New pots in the kitchen ...

I'm making pots again in the studio, after a couple of weeks away from the wheel. More on that later on. But I'm still thinking of our time in Virginia and North Carolina and my few days up in Vermont with Bob and Chris Compton.

Like potters everywhere, our kitchen cabinets and shelves are filled with pots by other people, as well as some of my own. But I think we got a late start on some of our potter friends and will never catch up to the size of their collections. Dan Finnegan's small house in Fredericksburg, Va., is practically a museum of pots from both sides of the Atlantic. Hard to believe he finds room for himself and his cat to move around in there, for all the pots on tables, shelves and in cabinets. Lovely pots, too. The same is true of Meredith and Mark Heywood, whose collection of other folks' pots is everywhere. (And is used, as all good pottery collections should be.)

In their Bristol, Vt., home, Chris and Bob Compton have hundreds of pots on display and in cabinets. Open a door to find a cereal bowl and you have no idea what cool thing you'll find. I ate a hasty breakfast one morning of granola, banana and yogurt out of a lovely celadon bowl by Yasuko Dower. The bowl was as nourishing as the food. It could take 20 minutes to choose the right plate from the rack in the kitchen.

I should have photographed all those collections, but I didn't. Instead, I thought I'd post a couple of photos of pots we acquired from the Comptons and the Heywoods, which now go into the cabinets and on the table. Beautiful and functional pieces we'll use for a long time.

Top: Tumblers and wine cups by Meredith and Mark Heywood, Whynot Pottery, Seagrove, NC. Next: Wood-fired plate with rolled rope central decoration, Robert Compton, Bristol, VT.

Bottom: The bottom of the same plate, showing the wad marks and the flame-flow during the firing.