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Sunday, April 20, 2008

Stacks and stacks

I just love the way pots look when they are all stacked up. The variation in size and shape of handmade bowls creates a rhythm all its own.
The only problem with a stack of plates like these is when you want the color that's the third from the bottom. Best not be too picky. Everyone in my family has their favorite plate. Before dinner, sneaky swapping has been known to happen. But I never do it (wink wink, jab, jab...)
I like the dark brown one, fifth from the top (called 'dirt').
Wouldn't these serving bowls look good if you had glass cupboard fronts? Or open shelves? Kind of like a totem pole of bowls.
Here's a totem of winter tea bowls:
One of my favorite books in the whole world is A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein (et al). The book is a guide to making spaces function to support human interaction with grace and beauty. We used it when designing and building our house.
This is what the NYT has to say about it:
"A wise old owl of a book, one to curl up with in an inglenook on a rainy day.... Alexander may be the closest thing home design has to a Zen master."
There is a chapter (pattern) in it called 'Open Shelves' that declares:
'Cupboards that are too deep waste valuable space, and it always seems that what you want is behind something else.'
It goes on to say that a family's most prized possessions are often hidden away when stored in cupboards and that open storage, one item deep, makes a space more beautiful.
What can I say but yes ~ art in daily life...



6 comments:

  1. I love the look of stacked dishes as well :) I could live in a piles and piles if it were socially acceptable!

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  2. thanks for the link love. I added you to my blog roll as well. Great Blog. I'll stop by often. Keep in touch!

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  3. wow, want these, in all these colors.

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  4. I love them all so much! But the "winter tea bowls" are my favorite!

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  5. Laughing about wanting the color that is third down. I have stacks of white plates but some have different patterns and I am always wanting the one that is never on top.

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