Roadtrip 2010: dream Hamburg

This week's Corner View theme is "summer", so since we're going on a giant roadtrip this summer, I thought I'd focus on another one of our planned stops, Hamburg. Wait, haven't I been saying we wanted to drive around Scandinavia? Well, we would be passing by Hamburg on our way north and who wouldn't want to stop in something called the Havenstadt - Harbor City? With a view like this, it shouldn't be missed, don't you agree?

We'll also be visiting a friend. I highly recommend checking out Allison's sweet blog and her amazing shop, Stillwater Designs. She's very talented in her bag and jewelry making and she's got a fantastic selection of fabric for sale. She also married a German and we're looking forward to hanging out together!

Photos courtesy of: Mannfred-Hartman and 2, Psychohh, Huschelchen666, difridi, Sebastian W., and -sel.

For more Corner Views from around the world (and see some cool striped beach tents), head over to Spain Daily.

Humble Mill Pottery in Seagrove, NC

One of the great things about Seagrove, NC is the variety of styles. I've chosen to highlight two of my favorite studio visits, but don't think these studios represent all of Seagrove. The variety of styles means there's something for everybody!

I admit to getting my hopes up as soon as we pulled into the gravel driveway going up to Humble Mill Pottery. A black and white cat lazed in dappled shadows while a woman in a straw hat puttered in the flower garden. The old, yellow house seemed to sag in all the right places and I liked the hollow, tromping noise our feet made as we walked across the wooden porch. The screen door slapped shut behind us and we made our way into the showroom.

I instantly loved everything I saw. A wheezing window unit blew a cool breeze mixed with the scent of fresh flowers and I felt like I was in the set design tent of a Merchant-Ivory film or the back of an April Cornell shop. Charlotte Wooten, the primary potter, spent several years living and working in Japan, and it flickers through in several of her themes and overall style.

Her website offers a nice explanation of the type of pottery she makes: "Charlotte's work reminds many people of majolica or faience. While similar in spirit, those styles are usually low-temperature earthenware with decoration painted on top of a white glaze. The difference is that Humble Mill Pottery starts on a harder, dark clay body; white slip is painted onto the body. Decoration is painted onto the slip, and then each piece is dipped into a clear glaze and fired. It is durable and long-lasting tableware. The pieces have a good vitreous ring to them, are food safe, and can go into the microwave and dishwasher."

I really enjoyed the hand-painted style to her designs and was pleased when she came through the screen door and told us to feel free to explore her workshop in an adjoining room. I loved that it felt like she'd camped out in a historical home's living room to do her work. It seemed unusual and appropriate at the same time. From the wicker couch by the fireplace to the corner cabinet filled with unpainted projects, this was a lovely space. There's something special about walking into a workshop. Have you ever noticed that? Her workshop felt very of-the-moment, with brushes lying out and a half-finished project on the stand -so inspiring!

I went back out into the entryway where a set of dark painted stairs rose to the second floor. Old books were stacked against the wall going up the staircase, inviting me to take a seat and have a read. When I commented to the owner about her beautiful work and setting, she smiled, pleased, and said, "When I saw this house I knew it would be perfect for me! When I brought all my things in, all my furniture, it just fit. It all perfectly fit, like it was meant to be!". Really, I couldn't imagine a more fitting environment for her work. It really does seem to be a perfect fit!

Regrettably, we didn't make any purchases at her shop, but it will be among the first places I purchase next time I go for a Seagrove piece. I know one of her little bird vases would be perfect to brighten up a corner in my home! If this is a style that appeals to you, it looks like you can purchase her things online here.

I wish we could've stayed here a little longer, but our little group had to push on. Stay tuned to for more in the Seagrove series: another pottery studio and a chance to meet a potter in a Living Colors post!

The Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC

I was pretty excited when I realized our drive to the beach would take us past Seagrove. I had always wanted to visit, but it was one of those things that just never worked out. Even this time we only had a few hours, but we made it count. Our first stop was the North Carolina Pottery Center and Museum. This is a lovely spot to get your bearings and should be anybody's first stop in Seagrove (unless you're staying at one of the cute B&B's).

There were some great photos and displays of life in Seagrove from waaaay back, well, way back in time for the US, baby country that it is! Nothing American seems old after living in Germany, ha ha! Native Americans who lived in this area had long since been utilizing the local clay supplies before European settlers arrived in the late 1700's and began scrapping out an existence as farmer-potters. By the mid-1800's, Seagrove was established as a pottery center.

At this point I could get all nerdy explaining the types of pottery and glazes used (I loved this part of my archaeology studies in the Middle East back in college), but I'll spare you and send you over here for more details. Suffice to say, people in Seagrove were practically focused, but were also always dreaming up new things. Satisfied with the status quo? oh no!

A line from the town's site reads, "By the late 1920s, Seagrove area pottery was well known from the galleries of New York to the garden shops of Florida." It was really neat to see the progression of styles over time. One particularly interesting area was focused on face jugs (sometimes called 'ugly jugs'). I'd seen these often growing up in NC, but never really knew the story behind them. The history of face jugs has to do with African witchcraft, Caribbean voodoo, slaves with no grave markers, and on to moonshine. Intrigued? You can read more details about face jugs here. Have you ever seen a face jug?

In the middle of the museum was the current exhibit, Buncombe County Historical and Contemporary Pottery. This was really fascinating for me! I'm pretty much in love with the lines from Leah Leitson's sugar and creamer. She only works in porcelain and is on faculty at Warren-Wilson in Asheville, NC. My brother really liked the shiny raku vessel by Steven Forbes-deSoule. Akira Satake's teapot is also a showstopper, isn't it? By the way, the strawberry jug, above, is from Julie and Tyrone Larson. Isn't it sweet?

Fran Welch made a truly lovely piece with her "Sisters" plate, below. I really like the modern collage feel of it. It seems very tactile, despite the intricate artwork. Heather Tinnaro made a lovely series of delicate vessels with the leaves and birds, don't you think? I can imagine one of Alice in Wonderland's elixirs in one of these bottles. Of course, the 'Desk Set' by Leah Leitson, who made the sugar and creamer set above, is really cool. How fun would it be to have them holding your pens and pencils?

So once you walk through the museum and get all excited about the history, the heritage, and all the creating that goes on in Seagrove, you start to panic a little and wonder how you're going to absorb all the local studios, especially if you only had a few hours like me! Not to worry, the museum has a huge open shelving area filled with samples from local potters. They also have a map marking the locations of the different studios so you can plan accordingly.

We didn't make it to Thomas Pottery, but isn't that sugar bowl darling? We did make it out to His Hands Pottery and were thrilled to see an entire Noah's Ark in person. They had all the animals in pairs across a table. It was really amazing how intricate the entire set was! Phil Morgan featured the tall, yellow chrystaline vase, below. I was l.o.v.i.n.g. the yellow glaze, isn't it incredible?! We did make it to his studio and were amazed to see even larger vases in person! I'll talk more about what chyrstaline is later in the series. Finally, a sample of Humble Mill's pottery is at the bottom right. I really loved her style of design, and will be talking more about her studio in the next post!

Stay tuned for more in the Seagrove series: visits to two pottery studios and a chance to meet a potter in a Living Colors post!

Seagrove, NC: Traditionally modern ceramics

I'm announcing a 4 part series on Seagrove, North Carolina. As I've gone through my photos I've realized that I would either have one eternally long post, or I could break it up into digestable amounts. Seagrove is a really special area and totally deserves a drawn out presence on my blog. My childhood and part of my family roots are in North Carolina, so I think it's appropriate to share a little of the handmade and artisan culture from that corner of the globe.


There will be a post on the local pottery center and history of Seagrove, posts on my two favorite studios that we were able to visit, and finally an artist interview for the Living Colors series. I'm really excited about the artist interview as it was a completely last-minute idea and I think it will be a nice capstone to the series! (there will even be a short video, rock and roll!)

Do we see a theme here?

Well I'm back from the beach in time for this week's Corner View series. I had to smile when I saw the weekly theme was 'noticing' because as I was going through all my pictures from my trip I was noticing that almost all of my pictures were of my niece! I didn't take a single picture of the beach (but with 84% humidity I wasn't really crazy about taking the camera outside anyhow)!

However, I did take a ton of pictures when we stopped in Seagrove, NC. I have to finish up a work project before tackling the post on what we saw, but it's local, it's handmade, and it's lovely. Stay tuned!

For more Corner Views from around the world, head over to Jane's place! (I'm loving the dance recital pix from Spain!)

beach bound + freebies

I'm still taking a project with me on the plane tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to my trip to the US. I'll be heading down to North Carolina to spend some quality time on the beach with my family and build sand castles with my little niece. I'm sure there'll be some freshly caught seafood and vinegar BBQ in there as well! I love love love the Carolina beaches -I can't say it enough! Dunes, warm water, surf to play in, soft sand to dig in, gorgeous wildlife, tasty seafood...

(photos from Crackpot Creative)

I thought I'd leave you with some freebies and fun that I've found around the blogosphere. It's really amazing how talented some folks are!

1. Ez's got a lovely DIY tute on how to doll up some decorative clothespins.
2. Benign Objects has a great free downloadable CD sleeve (and a fun free playlist too!)
3. Joy the Baker has a recipe for killer chocolate peanut butter cupcakes - I'm going to the land of Reese's - yeah!
4. Jessica featured some quirky greeting cards to download for free.
5. Strawberry lemonade cupcakes? um, yes please! (via I still love you)
6. iDiY delivers again with some cute free vintage labels.

Enjoy and see you in two weeks!

Corner View: From where I'm sitting

I thought I would pop in to blow off the dust, enjoy the sound of crickets (not), and post for this week's Corner View. It seems fitting that this week's theme is "From where I'm sitting" because this allows me to show you why it's been dead around here lately rather than boring you with too many words.

You may or may not be aware of the fact that I'm a freelance editor (really? no clue? check out my website). Like most freelancers, work comes in spurts and, like the rain in German springs: when it rains, it pours!

I also teach part time at our local university. This is where I help the science guys learn how to write better research papers and clean up their English. In the fall I'll be teaching ESL here as well, which prompted my recent attandence of a teacher's conference, where I went into information overload. I do like the mix of activity, but I wish there was a way to regulate the flow...

because if I were to spin my chair around to look at what's opposite of my desk, I have this stack of temptation boring holes in my back as I slave away at my editing. Really, I do wish we could get our doors on these shelves!

I've also been getting the house ready for guests who arrive tomorrow and been ignoring the fact that a week from today I'll be in the US (because there is soooo much to do before then!).

For more (likely less stressful) corner views from around the world, head on over to Spain Daily.