flower brick

 This is the garden at The Chapel in Abergavenny. It's a beautiful gallery and we enjoyed a lunch here surrounded by wonderful art work. I am looking for inspiration for my garden patio and this has given me lots of ideas!

I've just come to the end of making batches of work for the next two pottery fairs and so nothing I make now will be ready for firing before these events so I decided I could have a little 'play'. This is a wassail pot. The originals ,made at Ewenny pottery were far more elaborate and much larger.

A flower brick! I don't usually make these to sell but I have a few I use myself. They hold quite a lot of flowers and make for an unusual display.

State of flow!

I am enjoying being back in the flow of making again. A friend who doesn't 'make' asked me what it feels like when I'm making something. I know sometimes there are times of frustration and disappointment but mostly the experience is absorbing and fulfilling.
Anyway I can across this little link which I thought was quite interesting. It describes a Flow activity.

Still exploring

 We are still exploring local sights when we aren't trying to garden. This is Margam Abbey near Port Talbot. I think that in his day Talbot was one of the richest men in the world. The house, although still impressive, is a little sad and is in the ownership of the local council.

 Here are some water falls which once powered the tin works machinery for pressing iron into thin sheets before being plated with tin.

 There must be hundreds of ferns growing in our garden but none as impressive as this one. this one is unlike any of the others and is really sculptural. I have no idea what it is.

 The last pottery festival I attended was earth and Fire at Ruffod. Here are just a few of the stalls. Although I have been busy working for a few months now I am only just beginning to really feel that I am back in the rhythm of working.I am firing the final few batches of work for the next fair I'm at in Wrexham- Ceramic Wales.

 One of the spin offs of gardening has been the amount of shards I am unearthing. Here are just a few. It's given gardening a whole new perspective!