Finished work

I have been busy glazing I knew that this was going to happen as you can only bisque fire for so long before it all catches up with you.
Anyway here are a few of the 'fish' bowls. They are beginning to look a bit too neat. On the second one down I splashed some underglaze to make it look a little more 'active' and less tight.
Art in Clay opens in Farnham in a week so I am busy getting ready for that. Check out the link there are plenty of wonderful potters to see.
As I have just come to the end of weeks of work now is a good time to take stock of where to go from here. I have been doing some work in my sketch book to give me some sense of direction. The picture above is a mixture of watercolour painting and collage. I am thinking about how I can transpose this look onto a pot.

'Orange' update

On discovering that my 'orange' was firing to an unpleasant brown colour I threw the whole tub of ochre away thinking I would never be tempted to use it again.
I then went on to glaze more pots, wondering what I would do with them if they were all spoilt. It was only when I unpacked the second glaze firing that I remembered that I had used a different batch of glaze in the first firing. Confused?
I had mixed ( or more precisely my 18 year old) had mixed a glaze for me using lead bisilicate rather than my usual lead sesquisilicate. The reason being that 1. I had plenty of lead bisilicate 2. My supplier pointed out that bisilicate was cheaper than sesquisilicate.
So the pots with the brown were with the new glaze! I have since done another glaze firing with my original glaze and no problems!
I can hardly believe that the difference in colour can be caused by using a different frit but that does seem to be the case.
It does mean that instead of possibly loosing eight weeks of work I have only 'lost' five pieces. Also that I probably threw away a perfectly good batch of 'orange'.
The pictures are of work out of the kiln today. Orange miraculously returned! The top bowl is a Christening bowl which is a commission and I am pleased with the way it has turned out so I hope my client also likes it.
I am now compiling a list of things to remember!
1 Test everything.
2 Never use grogged clay ( that is another story)
3 ..... to be continued

What do you do it all goes wrong?

For several weeks now I've been focused on working. Usually, because my studio is small and my kiln is also quite small I keep work moving through the kiln. However, over the past couple of months I have just been bisque firing. Whilst I was in this mode I just happened to run out of ochre for producing orange. My two main colours are green and orange. I bought many of my oxides and stains in the early seventies when they were cheap and they have lasted well. Anyway, when the orange ran out I got another tub of something that looked the same. However, at the end of last week when I eventually did a glaze firing I found that they were definitely not the same. You can see how awful the result is on the pot on the left.
I am horrified and at the moment I am not sure how much work is spoilt but I suspect pretty much all of it. There is no point wasting nervous energy getting upset I've just got to get on and keep working. Some of the work was for commissions so that may need to be re-done.
Having had such a bad experience I found it very interesting watching a little film of Greyson Perry talking about his work. The bit at the end about anticipating work coming out of the kiln struck a cord - see what you think the link is here.

Salt pigs!

Last week I made a number of salt pigs. I haven't made any of these for ages. I started off drawing medieval figures on them which had been what I had planned to do.
Then I remembered some drawings I had done of mermaids. I think the connection I had made was because they are intended for sea salt!
I did enjoy doing them but now I'm not so sure I shouldn't have stayed with my original idea.


As you can see from the pictures I use templates to transfer the mermaids onto the pots. This means that I can get them in just the right place as a mistake cannot be rectified.
It does involve quite precise drawing so this week I have done some bowls with fish on. The way I do these feels very different as I can work directly onto the pot without templates. I enjoying working far more spontaneously with much more flowing lines. I also use coloured slips on these to give a greater depth of colour before I apply the underglaze colours and oxides. It's a bit time consuming but enjoyable.
I packed the kiln for a biscuit firing today. I haven't done a firing for ages and I know that there is going to be a day of reckoning when I will have to catch up with all the gazing.

Back to work

It seems ages since I last posted a blog. At first I felt quite concerned that I just didn't seem to have time to write a post. Mark had time off as did the boys. We went to the Gower to camp then onto Carmarthen and then spent some time camping near St. David's.
I decided that I needed to think of life in 'seasons' and this was a family time. After all 'to everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.'
Now gradually my routine is being re-established and I am getting back to the pottery.
Just to convince you I've included a picture of me in the studio today. I am currently working on some bowls that are inspired by Cypriot pottery. They are my favourite shapes. The one above is from the V and A collections.
Tomorrow I have work in an exhibition opening at the Mc.Gill Duncan Gallery in Castle Douglas.
The exhibition looks really interesting you can read about it here. Unfortunately I can't be there as we will be celebrating my eldest sons 21st birthday with him and his friends from uni.

So much to do!

I've been watering my cuttings in the green house tonight. I don't think they will survive the week-end if the weather is as hot as today. I have had very little time for gardening this year but at the moment it is still a great pleasure to sit in the garden when the weather is as beautiful as it was today.
Have been getting things ready for Art in Clay at Hatfield today. There seems so much to pack! Also been trying to repair our tent as we'll be camping there. Some of the poles needed replacing and my concentration was seriously lacking as I tried to measure each pole accurately. It constantly amazes me how many task unrelated to pottery have to be done to bring everything together.

New pots

Plenty to do this week. Today I had to move student son's belongings from one house to another.
The bowl was out of the kiln earlier in the week. I realise now because they are quite big I can only put them on the top shelf of the kiln where I don't need to use props.
Does mean that I may only have one or two for Hatfield. Getting ready for Art in Clay this coming week-end.
We went to the Hannah Peschar gallery recently. I think these two pots are probably by Jennifer Jones. They looked perfect outside this black and white cottage.