A very seductive pot !

This is an early creamware jug that I was given. She is very delicate and has a very fine curvey body. I was so impressed with her beautiful figure that I thought I would try to emulate her charming form.
Please try to remind me not to be seduced by the charms of a creamware jug again. I am thinking why was I- a slipware potter -taken in by her grace and ease. (She weighs almost nothing).
Here are more pots trying to emulate the slender cream jug! Oh well-it's all a bit of a challenge.
Talking of challenges-I'm afraid nobody was really on the right track in the competition. But thank you for your guesses. My boys got quite excited when I said that I was doing a competition and immediately asked what the prize was and I am afraid to say they were not impressed with the answer. As soon as they come through the kiln I will post a picture and it will become very clear!! (Mainly because I have actually written what they are on them!!!!)

A puzzle

No 9lb jugs for me I thought I would start at the bottom rung of the ladder and work up. So here are the pots I threw on Wednesday. Above is a picture of them slipped and waiting to be painted. That's today's job. It feels so much better to have a few pots in progress. I thought I would do a little competition. I will send one of these to the first person who correctly guesses what they are. obviously it's a little difficult for me to know how easy or difficult that might be as I have been making them and selling them for some time. Usually I make the big things first and only when I'm ready to fire them do I realise that I've got very few small things to fill the gaps. So this time I'm working in reverse.
I will check back Sunday morning and see if I get any response to the competition!

Animals-children's pots.

Before the holiday I spent a day at a local school for children with special needs.I was given a great bunch of 16 year olds for the day. The brief I was given was that they had to make containers in the form of animals. The group were a real pleasure to work with and they enjoyed the day working really hard because they had to finish their piece within the day.

I think they have done an excellent job and the resulting pots are very jolly.
I had forgotten that I had three tea pots in my damp cupboard so I still haven't got onto the wheel. I've been decorating the teapots. It's good to be back in the studio though.

The 'girls'

Very little pottery is being done this week with three boys at home.When the eleven (nearly twelve) year old complained he was bored I decided it was time to get the baking out. When we had finished and done the washing-up it looked quite pretty. You might just be able to make out Doug's little jug there snuggling up to a jug by the Youngs. We weren't long making a pot of tea and sampling the cakes.
... and these are the girls. They really shouldn't be out but they had some how made a bid for freedom. They are outside the door to the studio.




The real things were very difficult to photo as they didn't stay still for one moment. But these I made out of paper clay years ago and they hardly move at all!

Week-end sale

I've spent most of the week-end in The Palm House nursery in Ham. It's been an enjoyable time in spite of the weather. The owners of the Palm House did an excellent job of organising a fun week-end but who would have guessed we could have such weather in April. The M25 was mayhem this morning as it had not been gritted and the snow, ice and fog were leathal. Anyway, with the weather being so bad we moved our stalls into the glass houses. Most of my customers were people who had bought my pots before and it was good to meet them all again.

This wonderful Griffin is on the roof of Emma and Martin's cottage at The Palm House. You can just see some of their olive trees in the foreground they were very attractive. I'm now recovering with a glass of red wine and planning my next batch of pots.(I liked that mug by Cardew that Andrew had on his blog).
Has anybody got any pictures of Doug's show? It sounded excellent.

This week's pots

This is my notice board - if you look closely you can see my invitation to the private view of Doug's show at the Harlequin Gallery next week. I'm looking forward to that.
I took this bowl out of the kiln this week and thought I would share it with you as I showed it earlier as I was working on it.

These two jugs came out of the same firing. I am not sure if I like this shape as much as the jug below. The one below is the last left from a batch I made before Christmas and I think I prefer the taller freer shape where I have left some of the throwing lines. I like to have some of the brown clay showing through the slip even if it is just in small breaks. I haven't got to grips with taking photos yet but it gives some idea of the work out of this week's firing. Infact, because I teach some classes from my studio, I am firing my kiln 3 times a week at the moment.

A blast from the past

Yesterday I threw the parts to make some teapots so I've got to get a move on today and get them all assembled. I dug these old teapots out that I made in about 1976. Not anything like my current work- except maybe that rabbit on the lid!!