Boxes and homegrown tomatoes. . .

Well. The Grand Son (GS) is back in Texas, about to start school. But we spent some time in the studio before he left, and these were our last projects. Bear with me. They're still greenware (unfired), and mine is darker because it's wetter. GS chose to have a set-on lid, while I decided to make mine into a solid cube and then cut it. Different strokes. GS had actually made a triangular stamp (that had to be bisque fired before using) that is on the lid. It has his initials in it. I, as usual, chose a more botanical theme. 

Making stamps is way fun. We also made some from plant and rock and mulch material that we just gathered from the yard. . .a door from my studio takes us right out there. More on these after they get glazed and finished.

In the meantime, the tomatoes are starting to get serious. They are WAY late this year. The summer has been cool and rainy. I'm sure this is because we installed a COMPLETE drip irrigation system this spring. We haven't needed it once!

Back to homegrown tomatoes. A friend of ours introduced us to Guy Clark and his song, Homegrown tomatoes. There ain't nothin' that money can't buy except true love and homegrown tomatoes. Here's a Youtube for your entertainment pleasure. . . 

Guy Clark Homegrown Tomatoes

 Well. I'll take some images of our tomatoes soon. But in the meantime, I found a bunch of images I meant to share. Some are from MUCH earlier:

We had some awesome peonies this year. . .just Sarah Bernhart cultivar, but I love them so much. Unfortunately the rains of the season just beat them down. I cut them and brought them inside to EXTEND their lives, which is almost never the case. Fortunately, the foliage still looks good, so we should have another good showing next year.

And for the record, I am so grateful for our cool rainy summer. The rest of the country has faced broiling terrible heat, and here we are, cool as cucumbers. One of our neighbors told me that she had patients who told her that in some summers, her "bones never had a chance to get warm". I think this might be one of those summers, though we still have more summer ahead of us. We'll see.

I also had a series of disastrous tumblers. Some worked out well (see previous post), but my two favorites had unseen leaks. I had no idea until I filled them with water that they weren't water tight. It's a unique problem in my experience. They were all made from the same clay (except for the porcelain one), made and fired the same way. It was one of those heartbreaking moments in a functional artist's life.

These were the two that leaked. My very favorites, one for my consort, one for me. Sigh.

 

A more successful venture was the dog dish I made for our retiring Border Collie. Pretty sweet. In clay, as in all things, you bake some and  you burn some. More later!