Vignettes from Vermont: Jumbo Love for the Sea

20-inch Clam Bowl available HERE

BENNINGTON -- Two hundred and twenty-six days had passed since the 13 Jumbos romped into the old marble bank turned art gallery and fell in love with Jeeves (click-click) ...

... then crouched in the Animation Vault (click-click-click) ...

The manager watched the herd of jovials walk around Fiddlehead at Four Corners that morning then wrote a little story about Suzy and Nancy and Bill and Bill and Jackie and Fay and Fred and Sharyn and Suzie and Tom and Norm and Suellen and Wyley.

One of the Tufts grads came back an hour later and made a beeline toward the piece he thought about throughout breakfast. The great-nephew of Dr. Seuss picked it up and walked to the counter and said "I just couldn't get this out of my mind" -- and paid for the clam bowl that looks just like the one above.

Art Gallery Dude loves to tell that story from two hundred and twenty-six days ago.

Two-hundred and twenty-six days later -- yesterday -- 4 boxes arrived ...

They were filled with packing peanuts galore ...

... and beneath those peanuts were bubble-wrapped bundles ...

... of more sea-inspired ceramics by Alison Evans of Yarmouth, Maine ...

Here are 7 pieces the Rhode Island School of Design grad sent Fiddlehead ...

Large Mint & Tortoise Sea Urchin (side) $185

Large Mint & Tortoise Sea Urchin (top) $185

Medium Mint & Tortoise Sea Urchin (top) $110

Medium Mint & Tortoise Sea Urchin (side) $110

Small Mint & Tortoise Sea Urchin (side) $80

Small Mint & Tortoise Sea Urchin (top) $80

Large Abalone & Tortoise Nesting Bowl (side) $175

Large Abalone & Tortoise Nesting Bowl (top) $175

Large Abalone & Tortoise Razor Clam Plate $100

Traditional Oyster Platter for 6 Oysters: Abalone & Tortoise $115

Traditional Oyster Platter for 6 Oysters: Mint & Tortoise $115

Her work is "inspired by the sea" which is why you see so many pieces with "abalone" and "tortoise" and "oyster" and "mint" and "urchin" in their titles, and according to her artist statement on the back side of a large card with her photo on front (above), "Alison Evans Ceramics are handmade by a small crew of people at their studio/gallery in the gorgeous coastal village of Yarmouth, Maine" ...

"Inspired by the sea," it continues, "the pottery is made out of a porcelaneous stoneware by Alison, her husband Chris Fritz and his lifelong friend Anthony Mattei. After the forms undergo their first firing to drive out the moisture and ar turned into bisque-ware, they are then glazed. During the second firing when the glaze has liquified on the piece, the crystals begin to grow. Because the magic of the crystals happens inside of the kiln while the glaze is molten, the size and shape of the crystals can vary quite a lot making each piece unique."

Every piece is food safe -- and safe for the dishwasher and microwave.

Those 7 new pieces are available on Fiddlehead's website.

So is the other large clam bowl, which sits directly across from Art Gallery Dude ...

... and on overcast days like this he wishes he could fill that large clam bowl to the top with bona fide New England clam chowder -- jumbo-sized clams galore -- and dive in face-deep. I'm sure there's some kind of Seussian ditty for that.