fiona watson: collage

Fiona Watson is featured in the latest Uppercase, in an article called Science and Poetry. I love that title. I always thought that there is something poetic about science.

Fiona comes from a background of editing medical journals, and the precision of medicine is evident in her collection of specimens. Fiona photographs her collections, and works them into her prints. To see more of Fiona’s work, click here.

tulips for grandma

One summer morning at the dacha, we all woke up to see grandma’s tulips gone. Someone had walked in during the night, and cut down all the tulips lining the walkway from the gate to the porch. Only three-inch stumps remained. It was as if we lost friends. That day felt lonely, desolate, frustrating, unfair; the emotions of mourning.

still life saturday with Ambrosius Bosschaert

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621) was a still life painter of the Dutch Golden Age.

dessert plates for Deb

A set of twelve dessert plates for Deb, to share lots of sweet times with loved ones.

in studio today

The light in my studio was beautiful this morning, so I took the opportunity to document some of the piece I have been working on for the past week. I also have a great new camera that I am just getting to know. So far I love it. Thank you, Mom!

tulips for grandma

My grandmother loved growing tulips in her garden. Her tulips were majestic creatures, welcoming everyone who walked into the front gate of our dacha. This bouquet is from my friends in NYC, for my grandmother. My heart and thoughts are in Russia today, with her. Thank you, AG.

still life saturday with tulips

Follower Of Ludger tom Ring the Elder

George Leslie Hunter

Jacques de Gheyn II

Nadine

Jan Brueghel the Elder

Terri Meyers

Ambrosius Bosschaert

glass artist steffen dam

From Steffen Dam’s artist statement:

During my first ten years of glass making I was practicing and experimenting with all the different techniques to become a good craftsman. While doing so, I discovered a new kind of beauty in the fringes of the well crafted glass I was making. In the area of mistakes and faults - the unwanted air bubbles, ash marks, soot, cracks and crookedness - I found something that cannot be predicted or sketched beforehand. I set the established and traditional techniques aside and started making glass all "wrong" in an attempt to capture the good in the bad. Out of these experiments came the "Fossils", "Plants" and other objects - like frozen extracts of chaos to be watched undisturbed.

To see more of Steffen Dam’s work, click here.

room with a view

This past weekend, the sun flooded my loft, and the blue of the sky was a welcome sight after a long hard winter.

muse

My grandmother, an optimist, a painter, an architect, a gardener, a reader, a conversationalist, a chef, a friend, a muse.

still life saturday with frank sadorus

Frank Sadorus, a farmer in Sadorus, Illinois, lived from 1880 to 1934, documenting the people and the land around him. Using a camera with plate glass negatives, he took incredible images of  blossoms found on his farm.

signage

I have been experimenting with labeling my serving pieces. The inspiration came from my customers, who, when picking up a piece, asked what to use it for. Being a big fan of type, I am happy to put it on just about everything.

Though I couldn’t bring myself to apply “pits” to the smaller bowl of this olives serving set. I guess I do draw a typographical line somewhere.

The “sugar and salt” set happened after my friend put a spoonful of salt into his morning tea, though funny for me, not so for him.

Natasha Morton’s exquisite paintings

Natasha Morton layers botanicals, circles, textiles, insects, typography, and pottery shapes, then sands the surface to give her paintings a worn, antique look. The result is multi-dimensional and mesmerizing. Natasha’s work can be found in her Etsy shop.