Must paint more bowls

Large or small, it doesn't matter.  

No matter how many bowls I paint I never get to keep any of them. 
Unless they come out of the kiln as a reject. 
That is the fun part.  I never know. 

Some of my bowls take a little more time to paint.

Some are sweet and simple.

And then there is everyone's favorite, blue, blue and more blue. 

I enjoy painting this border.  I make it up as I go along.  It never ends up looking the same.  

Bold

Happy and easy.

Sometimes I even paint the outside.

Some hold a lot, some little. 

This is still my favorite bowl.  

Have a great remainder of the week, dear friends, 
Gina

https://betweennapsontheporch.net/
https://tentoesinthewater.blogspot.com/ 

The Party is over.

The people came from far and wide.

Several of my ceramic pieces have new homes. 

Why is it so difficult to part with them? 

That was two days ago.  

Today it is raining.  What do you do when it rains all day? 

Why, make Pesto of course. 

This time I chopped it all by hand, including the roasted pine nuts.

Then added a little lemon juice and olive oil.  But no garlic.  Not this time...maybe next time.  There is still lots of basil growing in the garden. 

Wrapped up and into the freezer for winter meals. 

It will bring Summer right back into the kitchen.

   You ask if there is a recipe?  Not really.  Only a few ingredients required.  Fresh Basil leaves, fresh lemon juice to taste, sea salt to taste, roasted pine nuts so you can see them and a good olive oil to hold it all together.  

Have a great week dear friends. 

Gina 

A couple of weeks ago

I scrubbed my forty-year-old plates from Italy until they looked like new again. 

Then, I decided to paint a few new plates. 

And here they are. Brand spanking new. 

Only this group didn't have to come across the big pond.  

I also decided to add a few bowls to the mix.  

All look very similar to my original Italian plates which I purchased more than forty years ago. 

That is because I paint in the 600-year-old Italian Maiolica tradition using Italian pigments and Italian glazes.

The above set of 16 pieces is available in my Etsy shop.

Have a super weekend, 

Gina  

For Rosemary and Mark extra pictures of the plate rack 

Let us out!

We are ready to be planted outside.
We are ready to dazzle.

But wait, maybe we should reconsider;

nothing but WHITE.

Hellebore don't mind.

For now we can wait inside. 

And keep "The Painter" company.

Have a great remainder of the week my dear Friends. 

Gina 

It's a Jungle in there.

In my Greenhouse.

It's too early to take the Geraniums outside.  

Nasturtiums are even more tender.  They have provided me with lots of flowers during the winter months.  Don't want to lose them now. 

New Lemons are growing on my Tree.  I hand pollinated the blossoms.  My greenhouse is filled with their intoxicating perfume.  

This petunia doesn't know what color it wants to be.

Pear blossoms are beginning to show.

My show is only 2 weeks away.  I will be painting every day. 



Have a wonderful weekend my dear 
Blogging Friends. 

Gina 

Which do you prefer?

Gold or no Gold

If you have visited with me for a little while you know my preference for Gold.

Possibly, my early European training is to blame.

My house has many golden accents.

When spread out it's not quite so "gold."

A little gold is better than none?  

Or would you prefer no gold at all?

Like this?  

When I paint ceramics, the colors are fired to around 1800 degrees Fahrenheit (998 Celsius).

Gold is then added and fired again at a much lower temperature.

  

 Gold is very temperamental.  

I have a few extra plates with the wrong initials in my pantry.

Wishing you, my dear Blogging Friends,

lots of success in everything you do. 

Gina 

Thank You, Regina of Fauxology

Thank You Regina of Fauxology,

where  "Studying the Love Affair Between Decorative Painting and  Interior Design" is an every day adventure.   

Thank you Regina for including me in your "Kitchen Week", 

 the week-long series "focusing on five Artists with extraordinary projects".

http://www.fauxology.com/2012/07/kitchen-week-gina-garner/

Please visit Regina at Fauxology,

where you will have several opportunities to win a very special prize.  

From my garden to you. 

Gina

Every now and then I get to keep what I have painted

We worked on different ideas but in the end it wasn't quite right.

We will give it another try when her kitchen is ready.

A very large plate with a secret.

Under the gold is a different monogram.

This is a very large plate, it just barely fit into my kiln.

You can see that there is room for at least 30 more crostini.

It will come in very handy during our Summer Soirees.

And when not in use it can hang on the wall, a chimney piece or used as display on a stand.

This plate holds one more secret.

This initial is not permanent.

I can remove it and paint your initial inside the wreath instead.

And then it will be fired again, become permanent, you can scrub all you like and it will not come off, unless of course, I paint another layer of gold on top of that. 

Have a great weekend my dear

Blogging Friends.

Gina

All it takes is a few Tiles

And a bit of strong glue

Glue tiles onto board, add plastic feet to board.

Four small tiles hold several sticky preserve jars.

So easy to keep clean.

Not just for Jams and Jellies.
Also great for condiments.
And many more uses.


Have a great weekend my dear Blogging Friends.

Gina

Collecting - Collection

I don't collect, it just happened

While living part time in Santa Barbara, California, we often visited a certain consignment shop

Always, something interesting caught our eye and it would come home with us to Utah. 

No doubt, the flowers were added much later.

I didn't do it (although my friends have accused me of having done so)

No cabinet of this height would have only been 11 inches deep.

The previous owner cut half of it away and also cut a hole in the upper left hand corner to accommodate a thermostat.

As far as the shop owner was concerned  "she had ruined it".

I covered the hole with a home made Tussie Mussie

Large and small, they all fit

Mostly Capodimonte from Italy

A very old piece of Meissen

My very talented friend Renie painted these boxes

Small pieces of Capodimonte are not expensive.  They are easily found on the Internet

Not much room left

Where would I have put my treasures if the  "Lady hadn't ruined it"

and therefore, I could afford it.

 Yes, gold is my color

I like color, I must be a Gypsy

What do you collect?

Gina