Butter Keeper

Here's a great idea for keeping butter fresh and at room temperature. Take one of the bells on the butter keeper and fill it with softened butter. Fill the bottom of the keeper with water to just over the edge of the bell. This creates an air tight seal when its closed, keeping the butter fresh for days. You will need to change the water in the butter keeper occasionally, especially if its used often and gets bread crumbs floating around in it. Or little strawberry jam seeds. Baked potato nubs.

We have this butter keeper in Lee Davis' famous white and cobalt blue (pictured), or green and brown. Use them for serving compound butter in for a fancy French touch. Fresh herb of choice, a little garlic, salt and pepper.

Tea pot from Birdfoot Ridge Studio

Here is a new tea pot we got in after the craft show. It has Lee's hand painted designs and a little bunny on the side. His blue and white pieces have a European country look and reminds me of Provincial France. His work is very functional as well; oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe.

Ikebana Flower Arranging

Arrange your flowers from a different perspective. The ikebana is a Japanese style of arranging that focuses on clean lines and simple forms instead of the traditional bunching of color that we normally see. In the ikebana form, the structure holding the plant has as much emphasis as the flowers, which creates a lot of possibilities as a center piece.

Its a refreshing minimalist take on flower arrangement and its enjoyable to let your imagination flow with each placement. With less to work with, arranging an ikebana takes focus and keeps you in the present moment. Experiment with sticks, grasses, and leaves. Some ikebana designs even incorporate an oil lamp, giving the design a nice soft light. Enjoy a new perspective on flowers with a ikebana.

Asheville Pottery, Unique Cookware

Asheville pottery is varied and prolific. The artistic community and abundance of raw material brings talented people to the area to work with clay. Lee Davis brings his years of experience to his unique variety of work, hand painted pieces as well as his Zen Collection with bamboo inspired wall sconces and water features. Here are some of the more unique Asheville pottery designs for the table that we have seen out of his studio, Birdfoot Ridge.

Brie Baker- this shallow round piece with small handles fits a 5-6” wheel of brie and bakes right in the pot. He suggests adding some Jack Daniels, brown sugar, and sliced almonds. Serve right in the pot.

Garlic Grater- this is a small flared dish with high sides, a pourable spout, and a rough bottom. Take whole garlic cloves and grate on the rough bottom, adding some olive oil and herbs for dipping. Either dip right out of the pot or pour into another dish. We suggest saving the other dish for something else.

Pillow Pot- here is a pillow shaped pot with three holes on the top for putting a flower in. It holds water and makes for a nice touch on an elegant table. Comes in many colors in addition to the hand painted white and blue.

Bread Baker- Good pottery is perfect for baking. It conducts and holds heat very well, which is why clay ovens bake the best pizza's. This bread baker creates a great crust and you can rise, bake, and serve your bread in the same pot.

Egg Scrambler- A small dish you rub with oil, crack your eggs in, and scramble with seasonings and whatever creative additions you like. Microwave for 30-45 seconds and away you go. Great for a bachelor.

In addition to those Birdfood Ridge produces some many unique Asheville pottery designs, including colanders, pitchers, hot plates, and various specialty appetizer stoneware. His work inspires creativity in the kitchen.

Taking pictures

We are learning how to take pictures of the stoneware, and wow, what a learning curve. Getting the lighting right, the angle of the shot, and all the variables of the camera takes a lot of time. Then once you get a halfway decent shot you can spend another 15 minutes adjusting it on the computer. It really gives you an appreciation for good photos.

Here is the process:

First we set the lights up and the white box. The most important aspect is the lighting. Too much, and it shows up as glare when you get the shot in the computer. Too little and its dark and doesn't show enough detail. We also have to decide the background, usually black or white, depending on the color of the piece. The closer you can get to a final shot without using a photo program the better.

Then we adjust the angle of the piece and distance of the camera on the tripod. This varies a lot with the pottery due to differences in size.

Next we take the shot, usually starting with the portrait setting and going from there. From there its trial and error to get the right settings. After seeing a few shots come out we are able to narrow it down to a good camera setting for that style of work, and then it becomes more of a rhythm.

From there its a slight adjustment in our photo program, and on to the website. So far the blue and white collection from Lee Davis has been the most forgiving to our amateur efforts. Next we'll try Erin's work using a black background.

Laura Sims Silk Wall Hangings

We have put some of Laura Sims fantastic silk prints online for viewing and purchase. There are ten of these unique pieces in stock here in various sizes. They have two layers for greater depth and a shimmering effect as you walk by them. Each one is inspired by plants and flowers from her garden and includes a wall mount made from North Carolina hardwoods. The color of each stands out while being understated, lending the pieces functionality for almost any wall in your home.

Laura makes all her pieces by hand here in Asheville and each is one of a kind. We also have a wide selection of ties and scarves available in the store for as low as $60.00 give us a call or email for details.

Local Asheville Pottery

Its a challenge to do justice to the pottery of Lee Davis and Erin Janow in a picture, but we're trying. The depth of color, weight, and style of these two very different craftspeople is amazing. Its tough to capture the color of the pieces under lamps, but so far we are getting a decent representation of Lee Davis' white and blue pieces. We are carrying a great selection of styles from both artists, including a garlic grater, brie baker, casserole dishes, plates, mugs, and pitchers.