.

Doesn't this look like one of my stones!! If you get to see the original Ruskins, they are a treat. I used to exhibit annually in Asheville at the Arts & Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn, and had the opportunity to see many fine examples. It just amazed me how close the colors were to those that I have been making using Jugtown's glazes! You can now understand why I get giddy over every single firing!

Shades of Turquoise And Springtime on My Mind (and Lightbox)

Springtime is in the air! Here is a preview of what I am working on. Some of these will be available at Hickory on the 25 and 26 of March at the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival.

sterling silver and pottery cabochons (turquoise with copper); adjustable 17"-20"



Large pottery cabochons in turquoise with cobalt & copper, linked by torch formed, reticulated sterling links; adjustable from 12" to 20"




Pendant in roller printed sterling, formed and forged. Peachbloom, reduction fired pottery cabochon with 2 5mm garnets. Pendant, 3-1/2" long




Pendant in sterling, formed and forged. Mingled blues and cobalt pottery cabochon with a 7mm created opal. Pendant, 3-1/2" long