New Beginnings and a New Piece of Pottery

 Adding to my ever-growing collection of pottery pieces is this  cocoa brown casserole dish bought while visiting my daughter in historic Bethania, a Moravian town once included in the original tract  of Wachovia near Winston Salem. Bethania was established in 1759 by the Moravians as a self-sufficient farming community. Many of the Moravian style buildings have been preserved and the town is on the National Historic Register of Historic Places. 

Just a short walk down the main street, you will come upon Bethania Mill and Village Shoppes, a former working mill which dates to 1899. The mill has been restored and is home to various gift shops and a cafe. After lunch and a glass of "In a Heartbeat" wine from Divine Llama Vineyards at the Muddy Creek Cafe, we wound our way through the various gift shops beautifully decorated for Christmas. On the back wall of the of the Mill Stone Store and Gallery there was a large selection of locally made pottery. It was here that I found this piece of pottery. The name of the potter eludes me. A very rustic dish to display these pears.

Textures-Luminious and Aurora from Kim Klassen

Some quotes for the New Year from Goodreads.

“The beginning is always today.” 
― Mary Shelley

“I keep turning over new leaves, and spoiling them, as I used to spoil my copybooks; and I make so many beginnings there never will be an end. (Jo March)” 
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women


“Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”
― L.M. Montgomery

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” 
― Meister Eckhart

Tintagel Parish Church Cross

Standing majestically overlooking the patchwork green hillside of Tintagel on the Cornish coast, this moss and lichen covered monument is located in the large graveyard at Tintagel Parish Church built between the late 11th century and the early 12th century.  At the small car park by the church is a coastal path that leads to Tintagel Castle, said to be the birthplace of King Arthur, the lengendary king of the Britons. The coastal walk to Tintagel affords stunning views of the ruins which date back to the Romano-Briton era; however, there is no Roman structure to prove that. Later in the 13th century, the Earl of Cornwall built a castle which fell into ruin, the remains are what one sees today.

Graveyard of Tintagel Parish Church

Tree of Dreams

Original photo shot with a Canon D60 converted to infrared, edited in Photoshop, then with Nik Silver 2.0 added a fine art filter. Lastly, the Kim Klassen texture, "dream" was added to the layers.


Check out Texture Tuesdays to see all the dreamy photos taken by other fans of texturing.
One of my dreams is to live in an old renovated cottage on a beach with an inlet behind me, a dock extending into the inlet and a small beautifully appointed dock house for guests.  A place where I could take a little boat out to  fish, shrimp, crab or just enjoy the waters.

Dahlias

For Texture Tuesday, a demitasse cup filled with dahlias. Kim Klassen's brushed linen texture was used three times, each with a different blending mode, then some of the texture brushed away from the flowers.  A levels adjustment was done initially and a curves adjustment on the last layer.

A Dozen Free Range Eggs

Tuesday was a busy day for me and although, I finished editing this photo on Tuesday, I am just posting it today for Texture Tuesdays. These beautiful eggs are from my brother-in-law who has around 25 chickens, give or take. Apparently, they are very happy free range (to a certain area) chickens because they produce dozens and dozens of eggs, many of which are double yolk eggs.

I never tire of photographing his eggs as each seems to be just a little different in shape, color and size. Happy and healthy chickens! My egg photo has two textures from the Kim Klassen collection-brushed linen and sepia scratched, each texture further edited to create the final image.