Vase, Weller Pottery ~ Glazed Earthenware decorated by Jacques Sicard 1903

as seen at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art
photo by Wayne Stratz

On the Way to Silence: a stop at the Ugly Oyster Drafthaus

I saw some tweeting about a garden gnome and the next thing I know was in the passenger seat being driven by a jazz loving, pie making friend who happened to be the father of 2/3 of the 20 somethings in the back seat,who for some reason call me uncle.  We were headed to see some minor league baseball.

So I was reading the directions and saw a list of restaurants at the bottom.  The Ugly Oyster Drafthaus and as the night unfolded it became a bit of an obsession, especially when one of the young ones checked out their website.  This is what it claimed...

Ours is the Oldest Pub in the county. The Ugly Oyster was built in Yorkshire England by Traditional English Craftsman. It was disassembled, transported and reconstructed by those same craftsman at it's current location. The authentic Celtic atmosphere projects feelings of warmth and welcome.

I knew it would be visited when I went to Wernersville and it is where in the midst of the hand crafted beauty, I ate lunch on the way to some silence ~

Wordless Wednesday: Roycroft Wisdom

Go wordlessly, or at least only words in your image ;')

Have yourself an arts and crafts weekend in Allentown

In July I started up a conversation with Paul Gretian whose amazing photos happened to be at the same show as our craft. Later in the weekend he invited us to apply to the show his chapter of the PA Guild of Craftsmen puts together and so we will once again be honored to have our craft in the same space as his.

What is art what is craft? No matter. I am inviting you to have an Arts and Crafts Weekend in Allentown, PA.

The Craft show is happening Novemeber 6 and 7 at the Swain School. details

What I suggest is that you make a day of it and head to the Allentown Art Museum while you are in town for the craft show. It is great to hear that the museum is expanding, but sad to report the big connection is falling flat. You see the museum purchased a room that was owned and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was at this moment in the blog post where I was to connect arts and crafts, but the museum's expansion has closed the room from the public view.

And here I was to point out the specific painting by Arthur Dove which Mosaic Woman loves so much, but apparently not everything is easy to find on the internet. But here is a cool Arthur Dove painting of a sunrise:


by Micah MacAllen

The painting we saw at the museum reminded Mosaic Woman of mandalas, which she just happened to blog about.

and let me end with this: as I was writing this post, I was chatting with a member of the Swingle Singers on Twitter. I may just meet her and hear them when they tour the US. They take on many a genre and you can explore that, but this one caught my eye and ear. Have a glorious day and see you in Allentown

wordless Wednesday: Game Fish by Larry Fuente

The PA Guild of Craftsmen are still hosting a party

The Garden Party is almost over in Lancaster, PA. When Mosaic Woman got her craft accepted into the show, we decided to do a new collaboration. The only thing blooming were crocuses, so for one of the two we chose orange and violet for the letters:

We decided to make another, so last night I placed 24 pieces of glass into her studio...

as for my own garden, I have high hopes of eliminating some weeds this weekend, but first comes a hair cut, first in nearly 4 years

Gratitude 6--- mass production and 133%

We needed a new printer and a trip to buy one showed us the world had changed. Machines that printed, and did many other things were relatively cheap and one has become a valuable ... "tools of the trade."

I went into a bit of a crafting fury as the recent shows approached. I had a relatively new design which I liked but thought it would be cool to have it larger, in fact 133% would work just fine so ...



Both sold to friends of mine at the Belsnickel show.

Having sold my last heart I broke down and made four new hearts, while at the same time I came up with what I am calling a star flower...



So finding God in all things from erasures to my imagination to glass grinders. I am glad I can do my own form of mass production so much easier using our multi-tasking Canon MP470. Last Thursday though when I felt some peace from the craft show frenzy. I liked that stillness and have slowly been working on a series of three star flowers that have all 6 colors of the rainbow and the color that emerges when the two extremes of our vision are blended... more on that color on another post.

see more at our ETSY shop

Gratitude 3

I am blessed... color vision, glass, macro photography and the love of a good woman, who asked me to document her mosaics...






















...

helping the economy

As we parked, I said, " so the rules are..."

well, it came down to a list of behaviors that annoy us when we are in our booth. The biggest rule was not being a big tease.

Well, I am sure the good folk in DC wanted us to pump money into the crafter economy and thus we headed into the 10th Annual Tile Festival at the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works in Doylestown, PA.

first we decided to buy something bigger than we normally would...


art tile made P (squared) Ware in Downingtown, PA by Patricia Brown Tolton



then these squirrels caught our eye...


art tile made by sligo creek tile co. in Takoma Park, Md. by Linda and John Hume



Then Mosaic woman thought she needed something for her studio...


art tile made at Clay Rat Studio in Souderton, PA by Eric C. Boynton


so I said, "I am going to buy something from that booth," a booth we have entered every year with out buying one thing


Art tile made by Motawi tile works in Ann Arbor, MI

How to respond????

When Jesus turns around and says, "What do you want?" How do you respond?

Those words from Jesus stayed with me this past week and Wednesday night I when I reflected on this week of the exercises.

I desire to keep following Jesus.
I desire to find what desires God has for me.
I desire to live fully.
I desire to relate to others, intimately.
I desire a heart that does not harden as I age as a teacher.
I desire to be filled with hope, peace, joy, and love.
I desire to be aware of my physical, emotional, and spiritual self.
I desire to .... one day open up that Marula Jelly that Mosaic woman bought me for Christmas.

speaking of Mosaic woman. it is about time to show off some of her work....

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