My former girlfriend went into her Studio today hinting at some secret new project she was working on. As always, she wouldn’t tell me what it was, as she is a superstitious and hot-tempered Sicilian woman desperate her image as a sweet and quiet person. A few minutes ago, she came into the farmhouse and asked me what I thought of her first Valentine’s Day Potholder idea, a heart made of scraps pulled out from the garbage. I loved this very much and grabbed my camera. To catch the light behind it and keep it from bleaching out, I enhanced the red and the yellow in Aperture, just a bit. (I wouldn’t have mentioned this, but Maria is very honest, and believes in transparency. I am a corner cutter.)

This is one of the simplest and most beautiful potholders she has made I think, from her heart to mine and yours. Maria has reinvented the potholder. She is working on a Valentine’s Day Potholder series, and you can check them all out yourself on her website. I had to scoop her on this one, it was just a beautiful thing to see and photograph. Knowing her, she will rush over to the Studio and put it up quickly on her site. Believe me, she understands about love and you can see that in her potholder. I love that it was patched together from garbage scraps, as that so often happens with the heart. It happened to mine.