Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas from Michael W. Moses!

Blue Lotus Flower Ceramic Art Pottery Bowl by Michael W. Moses Now on Etsy!

I call this piece of ceramic art pottery the "Blue Lotus Flower Bowl"  I have had it on my counter at South Coast Antiques in Ocean Springs for awhile now holding some of my business cards and featuring some of the last Hibiscus flowers of the season.

When I first put this piece out in the shop I had a woman say to me that one of her roses would look great displayed in the small vase portion of this piece. I jokingly said to her, "Oh, no Mame, This is a blue lotus flower bowl. Only a Blue lotus flower can be displayed in this piece". She looked at me and replied," Now where on Earth is one supposed to find a blue lotus flower at"!  I responded to her, that, that was the whole point of the piece!

Well, my search for a blue lotus flower for it has come to no avail and I have had to settle for less exotic blossoms.  I have some images of this piece below and please take note that the business cards displayed are merely for looks, they are from the long bygone era when everyone had a pager.

Blue Lotus Flower Ceramic Art Pottery Bowl by Michael W. Moses

Blue Lotus Flower Ceramic Art Pottery Bowl

Back View of Blue Lotus Flower Ceramic Art Pottery Bowl

Perfect for Use as a Business Card Holder!

Blue Lotus Flower Ceramic Art Pottery Bowl at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Finished Orange Captive Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses at South Coast Antiques in Ocean Springs

Orange Captive Bulb Vase in Heinrich & Co Cup 

This is my latest piece of ceramic art pottery. I call this one "Orange Captive Bulb Vase"  I showed what it looked like when it was just painted, before being glazed and fired in my Friday, November 18, 2011 post.
I was very pleased at how this little fellow looked when it came out of  the kiln. The colors are absolutely vibrant! It just sets and glows in its own garish brightness.
When I was photographing this piece which I do it in our shop, South Coast Antiques, I had a customer come in and they were watching me doing the photography. She says to me."Why is that vase chained to a cup"?  I very quickly responded, "Because it is so wild that it would escape if it were not chained to the cup"! She looked at me and says, "Oh, well that makes sense". It really makes me wonder when people say things like that to me what they are actually thinking.

Orange Captive Bulb Vase Out of It's Cup

 This bulb is chained to a really nice, absolutely paper thin porcelain tea cup. The cup has a great intricate hand painted Greek key design going around the lip and is an antique that was made by Heinrich & Co of  Selb, Bavaria in the early 1900's.

Orange Captive Bulb Vase From Top

Orange Captive Bulb Vase Before Being Chained to Cup

My Miniature Adenium Obesum and It's Alien Ruins Planter

Today's post is about a plant that I got from a garden friend of mine that lives in Hurley, MS. It is a miniature Adenium Obesum. I got this plant about 2 years back and was so thrilled that I immediately came back home and jumped on my computer to look it up online. I was not able to find any real information about it at all. I found no images and only a few mentions. There were a couple of places online where people were saying that they had seeds for sale, but not a single plant. I have found out that even if this miniature form is not rare, it is still extremely uncommon. There are a couple of images of miniature Adenium Obesum online now. They show them having small but not actually miniature flowers. I hope that when and if mine ever blooms that it will have miniature flowers. Now that would be nice now wouldn't it.

I decided that being that this was a special little plant that I would create a one of a kind ceramic art pottery pot for it. Here is what it looks like now that it has had most of the summer to acclimate to it's new pot and a couple of other size appropriate plants. The small Adenium Obesum sticking up in the back is a tip that broke off of one of my full size plants that I am trying to get to root.  I have been enthralled by images of giant Olmec stone heads among ruins and giant Angkor Wat heads with trees growing out of them since I was a small child and so a planter like this would only be natural for me to create. I call this my "Alien Ruins Planter". Of course not having access to a kiln that will fire a forty foot tall one I settled on one that is about six inches tall instead, but I really love miniatures anyways.

My "Alien Ruins Planter" may currently beee viewed at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS.

Dotted Blue Bulb Vase by Michael W. Moses SOLD today at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

This afternoon we sold one of my bulb vases. This one is called the "Dotted Blue Bulb Vase". It was purchased by a man and woman from Biloxi that were getting it for a Christmas gift for their daughter in California. This little bulb vase has so much lively movement that it just seems as if it will run away at any moment, but it's created to be stable and support one long thin blossom with maybe a small leaf or two on it. Imagine a brightly colored tulip, a long stemmed spider lilly, or even a single orchid sprouting from it's bulbous body. But in my opinion a flower is not even necessary to make this work of art a stand out piece in any room.

The Finished Dotted Blue Bulb Vase

The Greenware Stage