< Previous70 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 HOMEPORT and microwave and a 7-foot-long rustic Galveston sign. The Greengolds installed white planta- tion shutters on the windows for privacy, but lots of natural light pours in through the windows, giving the downstairs a comfortable feel. Up the stairs, which are part of the original construction with longleaf pine, are two bedrooms and a large bath- room. This part of the house is decorat- ed with antiques and furnishings dating (Clockwise) A guest bedroom is decorated with antiques; one of two second-floor bedrooms features an antique bed frame; the second-floor bathroom has dual sinks offset on opposite walls; Cindy Greengold displays her marble collection in antique chicken feeders alongside a pair of vintage roller skates. (Opposite) A brick pizza oven was a must-have for Cindy and Jerry Greengold. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 71 Mark Diehl (713) 410-8899 Emily Evans (832) 492-0773 INTERIOR DESIGN We help you turn your house into a HOME RESIDENTIAL | COMMERCIAL | MODEL HOMES ouse H of of InteriorsInteriors 1005 Bayou Rd. La Marque 409-938-8494 back to the 19th century. Heavy wood beds and cabinets were purchased from antique stores to give the rooms the historical air Cindy wanted, including a shimmering chan- delier in the bathroom. A tiny balcony opens off the back bed- room, which is too small to make use of, but the front porch is where the couple spends the most outdoor time. The huge tree in front provides shade all year. “Even in the dead of summer, we have a nice breeze here,” Jerry said. “This is where we hang out — hot or cold.” When they aren’t on the front porch, they’re in the yard making use of a cus- tom-built brick pizza oven, created by Jason Coats of Elemental Contractors. He also did the kitchen remodel. “We wanted to build the pizza oven with old bricks,” Cindy said. “And when we are not cooking a pizza, it is a grill and a fire- place down below.” The Greengolds and the Shaws agree their matching houses are as different as siblings, but note they are now both real assets to this diverse neighborhood. And their histories as abandoned houses is just that — history. 72 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 Eleanor Brown creates a variety of ceramics, from garden tiles and flowers to jewelry and bowls, in her studio, Bayou Pottery, in Dickinson. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 73 CURRENTS | ART ALL FIRED UP Dickinson pottery artist finds inspiration in working with clay story SUE MAYFIELD GEIGER photos by JENNIFER REYNOLDS E leanor Brown’s house along Dickinson Bayou, built in the 1930s, is quaint, historical and charming. But it’s the art studio out back where Brown spends most of her time, firing up one of her four kilns and removing clay that will become stepping-stones, bird feeders, ceramic flowers, jewelry, bowls, vases and more. Her studio, Bayou Pottery, contains a multitude of pieces in various stages waiting to become finished products. Shelves upon shelves showcase items that have been completed and glazed to perfection. “There’s a lot of freedom when you work with clay because it’s very forgiving,” Brown said. “It’s not super expensive like watercolor paper and you can mess up easily. Also, before the clay is fired, if you have any problems with it, you can just let it dry, pulverize and use it again.” Brown lately is assembling tiles for stepping-stones, get- ting them ready for the next step. “So, I’ll apply tile adhesive on the stone and lay my mosaic tiles on top, and let everything dry overnight,” she said. “The next day, I’ll apply grout, let it set up, then wipe it off until everything is nice and smooth. After it’s dried, they’re finished, and they’ll hold up for years. I have some outside that are 20 years old.” The mosaic tiles didn’t just magically appear. They had their own journey, she said. “There are different kinds of mosaic — some made of glass and some of tile,” Brown said. “A lot of people will make tile and break it up with a hammer, but I prefer using cookie cutters to make my designs out of a flat slab of clay. After firing the pieces in the kiln, I apply three coats of glaze and fire again.” Brown’s handiwork includes ceramic bracelets, earrings, cof- fee cups, wall pockets, cake platters, garden flowers, Stations of the Cross, and plaques with various designs. “I make linoleum carvings for some things,” she said. “That way, if something breaks, I don’t have to carve anything over.” When it comes to pottery terminology, Brown knows that many people get confused when it comes to things made of clay, she said. “Pottery is just one part of ceramics — earthenware, stone- ware and mosaics are all clay-based,” she said. “It all has to do with the temperature something was fired at. For instance, you wouldn’t want to use unglazed terra-cotta as a dinner plate due to water absorption. You would want to do mid-range firing that turns rock hard, which is a type of stoneware. There are 74 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 CURRENTS | ART so many facets to clay and a myriad of things you can do with it.” The ceramic flowers that stand out in Brown’s garden in front of her house were made by “handbuilding,” another ceramic term. “Handbuilding is when you are using more slabs of clay and you’re forming that into something like these flowers,” she said. “You’re not using a wheel; you’re just cutting things into sections and putting them together. I won a national award for a functional teapot depicting a heron in his surroundings using handbuilding and it was quite a challenge.” So, when we think of pottery, most of us think of potters who sit at a wheel and make bowls, right? “Well, yes,” Brown said. “I have several wheels, but I feel most comfortable working in clay organically. I’ve been to Taos, New Mexico, where a Native American teacher took us into the woods where we dug for clay and had to work to get the rocks out and add water be- fore we could proceed.” Brown taught art for 37 years and has been a member of Saltgrass Potters in League City since 1990. She has stud- ied the works of many potters during her career, but the one who stands out the most is Maria Martinez, who was of Tewa heritage of the San Ildefonso Pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico. Martinez, who died in 1980, became world-renowned for her black- on-black pottery. “She was from a small pueblo in New Mexico, and her work can be found in many museums,” Brown said. “She was known for the art of making black pottery and she did that by smother- ing a cool fire with dried cow manure trapping the smoke. So, when I was teaching at the junior high in Santa Fe, Texas, I had a student who watched the video about Martinez and decided he would copy her. He went into his backyard, dug up some clay, made a small pot and used Martinez’s method of firing. When he showed it to me, I was thrilled, because I had a student who did something out of the box.” (Clockwise from top) Artist Eleanor Brown works on a garden tile made with ceramic pieces she has created in her Dickinson studio; whimsical ceramic bird feeders hang from a post in Brown’s backyard; ceramic hearts in front of Brown’s home. (Opposite, clockwise from top left) One of Brown’s hand-built ceramic flowers is tucked into a flowerbed outside her home; ceramic jewelry by Brown; one of Brown’s ceramic pieces is a work in prog- ress; wall pockets and hand-stacked flowers. “There’s a lot of freedom when you work with clay because it’s very forgiving. It’s not super expensive like watercolor paper and you can mess up easily.” ELEANOR BROWN COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 75A foot-high pewter lamp, known as a rabbi, Betty or Aladdin lamp, was used in the 18th century to burn whale oil to light a room. The lamp derived its name from the German words “besser” or “bete,” meaning “to make better,” according to the American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences. “The Betty Lamp produced comparatively good light for its time and was used widely by early American col- onists,” according to the association. These gray-colored lamps are rare, espe- cially those similar to the one in downtown Galveston-based An- tiques on 23rd Street that still has all of its original parts: the spout for the wick; a pointed key to adjust and maneuver the absorbent braided cotton wick; an attached circular plate below the belly and stem of the lamp; and the delicate figurine mounted to the hinged top, which bends back to fill the reservoir or cavity, known as the “font,” with whale oil, said Tammie Taylor, who owns the shop. The lamp, which probably dates back to the late 18th century, was acquired by Taylor and her sister Rebecca Palmer from an online auction from a Texas estate. The sisters have little information about the lamp, but presumed it was manufactured in the northeast United States, where factories pro- cessed whale oil from the blubber of sperm whales and sold it as fuel for lamps during that time. Whale oil was expensive because it was difficult and dangerous to acquire, so only the wealthy could afford to use that type of fuel. Substitutes were cheaper fuels from plants, animals or coal, such as turpentine, lard, kerosene, alcohol or camphine. The whale oil was prized and preferred, however, because it burned brighter and cleaner than other fat-based fuels. It also produced less odor and smoke than other oils. The whale oil was made from the blubber collected from the head cavities of the sperm whale and then boiled to extract the oil. “This was probably a beloved piece and the figurine on top makes it definitely from that time period,” Taylor said. This functional, yet beautiful lamp has a price tag of $295. 76 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 TREASURE TROVE SHINING A LIGHT Island shop features rare Betty lamp story by BARBARA CANETTI | photos by STUART VILLANUEVA Each month, Coast Monthly highlights an intriguing relic or antique on the upper Texas coast. (Opposite) A foot-tall pewter lamp at Antiques on 23rd in Galveston. The lamp, which probably dates back to the late 18th century, burned whale oil to produce a lasting flame. (Above) A pointed key is used to maneuver the wick in a pewter lamp. COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 7778 COASTMONTHLY.COM | JANuArY 2021 Catch our daily market specials! Red Snapper • Grouper Shrimp • Crab Bring this ad in Bring this ad in and save 10% off and save 10% off your purchase!your purchase! expires 1-31-2021expires 1-31-2021 409-763-8160409-763-8160 1902 Wharf Rd • Galveston, TX 775501902 Wharf Rd • Galveston, TX 77550 www.katiesseafoodmarket.comwww.katiesseafoodmarket.com Fullen Jewelry 2215 Postoffice Downtown Galveston 409.763.0555 www.FullenJewelry.com facebook.com/strandbrass Hurry in for Best Selection! 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