Holidays

 We've recently had time off for a holiday. The first week we visited places within easy reach of home. One of the places we visited was the Weald and Downland Folk Museum in West Sussex. They have rebuilt buildings to create a medieval village. Many of the houses are filled with reproduction copies of original medieval artifacts like these pots. I don't know who the potter was unfortunately but they looked good in their authentic settings. What the photos don't show is that every school within a five mile radius must have been having their school trip to the centre that day!

 The second week we travelled to West Wales and stayed in this farmhouse. It was just as though we had moved into the museum I don't know which was more authentic. The little chap below was a regular visitor to the farmhouse and even followed us when we went for walks. The farmhouse was somewhere north of St. Davids which is one of our favourite parts of the country.

 I'm back at work now but it always seems slow starting again. This little jug is one I use every day to make my coffee in so I have been making these again. Although it seems a long way off at the moment I am all ready thinking of Farnham and Art in Clay in November. Which reminds me that Andy and Di Mcinnes have developed a facebook page for Art in Clay. It's crammed full of photos of pots so set aside an hour ( or two) and browse through.

Holiday Mode

 We are still in holiday mode. We went to Brighton on Sunday. A shop window was full of old sewing machines. I couldn't decide if it looked retro in a good way or if it just looked like a strange graveyard for sewing machines. It was actually a clothing shop.
Brighton Pavilion is by far a more familiar landmark in Brighton.

 Today we visited the Contemporary Ceramics gallery and the British Museum.
Around the museum they had 'handling stations' where you could handle some of the museums collections. They had a piece of a reliquary. The photo below doesn't do it justice because it looked so fresh and vibrant. There is also a picture of a complete reliquary from one of their galleries.
Finally there is a very jolly medieval pot. I like the little face on the side.

Earth and Fire

 Here is my stall at Earth and Fire in Rufford.. I think I am not putting enough thought into the way I display my work on the stall. The weather was quite challenging so I think that affected me as I was aware that with all the wind we were going to have to pack most of it down every night. ( The clothes also got very wet and quite muddy on the front of the stall).
Even so I think it needs more careful thought.

 I took a photo of the two seperate sides as I thought that the right hand side made a much better display than the left. Certainly I need to display my prices differently!

 Below are pictures of David Wright's stand which I thought worked really well. Not too cluttered. Clean lines to show off his work to good advantage.
I've also put pictures of Akiko Hirai's stand, Paul Young's, and Ruthanne Tudball's. I like all their work but I also thought their displays worked well. Of course it's difficult to know how much the display affects sales but I want to make the experience of coming to a festival interesting and enjoyable for the public.Even if people don't buy my work I want them to have enjoyed the experience of seeing hand made pottery. ( Infact I had reasonably good sales).
One of the good things about doing the festivals is meeting some interesting people and hearing about their interests and lives. It's also stimulating to meet the other potters particularly as most of us work on our own. Although I like working on my own it's good to get out now and again!

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Reasons to be cheerful part two

As you can probably see from the blog I am not getting any pottery done this week. I am using this week to clean up the house and catch up with friends I've neglected.
The weather is kinder  and I'm cheerful with raspberries and cake in the garden and a cappuccino in a mug by Maureen Minchin.

Reasons to be cheerful.

The weather is glorious today and I had lunch in the garden. A good book, beer in a salt glazed tankard and apple and cheese on a plate by Jean Nicolas Gerard.

Diversions

 What do you do when you should be packing? Blog, of course! I should be packing tents and camping equipment, pots and carrier bags, shelves and plinths and probably welly boots and umbrellas. But I got diverted when I was looking in the attic for the tent and I found a tripod for my camera. I got it down intending to throw it out as I've never succeeded in attaching it to my camera so I assumed it was the wrong size. However, suddenly it was all very clear and I could see exactly how to attach it.

Well I couldn't throw it away then instead I had to go into the garden and take some photos.

I'm off to Earth and Fire tomorrow you can check it out on the web and look up all the potters who will be there. ( Now there's a diversion for you!)

 I've been thinking about 'reliquaries' and about what personal reliquaries we may have. This sewing box was given to me 40 years ago and now holds small relics. Nothing of any real value but items that remind me of  special times. A brooch given to me by my grandmother, a tiny book out of a dolls house a string of glass beads given to my mother by my father when they first met. I can't help smiling whenever I open up the box.

 This 'reliquary' may never hold the bones of a saint or a splinter of the true cross but perhaps it may hold some special treasure or reminder of a moment in time. In fact this 'reliquary' isn't going to make it to Imagine Gallery because it has a tiny crack in the base so I might just build up my own narrative with fragments of objects and paintings.