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



Rainy Friday

We had a fun, though way too brief, visit from friends from Atlanta. both incredible artists. Susan does pheomenal stained glass and Michelle is a clay artist. So I got a day off!!! Hopefully they got enough of a peak at Seagrove to come back soon and spend more time. And maybe bring our friend Kathy back with them too:)

I've been in a bird state of mind. Today it may be leaves though.

Sushi Making in Seagrove

Who says there's nothing to do in Seagrove?? Many thanks to Hitomi Shibata for organizing a sushi making workshop at our house. George & Mayumi Yamazawa (and Mama-san) came from Durham to teach a group of use to make Maki sushi. Yamazawa-san owns Yamazushi Authentic Japanese Cuisine in Durham and has been learning pottery making in Seagrove with David Stuempfle.

A goup of us gathered to learn just how to make sushi rice and how to roll an authentic Maki roll. This was such a fun day, and it is not as easy as you might think it is.

We practiced pressing and pushing the rice on the granite and then moved on to trying it on the nori. What fun and enlightenment.
 
By the time we were done with our lesson we had many, many, many cucumber and tuna rolls. Everyone also brought an Asian dish to share as a potluck to go with the sushi. It was a feast.
 
I can guarantee I'll be making sushi for dinner at home. And I will so be looking forward to visiting Yamazushi. This is authentic Japanese food with a few exceptions for Americans (dragonrolls, etc), but don't be expecting any cream cheese in your sushi here! And go to the website and see what a wonderful menu they offer. What a great way to start off the week!

Spring is in the Air, but March will coming marching in!

Boy is it difficult staying inside! It is so nice out there. We played in the paddle boat on the pond this weekend and that is just what I want to go and do today!  But I am staying at the bench, the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival will be here before we know it. Well, I might go home a little early. After all you can find a lot of inspiration in playing with nature. Today I have been making bird themes...songbird pins and roosters too. They are in the tumbler and will have patina applied and stones set tomorrow. Pendant and pins have been my mode the past couple of days.

Oh, and how could I forget! I am doing bolo ties now too. I have had requests for them over the years and finally have done some. I will make some women's also. You think western wear will go over in NC??

I have a new look on my website now and I hope you will go take a look and let me know what you think of it. I also have an  up to date page of jewelry currently available to purchase now.

I am hoping my new thermocouple will come. My kiln is loaded with stones I hope to be fitting into my Best of Kiln category. you never know till they come out though. It really stinks to glaze, load and turn on the kiln only to have it not work! So stay tuned for some hopefully really cool stones to be coming out to be new jewelry! Now I am going to look for some tutorials on making images go where you want them on your blog!

Craziest, Most Difficult Customer? Wanna Play?

Anyone Want to Play? Tell  your story of your strangest or craziest customer interaction??

I have one to beat the band (and everything else you can imagine), but don't want to play alone! If you'll share I will and maybe we can write a column or a book!

I have so many fabulous customers-friends out there. I am lucky to have not had many, if any,  weird interactions and I LOVE my customers/clients/friends, and so you all will probably like this one or, at the very least, find it unbelievable.

Just a hint 56 emails! Let me know, this could be fun! Hide the names to protect the guilty too! Here or by email!