Art Jury

We are proud to have the panyizsuzsi fused glass jewelries juried by the National Art Jury in September 2008.
This always feels good to be recognised, not only by friends and relatives, but some professionals. This Jury has quite a background. I remember as a child, that what a big deal was to buy a juried art piece. Today when there is a china shop in every other street I feel it has an even bigger value.

It always makes me happy to buy stuff from artist. This way I do vote against child labor and other nasty things and I do help an artist to live on his or her art! That was emphasized last Christmas to buy handmade and take the handmade pledge!

That is what I thought walking away form Buda Castle, knowing I am an Art Jury Certified Artist!

Happy Thursday

Yesterday I did have a happy day!
You might know we live in an artsy little town, called Sznetendre. It is really close to Budapest and many artists and architect live here. I love to walk around the tiny streets of the downtown. Look at art shops and numerous art galleries.
One of them is the Péter-Pál Gallery, run by a local textile designer Anna Pauli. This gallery has modern, contemporary stuff. They are all high quality art! Couple of weeks ago i peeked in there ans started to talk to the lady in the gallery. As I had my glass jeweleries on she asked about it and advised me to talk to the shop owner, who is a lecturer at the University of Art and Design. I was proud of this and called her. We had a meeting last night. She loved my jewelry. She said: I love the way you use and handle colors and shapes. She will sell my art in her Gallery.

If you ever come to Szentendre, Hungary, do not forget to check out the Péter-Pál Gallery in the Péter-Pál street!

Busy, busy...

Well, I have been busy lately. I had a Welsh friend wisiting me for a couple of days, that is always so much fun to be with her. Than we had Easter with all the traditions, ceremonies and cooking. To tell you the truth, I always take the gastronomic advantages of all holidays. Here is a photo of our dining table this Easter.

Happy Easter and I will be back to normal now, I promise!

Kotyogo

I am sure you are surprised at this picture and do not understand the title, unless you are Hungarian. Kotyogo is a coffee maker, which is filled with water in the bottom, has the coffee in the middle. as the water starts boiling, the steam goes through the coffee, cools down in the pipe and finally drips in the little porcelain cannister, that is decorated in the porcelain factory of Hollohaza with some nice Hungarian folk pattern.
Ok, so fay you know what kotyogo is. I could put a picture of a brand new one here, but I did not. This lousy old one used to belong to my Father-in-Law's. He passed away, so my Husband has tis one now. It always frustrated me, that it does not have a lid. He would not let me buy a new porcelain for it, since this was his Father's and the new ones has an awful pattern.
This week-end I went to two flea markets. i found porcelains - and some other things - that comes from the same series and has a matching lid. Here it is, but we will only use the lid!

Stay tuned for my other flea market finds! They will be blogged soon!

Avocado toast

Well, since yesterday it is Lent. No meat on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays until Easter. Actually I am ok with no meat, but it seems to be so hard on Fridays. But let you tell you lent is not a bad thing and absolutely not about bad food. Nowdays, we have all kid of wellness a and detox tips and tricks. Couple of hundred years ago people just had lent. Easy and simple. After eating heavy food in the winter, they just prepared their body for spring and summer. Lent is not starving. It is just getting into summer mode!

OK. so here is a good, Friday recipe. Healthy, fresh and nurturing.

Get an avocado. It it is too hard, let it stand for a couple of days. When you think it is softend, cut it in halves ans scoop the inside in a bowl. Mash it with a fork (if it is not soft enough, you can use your potato masher) Mix it with a grated clove of garlic, two spoon of butter, another two spoon of mustard ans a bit of salt and pepper.
To use it a spread on your toast is the most fantastic way of eating it.

Did you enjoy it?

Crafting Kids

Right now we have a festival season in Hungary, called Farsang. this season lasts from Twelvth-day to Ash Wednesday. This time of the year we have balls all around the country. Schools love this ball season and they all organize fancy dress balls, where kids dress up, like at Halloween in the US.

Some people rent costumes for such an occasion, some make themselves. I always made something for my kids, which was pretty easy since my son always wanted to be a soldier, he wore his costume for three years. This year they both choosen a character from their favorite book. My son was Findus, the cat, while the little girl Baboca, the ladybug.

This year I decided to make the costumes together. for the ladybug we draw the outline and let my daughter color it, while I thought my son how to use the sewingmachine, so he could saw the shoulder strap of the cat's trousers.

We had a lot of fun. They were so happy this morning to put on their self-made costumes.
This is a milestone to raise and educate crafty kids. I wonder when they will open their Esty shop?!

Zsolnay

Zsolnay is of my favorite porcelain. The designs above were made by János Török, Judit Nádor and others. Here is a short history on the factory.