Each Little World

Serene Sunday

Cool and cloudy here, with rain apparently falling around Madison, but missing us again. It would be so pleasant to spend a day indoors while a gentle rain refreshed the garden — and us.

Dan Toberer's big bowl on the deck with Stewartia blossoms.

Container gardening primer

Still more images from Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison. This group concentrates on all the myriad ways the staff plant and display containers. They include subtle potted groups that reflect the surrounding landscape . . .

. . . planted pots set deep within the larger garden 

. . . planted pots rising out of similarly colored floral areas

. . . same colors as above but using different plants for a completely different effect

. . . one plant per container for drama and emphasis

. . . these pots are a perfect way for those of us in cold climates to enjoy tropical plants in the garden but still easily bring them indoors in the fall

. . . a reminder that pots don't always need to be planted to have an effect in the garden

. . . a secret spot for a conversation with only a potted plant separating the speakers (note the sedge lawn instead of grass)

. . . and the pots de resistance at the garden entrance.

Bennington: Summer memories with recipe

Forty years ago this summer, my friend Monte and I packed up a home-made tent/trailer and drove 7,000 miles (or was it 10,000?) on a massive cross-country trip. We were roommates as well as art teachers, so we left when school recessed for the summer and returned Labor Day weekend. It was a great trip, resulting in lots of adventures which I remember via the first journal I ever kept.

All of this came back to me during my recent visit to Atomic Interiors where I purchased the Dansk BLT plates. Among the wonderful mid-century treasures the store offers was a set of four Bennington Pottery plates and bowls. Potter's Yard in Bennington was one of our stops in July, 1971, and we fell in love with their delightful dishes. I fell prey to temptation and memory at Atomic again and bought the eight pieces of Morning Glory Blue spatterware. Again, at $9 for the dinner plates and $7 for the bowls, Atomic's prices can't be beat. The current prices on-line at Bennington are $24 for the plate and $26 for the rimmed soup/pasta bowl. The pieces I bought at Atomic were made in 1961/62 when I was a freshman in high school; the company's been making stoneware dishes since 1948.

Along with notes and bits and pieces glued into that first journal was the this recipe for salad dressing (below) that we enjoyed at Potter's Yard. 

BENNINGTON DRESSING

• 1 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly cracker white pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepepr
• 1/4 tsp. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
  
• 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh garlic cloves
• 5 Tblspn. good tarragon vinegar
• 2 Tblspn. olive oil
• 10 Tblspn. vegetable oil
• 1 raw egg
• 1/2 cup light cream

Put all the ingredients in a jar and shake well to combine. Chill before serving. 

Alas, I did not make any notes as to what kind of salad this might have dressed. 

A new water feature

Recently Mark stopped in at one of our favorite shops on Regent St., HIgher Fire. It is a wonderful gallery/workshop/resource for those of us who love ceramics. Turns out that owner Linda Leighton is moving and won't have a garden in her new home, so she was "de-accesssioning" a wonderful piece by Dan Toberer of Omaha.

Mark had first seen this dramatic upturned platter, with its slashes of white glaze in the interior, at the Cambridge Pottery Festival a number of years ago. That's actually where and when Leighton acquired it. He loved the piece way back then, but it was beyond our budget. This time the price was right, so home it came with him. Then it went instantly out into our garden to serve as a new water feature at the edge of the deck. 

We spent a lovely evening with Toberer and his wife, Susan, last month when they were here for the annual Cambridge Pottery Festival. Toberer makes the kind of huge pots we love but have less and less room for indoors or out. This platter, however, looks like it was made for our garden and is also a practical and pretty way to remember Dan and Susan!

Clare Leighton

When I first became interested in gardening in the mid-1970s, there were few books on the subject being published in the U.S. Thus most of my early garden book were all purchases from second-hand bookshops. My favorite local source was Paul's Books on State St. here in Madison, a model of everything one wants in such a shop: tons of titles, knowledgeable staff, wood floors and shelves, and a window filled with plants, art and alluring titles.

One of my favorite finds from Paul's is "Four Hedges: A Gardener's Chronicle," written and illustrated with wood engraving by Clare Leighton. I'm fortunate that I happened upon a 1935 first edition for only $8.95. The reasonable price reflects the fact that there is a hand-written inscription inside the front cover: Carrie Ashton Johnson from Bertha / August 24th, 1936. (Any readers recognize those names? An aunt or grandmother from Wisconsin, perhaps?)

 

 

I mention "Four Hedges" — the opening chapter is pictured above — because the book has just been re-issued by Little Toller Books, an imprint of Dovecote Press which re-publishes classic titles about nature and rural life. You can find used copies on Amazon or buy it new (free shipping) from the UK Book Depository for only $15.26. 

 

When Leighton wrote "Four Hedges" she was a novice gardener but a highly skilled artist. I admit that I have only ever read bits and pieces of the text over the years. Though it's delightful, it was Leighton's wood engravings that spurred me to purchase the book. For much of his art career my husband has done wood cuts and wood engravings, so the book seemed like a must for our garden library — and the perfect gift for him.

The Jan./Feb. issue of the magazine "Antiques" featured an excellent article about the illustrations Leighton did for the Wedgwood china company in the late 1940s. The firm commissioned a set of 12 engravings depicting New England industries to be reproduced on a series of Wedgwood plates. The project took three years of research and execution. 

The scenes Leighton chose could be considered farewell messages as they depict American life on the cusp of major changes. The images on the plates resonate strongly with me because they show industries that were also once critical to Wisconsin: ice cutting, cranberrying and logging. We are still a major producer of cranberries and lumber. 

This is the back of the plate pictured above. Anyone who has seen white pines of almost any size or age can understand Leighton's description and just imagine those ancient forests that went sailing around the world. 

Cambridge Pottery Festival

This weekend is one of our favorite June events: the annual two-day Cambridge Pottery Festival and US Pottery Games. This year's event features 44 potters from ten states selling their wares. We are pottery fanatics, so we go to see who and what's new as well as keep in touch with lots of potter friends from around the midwest. 

For families, there's an opportunity for kids to try building coil or slab pots or raising them on a wheel at the hands-on "Learning Center." The Raku workshop gives kids a chance to glaze bisque pots which are then raku-fired by the pros.

This being the Midwest, nothing happens without food; lots of grilled summer fare was being sold by the Lions Club as well as a wonderful assortment of homemade pies by a local church. We arrived at the Festival quite early but we were still too late to buy a chocolate-raspberry pie! 

When we left the festival grounds at Lake Ripley Park, we stopped at Cambridge Wood-fired Pottery where Mark Skudlarek was hosting a kiln opening and sale. Mark is the potter who's made most of the big pots we own as well as lots of our dinner plates, serving pieces and vases! 

We couldn't leave the area without a stop at Heather's Bar & Grill in Rockdale for burgers and fries, complete with a view of the stream and wetlands. It may be a small town tavern but we noted that the program of choice on the big screen was the World Cup. And when we asked for hot sauce, we were offered Siracha Hot Chili Sauce as well as the traditional Tabasco. No question the world has changed.

Which came first: the tee-shirt or the pot? 

 
 

 

Potter Stephanie O'Shaughnessy of Galena (above) and me with a pot by Daniel Toberer of Omaha (below).

 

New potters whose wares caught our eye: Mary Jo Schmidt of Minneapolis whose decoration reminded me of rosemaling; and Glen Cutcher of Cambridge, who was selling painterly plates and light as air necklaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unloading the front chamber of the kiln (below) at Mark Skudlarek's Cambridge Wood-fired Pottery.

 

Mark's apprentice, Clayton, brings out work that is still hot from the kiln.

 

Mark and a customer discuss the fine points of glazes on test pots.

 

The new work is stacked on display boards.

 

The view from our seats — indoors — at Heather's in Rockdale.

Pot portraits

During the winter our collection of wood-fired pots reside indoors. Some are lucky enough to find a home in the main rooms of the house, but more than a few are forced to spend the cold months in the garage or basement. So it's always a thrill to bring them out onto the deck when warm weather arrives. This summer — for the first time — Mark moved all but four out of fourteen pots off the deck and into the garden. Limiting the decorative objects in the garden to stone — and stoneware — gives the garden a sense of cohesiveness and lets both the pots and the plants shine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pots range in size from 12 inches to 36 inches in height. The pots in images 5 and 8 are from Southeast Asia, the rest are by Wisconsin potters including Mark Skudlarek, Tony and Renee Gebauer, Michael Schael and Don Reitz.

A Day in the Country

HE SAID: I woke up Thursday morning to a pot of hot coffee and ginger scones drizzled with honey, all served on the deck with the New York Times. There were also a couple of lovely anniversary presents: "Love Poems from the Japanese" translated by Kenneth Rexroth and a CD called "Class of 38," a compilation of works by composers born in 1938. Some of them — William Bolcom, John Harbison, Gloria Coates, Charles Wouorinen — I know and like. The others I'm anxious to hear. (I'm listening to the music as I write this.)

Because she had suggested pottery, I told Linda that she'd have to pick out her present herself. So, after spending the bulk of the morning lazing on the deck, enjoying the garden, we grabbed the checkbook and a camera and headed out of town. There's a bridge being re-consructed on County B, our normal route to Heather's (above). As a result we were forced to take some unfamiliar roads — always a treat; but we needn't have worried about getting lost. "Heather" had placed classy signs at nearly every intersection guiding us to her joint overlooking the river in Rockdale.

I'm not a motorcycle fan. I've always thought that it wouldn't take me any time at all to kill myself if I ever tried to ride one. But this beauty in the parking lot of Heather's nearly took my breath away. I can understand why someone would want to ride a work of art. It almost seemed a desecration to have to put something as mundane as a license plate on it.

After Linda finished her burger and I my tenderloin sandwich and fries special (the Thursday special), we drove a mile or so down "B", past Dilemma Road and turned in at the sign for Cambridge Wood Fired Pottery. 

The address of Mark Skudlarek's pottery studio and home is "Tranquil Lane", and I don't believe there was ever a more appropriately named street. It is, in fact, more of a very long gravel driveway since they are the only ones who live on the lane; but it is a charming and tranquil place to visit.

Mark met us as we got out of the truck with his usual winning smile and enthusiastic handshake. When we mentioned that it was our anniversary he said that he and his wife Gaia had married within months of us. Mark and I also both graduated from St. John's in Minnesota, although some years apart. We spent the obligatory half hour catching up on personal news and politics before we excused ourselves to do some shopping in his indoor and outdoor sales areas while he went back to work throwing pots.

An earlier post had gotten Linda and I talking about art in the garden and how Mark's big pots looked so good almost anywhere we placed them. We decided then that we would think about adding at least one more big pot to our garden collection.

One of the reason's we are so enamored of Mark's work is that it is wood fired. The process is one that a 15th century Japanese artisan would be very familiar with. With very few exceptions, such as the modern pyrometer for measuring the extremely high temperatures reached in the kiln, very little has changed in the last 500 years. It still requires lots of wood and the patience and endurance to feed a fire continuously for three, five, or sometimes more days.

Mark's is a multi-chambered kiln, and he mentioned that he was rebuilding the third chamber. (The kiln is located under the roof behind the woodpiles and takes up most of the length of that space). While we were checking that out we were distracted by their chickens

Penned at night for their protection, during the day they roam around the studio and kiln shed. They didn't seem the least bit afraid of us

Linda was clearly smitten with the texture on this urn, and I certainly wouldn't have objected if she had decided that it was the one. But when we rejoined Mark in his studio he showed us three even larger pots he was working on. He explained how he had devised a way to add a makeshift concrete fly wheel to a commercial banding wheel to make a (not so) crude kick wheel for smoothing coil-built pots more efficiently.

Since his next firing is less than a month away, we decided to put off a decision until we saw these new works finished. 

By the time we got home we each had just enough time to get ready for work. But it was, by all accounts, a lovely way to spend an anniversary.

SHE SAID: Mark Skudlarek has his own beautiful Web site where you can see pictures of his pots and the firing process which is pretty amazing in a wood-fired kiln like his. The site also has a link to his Etsy online shop.

Who Loves the Rain

Who loves the rain

And loves his home, 

And looks on life with quiet eyes,

Him will I follow through the storm;

And at his hearth-fire keep me warm;

Nor hell nor heaven shall that soul surprise,

Who loves the rain,

And loves his home,

And looks on life with quiet eyes.

— by Frances Shaw

SHE SAID: Mr. Mark, I found the above poem and it made me think of you: Happy 21st Anniversary. Apparently, the traditional gift for this occasion is brass or nickel. I was thinking more along the lines of pottery or paintings — thus these images. Should we go shopping and buy ourselves a treat to celebrate and add our personal stimulus package to the economy at the same time?

Items pictured (from the top): A pair of tea bowls by Malcolm Greenwood, 2006. "Waves," a gouache by Kathleen Guthrie from Unsung Heroines gallery. A tall basin, made at Yixing, one of many pieces that survived the sinking of the Chinese ship, Desaru, off the coast of Malaysia in the 1840s. "Blue Rain" by Susan Shippey Borski at Roadside Scholar.

The autumn table

It definitely feels like October here in Wisconsin with cooler days and frost warnings. Even though most of the leaves in my garden are still green and still on the trees, fall is clearly progressing. The change in the weather does require some concessions: the first fire in the fireplace, lap robes added to our reading chairs, Manhattans instead of Margaritas.

And as always at my house, there’s a shift in the table settings to reflect the time of year. I swap the whites, the French blues, the Delft blue and white china of summer for autumn leaves, pumpkin stripes, and dark rustic tones. The pantry is stacked with plates like this one (below) from Mark Skudlarek of Cambridge Woodfired Pottery.

This is one of my favorite plates by artist Mark Skudlarek. Do you see stars? I see Japanese maple leaves.

A different dish every day, every meal or even every course. Over the years I’ve amassed a trove of plates, bowls, mugs, pitchers, and teapots from Skudlarek. And fall is the perfect time to drive out to the country to visit his combined shop and studio to see what’s new. Luckily for those who don’t live nearby, Skudlarek now has an Etsy shop where you can find his treasures without leaving home.

Mark Skudlarek's pottery shop in Cambridge, Wis. is filled with his wares — inside and out (above).