This One Thing

I visited the MFA in Boston last weekend, and saw oodles of wondrous things. And after taking in walls and walls of paintings and glass cases filled with artifacts, there is always ONE THING that rises to the surface of the sea of viewed objects and haunts me after a trip to the museum. One time it was an Alice Neel portrait, another time a vivid green painting by Arthur Dove, and after yet one other museum trip, what stuck with me was a small charcoal self-portrait scribbled on a napkin by Picasso.

This time it was this wonderfully animated portrait bust in the Renaissance section of the museum, painted with brilliant majolica glazes. I just love her expression.

I want to make one of these...

Islesford Pottery

View from the dock...

Kaitlyn and me with friends outside Islesford Pottery...

And inside, potters Marian Baker and Kaitlyn Duggan...

Painted rocks for the upcoming cat themed fund raiser to raise money to insulate the Neighborhood House...

Poet Rick Benjamin, working on a philosophical poem about slugs...

The shop is the hangout for locals and visitors...

Kaitlyn at work while chatting with visitors...

My husband Garry outside the shop with feathered friends...

Islesford Dock...

Behind the dock...

Pics from our visit to Little Cranberry Island last weekend. Our daughter, the potter Kaitlyn Duggan, lives there year round with her husband Cory, and works at Islesford Pottery, which is located on the Islesford Dock on LCI. Recently the shop was visited by Martha Stewart, who took pictures of Kaitlyn at work, and wrote about it on her blog! Exciting!

Life is Bowlful of...

My beautiful new piece of Kaitlyn Duggan pottery...

Zinneas! They were my Gramma's favorite. Today would have been her 114th birthday! :^D

My day card...

Bee balm...my hummingbirds' latest hangout in the garden...

Summertime is all about abundance...

On the Table: Matisse and Miller

Matisse

Miller

Matisse

Miller

Matisse

Miller

Matisse

Miller

(and when I say Miller, I mean three of us: Martha, Kaitlyn, and Lisbeth!)

Half the fun of creating these new table linens for Lisbeth's Etsy shop is setting up the still life for the photo shoot! I ordered several more yards of quilting cotton from Spoonflower yesterday, with plans to make (among other things) a patchwork quilt using Lisbeth's colorful mandalas! Stay tuned!

Little Cranberry Home

I posted about my daughter Kaitlyn and son-in-law Cory's new/old house last summer...

They spent the winter working their arses off renovating the place!

They tore down walls and created a new kitchen...

where this strange little room used to be...

Mr. and Mrs. "Dusty" Duggan.

They make a great team!

Custom built kitchen cabinets arriving. Yes, just think of the logistics - all building materials had to come over by boat...

(Top nine photos from Cory's Facebook album)

Cory working on refinishing the floors.

They cleaned up real purty!!

Looking into the new kitchen...

Giving the pastor the upstairs tour...

The hearth...

Garry and I spent Easter weekend with Kait and Cory, and they put us to work. Here we are cleaning and airing the furniture that was in storage all winter. Well, they are working, I am documenting! I did help clean, honest!

The front yard...

Cory looking at the finished ceilings...he's always on the beam! :^)

New kitchen cabinets - a pretty pale sea glass green...

Kait giving me a tutorial on exactly how to paint the cupboard doors. She's a pro...

Mom helping with the finish coat...

Kait installing the butcher block counters...

Propane guy installing the gas stove...

Kaitlyn's gorgeous handpainted mandala floorcloth that will go in the kitchen. Their kitchen floor is wood and is painted the dark green color you see in the floorcloth...

The den...

The guest bedroom...

The master bedroom...

Kaitlyn and Cory made their big move Wednesday of this week! Won't the place look amazing filled with Kaitlyn's colorful pottery?

Waving farewell from the dock...

...till next time!

They surely live in one of the most beautiful spots on earth!

This is what is at the end of their street...