Weather be damned........

Yes, I know I said I liked snow, but not in April and not on the First Friday Art Walk in Portland!  Please stop in at Chelliswilson during the entire month of April, this will be in the window.......

A pair of paint brushes and an iron pot........

The paint brushes are American with horse hair bristles......The iron pot is Japanese.  Both have wonderful patina.  info@ioneta.us

A beautiful morning to shoot this soulful boro Noragi.........

See more Friday, April 1st at ChellisWilson:  "Found" a new installation of vintage Japanese Textiles, mid-century studio pottery, and vernacular photography.  See you then.

Sometimes adversity ends up making you reevaluate what's important in life.....

Getting back to Maine has been tough.  Emotionally, it's been a life saver but I've had to sacrifice things that belonged to me.   Sometimes I wake up and mourn their loss, but then I realize that they are just things that have come and gone, something else will rise to take their place......or not.  And when I sit and think about it, I would give up most possessions just to be able to get up in the morning and look out across the islands, or go walking with the dogs, quietly, through the woods. 

I did receive this in the mail today from my wonderful dealer in Japan.  It's an amazing piece of indigo dyed felt.  This was probably used as an alter cloth and dates from the late Meiji period.  If you're interested, please contact me directly at info@ioneta.us

As I was going through my things, I found this carved horse that I picked up several years ago.  At the time, I bought it because it reminded me of the horses in Picasso's "Guernica".  Great movement.  I added the artist made finial.....it will be posted on Etsy tonight.

Many years ago, on a much earlier birthday........

My mother gave me a copy of Simca's Cuisine by Simone Beck.  This has been the standard bearer for me when I cook all things french.  My copy has travelled everywhere, both coasts and across the water.  Though it's dog eared, and favorite recipes bear smudges of butter, it has never failed me.  Tonight, in honor of my sister turning 50, Simca's Le Montmorency chocolate cake, wins the evening again.....

Of course we had her favorite pasta first!

Though David Foster Wallace has forever changed the way I view lobster, I found these two, old, hand tied lobster bait bags last weekend and filled them with some new tufts of moss that are begining to emerge after the snow melt........

Each night for the past week, I've watched with horror, the images coming out of Japan......

I've been in touch with my dealer in Tokyo, and she assures me that she and her family are safe and alright.  But, she says, the damage to the coastal towns has been extensive; many lives were lost.  I posted this mask of Otafuku, the goddess of mirth and happiness, because that is how I think of Japan:  Soulful, peaceful, happy.  I would like that again for the country.  It is in this spirit that I would like to encourage people to give:  During rest of March and through the end of April, I will donate 10% of any sales through my blog or Etsy store to Architecture for Humanity to support the rebuilding efforts in Japan.  Please do what you can.

Here the days are getting longer and warmer.  I noticed in the garden this morning, that the blood red heads of the peonies are just attempting to push through the frost hardened ground. The moss on the rocks and ledges is brilliant crimson, chartreuse, and deep, inky green.  You can smell spring!

I posted a few of my favorite finds last night, from an afternoon spent picking, I will be posting more this morning in my Etsy store.  Here's a small sampling:

And finally, this is Franny who is ever-present when I'm trying to shoot things for the blog.......she will never be for sale!

My day job is wine buyer for a local gourmet food shop.......

though I would rather be out picking most days, I need to pay the rent!  So tonight, as a result of my wonderful friend and wine mentor, Jack Scully of Easterly Wine, I'm savoring a glass of Marr Petite Sirah.  I'm not well versed yet in all the appropriate adjectives to describe this wine, suffice it to say: it's delicious!

The snow is finally receding and the days, (thankfully), are getting longer.  The dogs are enthusiastic adventurers; today we finally were able to go through the woods for the first time since late fall.

These are pieces I picked up today.  I've been wearing the pendant since I found it......Unless someone buys it on Etsy, it may end up staying in my collection!  The small mid-century Chinese rug depicting a dog is soulful against a rich indigo ground.

I remembered this from this past summer.........

The dealer still had it......I took that as a sign and asked him to send it.  Sterling and an old sea urchin quill....beautiful.  I will wear it this summer.

I was supposed to be getting tabs for my car today, (they are overdue......long overdue!)

It just happens that the DMV has moved right down the street from one of my favorite "picking" places.  The acquisition of the tabs was necessary, if boring, and so justified my trip to town.  Happily, I accomplished a couple of other things and found these pieces too:

This is an old boats buoy, the kind they don't make anymore.  And as this is the coast of Maine, I suspect that it probably was the mooring for a Lobster dory.  It's taken on another life out of the water; the sculptural quality of the sphere and attached O-rings imbues it with character.  Today is threatening rain and solidly grey, I admit that the ochre color of this piece drew my attention immediately!

This may be the begining of mud season......

but the northwest is so deeply ingrained in my being, that days full of rain
on this coast, are met with a quiet feeling of solace and calm.  Sometimes it's hard to distinguish the edges of the islands, and it reminds me of looking out across the Straits on similar March days in the west.

These are a few things that have been posted lately in my Etsy shop.  The gouache is entitled "Winter Light" , done in 1966 by a painter in Tennessee.  The opaque quality of the blues, russets and touches of amber have a stark, but beautiful feeling to them........