I'm just catching my breath this morning before launching into today's tasks.It's been a busy week-end in Farnham. I had intended to take lots of photographs of people's work but I must have been chatting too much and only took the few above. The ones at the top are of Nichola and Tony Theakston's animal sculptures.
My son helped me man the stall on Saturday and did a great job. I think I need to take him to all the shows with me. As ever all the work was of a high standard and very diverse. It was good to meet lots of new people and catch up with some old friends.

Something fishy

Here are some plates out of the kiln this week. I enjoyed playing around with these. I've used dots of wax resist on the bottom one which has produced a fun texture.
Today I packed a glaze firing with some test pieces. I am trying out some Spencroft clay so it will be interesting to see how it compares to my usual clay. Will be able to open it on Thursday.
Tonight I have been kneading clay from the clay pit in Kent. If I've got time I may throw some tomorrow but I've got quite a few chores to do ready for Farnham at the week-end.

Half-term break

Here are some pots from the last firing. I really enjoyed making the caseroles. They provide a good vertical surface to work on. I like having writing on the pots but I couldn't think what to put on the jugs - milk seemed a bit obvious!

We did a quick dash to Wales at the end of half-term. There was an exhibition at Oriel Myrddin in Carmarthen by Edwina Bridgeman. It was a fun, inventive and whimsical orchard. It was created from charity shop finds. Made me want to scour charity shops and create my own world.
Unfortunately my photographs don't do the work justice.

It was great to get the boys away from their computers and games into the fresh air. I told them we were going to visit a castle (Castle Carreg Cennen) but when they saw it they said 'that's just a heap of stones!' The veiws were wonderful and it was a warm autumn day with glowing colours.
Had to finish early today to get the car after it's MOT. I haven't had the bill yet but I need it for Art in Clay at Farnham in a few weeks.

Dinner?

Come to dinner- the table's laid and the food prepared. Friday evening is always a time to relax and unwind. I started the day with a swim. (Have to be in and out before the school children come for their lessons). A quick dash to the bank and the shops for some food shopping and home to decorate some pots.
I use a mixture of sources to find the images I want. Some from books others from my sketch books. These pots always take much longer than I expect but I do enjoy doing them. I was surprised to find that I'm down to my last bag of clay!! So I'm off to my supplier first thing in the morning armed with a long shopping list.

images

As much of my imagery in my current work has included bees and beetles I thought I would keep a look out for the images on other products. I thought it would be easy to find a number of items. I did find a beetle set in resin which has the most lustrous colours when the sun catches it but apart from that the only other use of a bee I found on a bottle of beer! Of course I had to buy some to add to my meager collection and obviously I had to sample the contents. (I call it research and dedication to the cause).
Has any one out there found bugs and beetles on any art work or products?

Brampton pots!

My creation
Originally uploaded by sgraffito2003

Thought I'd post these images that I have been using this year because I need to create a new set for the coming years applications.

Sunday Ceramics

Sunday was a beautiful soft, warm Autumnal day. Perfect for a trip to London. First stop The Victoria and Albert Museum to see the newly re-opened ceramics galleries. It was a very quick visit so we only got the flavour of it. The two pots above are from Cyprus and really got my attention.
I will take a day off at some stage for a return visit to have a good look.
I've put the two pictures in below just to give you an idea of just how many pots were crowded together. There were displays where pots were given more space and prominence but many were in close proximity.
I think that there are more galleries to be opened one featuring British pottery maybe later in the year.

From the V and A we dashed to Brick Lane for some lunch and on to the Geffrye Museum. Our main objective was to see Hannah. Her display looked good and it was good to catch up with a fellow blogger. Although our work looks different we both work with slipware and it's all ways good to compare notes. By the time we got home I was exhausted but it was a fun day out.