Valentine’s Day is a holiday that you either loathe or love. To me it seems like a holiday more for kids that adults. That said, I thought these bowls from West Elm might be a perfect Valentine gift. They are not cute, tacky, cliche or any of those other adjectives that come to mind when I think of many Valentine gifts. These bowls are pretty and useful all year long, for kids or adults.
Friday Find: A Valentine Gift That Isn’t Tacky?!
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Trout Fishing in Montana Bowl
Unlike the fish in yesterday’s post, these trout are circling for a different reason. They are trying to decide if they should go for the fly in the center. It looks tasty, but sometimes it is good to be suspicious. In this case, the fly has a hook and is attached to the fishing pole of the fellow fishing on the river bank. See him on the outside of the bowl in the photo below. The other side of the bowl has a moose (not shown), another frequent sighting in the streams of Montana. The bowl is 3 inches high x 9 inches in diameter.
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Lots of Little Fishes Bowl
This little blue bowl is filled with a school of small fish swimming in a tight circle. If you like to fish in the ocean, you know this as a ‘bait ball’– a very good sign that there are larger fish in the area as well. To see a bait ball in action, check out the YouTube video titled ‘Bluefin Tuna Eat Bait Ball.’ Make your snack part of the mix with this bowl, (1.5 inches high x 4.5 inches diameter) but watch your fingers!
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Ring-Tail Lemur Pitcher
Ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) live in the wild only in Madagascar. This pitcher features a mom lemur carrying a baby lemur on her back. The handle of the pitcher is also the mom lemur’s ringed tail (7.25 inches high x 7 inches diameter including handle).
These very distinctive creatures have been popularized by ‘Lemur Kingdom‘ on Animal Planet. If you like your lemurs in a slightly silly context, try ‘Fierce Creatures‘ a movie starring John Cleese.
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Peacock Vase
Peacocks are one of the most elaborately decorated members of the animal kingdom. As a result, it is not surprising that they have been used as a subject in art and ornament for centuries. Having just finished Walter B. Denny’s book ‘Iznik,’ I learned that peacocks were frequently featured in the highly regarded ceramics of the Ottoman Empire of the 16th century. For a little history and several photos of ceramics from that era (including one with a peacock currently at the Louvre), click here. While I don’t expect the Louvre to be calling for my vase featuring three peacocks anytime soon, I hope you enjoy it none the less (6.5 inches high x 5.25 inches diameter).
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Friday Find: 10,000 Years of Pottery
My nieces gave me this great book for Christmas. Released in paperback in 2010, it is a great survey of ceramic history and development. Emmanuel Cooper, a well known potter himself, has written the book with plenty of technical details that practicing ceramicists will find interesting. The ‘Britishisms’ are fun too. With lots of high quality photos for inspiration, “10,000 Years of Pottery” is a must read for any aspiring potter interested in the history of the craft.
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Ocean Cottage Bowl
An ocean cottage with a dock in front is a dream. This bowl is perfect for someone with an ocean house, or a much less expensive option for someone who wants one. These cottages are reminiscent of those you might find in harbors all along the New England coast. The bowl is a great size to feed summer guests (4.5 inches high x 7.5 inches diameter). Get ready now!
Cherry Blossom Vase
This tiny vase with white cherry blossoms on the top and stripes on the bottom has a unique shape that I had never thrown before this piece. In size and shape I can imagine someone using this vase as an inkwell in days gone by. Calligraphy has faded from everyday use with the plethora of computer fonts and printing technology. However, there is still a subtle beauty in words written in an artful hand with a nib pen and ink.*
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Something’s Fishy Bowl
This little butterfly fish (Chaetodontidae family) will be hiding under what ever you put in this bowl until you get to the bottom. Normally these brightly colored tropical fish are swimming among the coral reefs looking for sea worms and other yummy snacks with their pointy snouts. Many different varieties have been nicely photographed and labeled by Keoki Stender on her website MarinelifePhotography.com. The bowl is 2.25 inches high x 5 inches in diameter.*
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Friday Find: Paintings by Lynda Lowe
"Patra 55" by Lynda Lowe
At the Arden Gallery in Boston this month is an artist who combines pottery and painting. Many of her paintings include bowls as part of their subject. A couple of them, like the one on the left, are accompanied by ceramic bowls that Lynda has made. To learn more about Linda, visit the gallery on Newbury Street or visit her website.
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Bowl of Flowers
The flowers on this bowl are similar on the inside and out, except the background and flower color are reversed. With carvings on the inside and out, the bowl will look beautiful full or empty, seen on a high shelf, or down low on a coffee table. You can’t go wrong. It is 3.25 inches high x 8.75 inches in diameter, a great serving size.
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Forsythia Bowl
Forsythia is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring around New England. Bursts of bright yellow can be seen in yards all around the area. On this bowl (2.25 inches high x 4.5 inches diameter) I tried to capture a few of the branches in bloom. Of course it is only January, but this bowl might be just the thing to brighten your day until spring is here.
In addition to their ornamental use, forsythia branches are used as the bow for a Korean stringed instrument called an ajaeng.
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Seahorse Bowl
This pair of seahorses is hanging on to the grasses in the ocean in order not to float away. One of the biggest and best aquariums in the country, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is currently having a seahorse exhibit titled ‘The Secret Lives of Seahorses’. The first live seahorse I ever saw was at the smallest aquarium I have ever been to, the Ocean Explorium in New Bedford, MA. Strange and prehistoric-looking, there is something quite intriguing about seahorses. One of the most interesting things about them is that the males give birth instead of the females.*
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Beetles Bowl
This little beetle bowl (1.75 inches high x 3.5 inches diameter) has four of the little creepy crawly creatures lying in wait for whatever you might chose to put in the bowl. Of course I could make some comment about the ‘other’ four Beatles, but am I the only person on the planet who doesn’t like their music? Probably. Oh well, to each his own.
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Friday Find: Antigua
Whenever I go on vacation, I like to find out what the local ceramicists are up to. Currently in Antigua, I have not managed to leave the resort in which we are staying. As a result, I have no information about the local pottery scene. However, I have become quite intrigued by the colony of tiny Caribbean hermit crabs that live on the beach here. Each morning they wonder by in their borrowed shells, then come back just before dusk. I am not sure where they go, but look for these little characters on one of my pots in the future.
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