To recap The Grand Tablecloth Project briefly: my plan was...is...to take semi-random dishes belonging to my friends and family (everyone gets asked in the beginning, although it takes so long that most of my victims forget) and make them work in settings for four seasons. I work with the seasons because linking one's gatherings with the time flow of the natural world is a way to hint at the deep roots and myriad unseen branches our connections form between us, our loved ones, and the world at large. I make some of the textiles and find or purchase others, depending on the demands of the dishes, devise settings and then photograph them. The dish owner gets the tablecloths, etc. and I get the pictures.
About a month ago I finally got my act together and transported all of my tablecloths and accessories down to Seattle to the home of our friends Becky and Tim. We have been happy recipients of their hospitality and willing participants in their plans since the seventies. They figure prominently in so many of our favorite memories, it made all the sense in the world to include them in this tablesetting project. With Mike's help, I set and photographed five different tablesettings in Becky's dining room, using her dishes and silverware and some of her glassware.
Becky's stoneware is named Keralia, from the Finnish manufacturer Arabia, made in the seventies. It features heavy black and brown bands (with a faint green tinge between) on a grayish ground. It is casual in style and high in quality. The dark banding made it work easily with autumn colors. I found a wool scarf with black, orange, plum and green elements and layered it as a runner over an olive-ish green linen tablecloth. The burgundy elements in the runner made grapes a choice for a centerpiece, with orange leaves, gold and plum colored votive candles and orange napkins. For this table, the brown wineglasses Becky got years ago (wedding present?) looked just right.