New Work: Minus One Hurricane

hydrangea vase

Hurricane Irene may have raged this weekend, but her havoc still remains: four inches is too little water for the tub but too much for my studio! Since work is now taking place in my kitchen for a few days, it's the time for getting photos posted of new work.

So...without further ado...hot off the presses...er...kiln...it’s new work! All of these pieces are inspired by this summer: the sunsets on the Vineyard, the blueberries from Princeton’s Terhune Orchard, the hydrangeas that bloom in profusion at my front porch. Even though fall is my favorite season, there is no denying the gorgeous bounty that Nature provides. Minus one hurricane.

lotus candles

hydrangea candles

spinnaker vases

blueberry vases

My Blog iPod

Watching my kids in the pool is not exactly conducive to building a lamp or glazing a candle.  But it is the perfect time for catching up with my blog reading. I love my blog list - it's like my iPod for the writer/reader in me - a carefully curated collection of my little obsessions.  I am going to share, but I have to say, I feel a little as if you're peeking into my underwear drawer.  No, it's not like I subscribe to naughty lingerie sites or worse, blogs about mental health (ugh).  And though I write this blog (which I believe about 3 people read, my sister included.  Hi, Sar,) you get a little window into my private person.

But privacy be damned!!  Here are couple of my fave blogs that are too good not to be shared.  Just make sure your laptop doesn't get splashed.

Anna Betts at www.colourandsound.blogspot.com  I want her perfect, quiet but colorful life in the UK.

Heather Smith Jones at http://www.bluesparrowpress.com/journal/  This artist makes charming, small-batch letterpress goods on an antique press in Lawrence, Kansas.

Molly Wizenberg is a talented writer, photographer and cook and marries all three in a feast of a blog at www.orangette.blogspot.com

There is a reason that Poppytalk is as popular as it is. This lifestyle blog has a DIY bent, and is updated daily with something to make you smile.  www.poppytalk.blogspot.com

The Colorful Alison Shaw

I love good photography.  Probably because I am pretty horrible at it, or, rather, I just don't take many photographs.  I'm lazy.  I am always trying to be "in the moment," rather than trying to preserve it.  I'm laughing at the silly face that's being made, or sniffing the delicious banana bread, or admiring the pile of red, red radishes at the farmer's market, or following that red tail hawk as it finds its nest.  Photo, schmoto.

(Shout out to my husband: if it weren't for him, there would be NO evidence that our family ever existed.  Thanks, lovey. Just one of the many reasons...)

So when I see photography that captures those gorgeous fleeting moments - the ones I'm too busy enjoying as my camera hangs heavy and useless from the strap around my neck - not only do I admire the image, but I admire the photographer, for having the discipline and grace, to create a beautiful slice of time preserved.

Photographer Alison Shaw is as graceful a photographer as I've seen.  Her twenty-five years on Martha's Vineyard are reflected in her work - images that are saturated, vibrant, almost painterly.  Color, color, gorgeous color - especially that cobalt island blue.  (Please forgive the tiny size of these photos.  The quality of her photographs I could get my hands on are such that they cannot be blown up - rightly so - a girl's gotta make a living, but then another frustrated girl's gotta write a blog...)

Shaw's brand new self-titled gallery in Oak Bluffs, MA. 

She just opened up her own shop in Oak Bluffs, MA, in an old, one-engine fire house.  No surprise: she painted her gallery blue!  And if you can't get to the Vineyard at the moment, just visit www.alisonshaw.com to see Shaw's gorgeous color and black and white photography in its full-sized splendor, as it ought to be.  It's totally worth the click.