Never give up.

How many times will a garden freeze before the Gardener gives up.

My "Sensation" lilac froze this year but surprised me and rewarded me with a few second blooms.

Orchids will always reward you.  Good light and a little water is all they need. 

The snow is still deep on Horseshoe Mountain Ridge...
it will be a good watering year.   

My daisies are back after almost being wiped out last year by an overly zealous helper who tried to get rid of dandelions.

A new color of Foxglove? 

Our little town celebrated Heritage Days this past weekend.  

Many people came and bought.  My hand painted and simple bowls are still a favorite.

How is your garden growing?

Gina

It's a special day.

Celebrating 30 years of 

Pioneer Heritage Day Tours.

In 1970 our little town of Spring City, Utah was placed on the National Historic City Register. 

Only one other town in the entire country, Colonial Williamsburg, has been so designated. 

We are celebrating, as we have for the past 30 years, 

Fifty historic homes have been lovingly restored. 
Many of them will be open to the public on saturday, the 28th of May.  

Pioneer Heritage Day Tours will culminate with an exciting 
Art Auction and Art Sale. 

And I have been painting.

I'm looking forward to seeing old and new friends.

Champagne is on ice. 

My studio is open.  

Please stop by.

Gina

http://betweennapsontheporch.net

Symbiosis

Entirely dependent on each other.

Bees.  It is estimated that in North America 30% of the food humans consume is produced from bee pollinated plants.

These beehives are located about a mile from our house. 

The bees can see our house and they know that their first meal comes from the blossoms of our Box Elder Tree, very early in the Spring.  

Our wild Apple Tree and Fruit Orchard provide the next meal.  The value of bee pollination is about $16 billion in the United States alone.

  Commercial pollination services will move as many as 60,000 bee colonies on flatbeds and leave them in fields for 2 to 3 weeks at a time.  The bees are then moved to the next location. 

When these vegetables start growing in our garden, our neighboring bees will make sure to come for a visit.  

Cotton, Grapes, Sunflowers, Soybeans, Strawberries, Peanuts, Citrus, Alfalfa, Almonds, Annual and Perennial Flowers all need bees for pollination. 

 Cattle, sheep and many other animals feed on Alfalfa,  making   consumption of meat and dairy products possible.  Honey production from about 135,000 American beekeepers totals more than 149 million pounds every year.  

The old custom of moving beehives to crops where they are needed  for pollination is observed in many countries.  Here, beekeepers in Romania move from one field to the next, setting up housekeeping near their bees, often repeating the same route every year. 
Bees in Romania

It's been an interesting week at our house.  We had a bicycle club stop by for a catered Picnic a few days ago.  They had been on a historic barn tour for three days.  

 Tomorrow a young boy will be baptized by his father in our Pond. 

 I am told that the entire entourage, dressed in white, will be coming down our lane singing songs from 
"O Brother, Where Art Thou". 

All the while, I have been painting ceramics for our Heritage Day Celebrations.
Many people came yesterday and a few dollars where left in our Valley and in my pockets.

Flowers are growing in my garden.  Bees are visiting and so are our Friends from the big city. 




Symbiosis, Yes.

I make sure that I have lots of flowers in my garden.
And in exchange, our Beekeeper provides us with the finest honey you will ever taste. 

Have a wonderful week my dear friends.

Gina

Out of the Kiln

All looks good.

One never knows.

I try not to open the lid too soon.  The kiln takes about 12 hours to cool down. 

This group of tiles, which I painted for a client, will be installed in a new kitchen.  They will be incorporated into a back splash of white Subway Tiles. 

The next layer holds a few small items. Items everyone who comes  to our upcoming annual event, can afford. For the next few weeks,  I will be very busy painting ceramics large and small.

 The last shelf holds one of my best sellers. 

An opportunity for visitors to purchase something handmade, practical and inexpensive... my invention "Fancy Feet" foot scrubbers.


Have a wonderful week my dear
Blogging Friends,

Gina



 

Been Painting

Simple and clean.

Painting to get ready for Heritage Days.

May 2013.

Have a great remainder of the week my dear 

Blogging Friends, 

Gina 

It was a big Day!

And it was a very successful day.

Made money for the old School restoration

and a little money for myself.

An early morning stroll through the historic center of Deruta, Umbria, Italy, with my camera last October.
Thought you might like to see how the Italians do it.

Have a great week my dear

Blogging Friends

Please give me your opinion.

I would love your opinion, please.

Out of the Kiln this morning.

Two different styles.

My "Tondino Plate" also known as Cardinal Hat Plate, painted in my usual gypsy style.

For more about Tondini plates see an earlier post here

Tondini plates can be recognized by their deep indentation in the middle.  It forms a generous well, perfect for holding delicious morsels. The rim is usually painted in many colors and with very ornate designs to better show off the center motif.

Lately I have been drawn to a more simple style.

Showing lots of white.

Soon our little town will be celebrating Heritage Days.

I will be setting up shop in the old school. Many of our local artists will do the same.  We sell to many visitors and donate some of the proceeds to a good cause, the restoration of the Old School House.

I have another month to get ready for the sale. 

I would very much like to know what you think.

Thank You

my dear Blogging Friends.

Gina

I'm Painting, Painting, Painting

For the biggest event of the year in Spring City

Heritage Days

When my eyes get tired I look up and see this

And this

And this

And this

I'll be painting, not blogging

See you soon my dear Friends

Gina

I'm painting for a good cause

Every Year, at the end of May, Spring City celebrates

Heritage Days

See last year http://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2010/05/celebration.html

Our entire town is open to visitors. Many historic homes are open to the public.

Visitors come from far and wide

I donate part of my proceeds to the Old School Renovation Fund

This year I have decided to keep things light and inexpensive

Small trays for dipping bread in olive oil,  bowls, plates...

practical things.

Each dish is hand painted and all have different designs, yet they are still very affordable

Of course, I will also be selling my signature tiles and large ornamental plates, bowls, urns  and platters

When I was last at the "Scuola d' Arte Ceramica" in Deruta Italy,

the most revered Maestro, Romano Ranieri,  spent the day with me, teaching me the finer points of Maiolica painting. 

Maestro Ranieri painted the fruit you see on the left.  He then handed me the plate with instructions to paint the same design to the right.  He was surprised that I didn't follow instructions to the "T".   Yet he smiled at me with approval.

And this is the work of Maestro Romano Ranieri

I will be visiting the Maestro and Professor Nicola Boccini this September.

Gina