Song words

Does anyone recognize the lyrics on this bowl? ( If you click on the image it will enlarge)
It's quite a challenge doing the sgraffito when the weather is so warm as the pot is drying very fast. I like to work on the pots when they are leather hard so not too dry. The surface is so pleasant to draw into at that stage.

A busy week

 Last Tuesday we headed off to London for the day. My middle son was home from Italy and he wanted to do 'tourist' things in London. My youngest son needed to go to the V and A to study changes in fashion. This suited me just fine as I was able to browse through the ceramics galleries.
This small exhibition caught my eye. It was entitled Deception- Ceramics and Imitation. When I was teaching children we had great fun with this topic. I once took a box of  'biscuits' home and found it really funny when someone tried to take a bite out of one! We all met up for lunch in China Town before heading down the Mall and finishing the day in a London pub.

 As if that wasn't enough fun for one week my eldest son got married on Thursday. It was a most joyous occasion. It was a wonderful mixture of solemnity and fun, dignified and relaxed.

 My daughter is also home from China for the wedding and another impending event. Looks like our family is definitely growing.

 Unloading the glaze firing on Monday hardly seems exciting in the light of all the other events, though strangely enough, doesn't matter how many times I fire the kiln I still look forward to unpacking it with a sense of anticipation.

Here are some of the pots that are going to Pots and Food in Wardlow Mires next week. Wardlow Mires is a most beautiful place so do check out the event. I think the combination of food and pots is marvellous but then perhaps I am just greedy. We enjoyed last years event enormously and I felt the need to sample most of the food and drink.

recent work

 I bought these yunomi from Yo Thom some years ago at Rufford. I don't know why but I made this little stand for them.
They are a delight to use as they are beautifully proportioned and very light.

 As I was in the garden photographing some pots I thought I would just take a few shots of this corner of the garden. As you may see the slugs think of this as more of a cafe.
The jugs below are ready to go to John Edgeler ready for the wood firing in September. They are only about 10 inches high. The theme is 'fish and ships' and it's for a special project John is bringing together. It's an exciting project drawing on the history of North Devon slip ware. Do read more about the project on their blog. For anyone interested in slip ware it is a fascinating read.

 I couldn't resist glazing one of the jugs. So here it is. It seemed such an odd thing not to be glazing them after they were biscuit fired as usually there is quite a routine to working where glazing follows biscuit firing.

 This casserole came out of the same glaze firing. At the moment I am busy working for the next two fairs so I was glad to get out on Saturday for a change of scene. We headed up to Spitalfields for a wander. The street art is great fun You can read more about it here. Back to work tomorrow. There's plenty of work in my damp cupboard to keep me busy.

Rufford

 Last week-end was the annual pottery festival at Rufford. It's  good place to catch up with old friends and to make new friends. Above is Tim Huckstepp's stand he was my pottery neighbour for the week-end.
Below is my stall. I wish that I'd managed to take more photos as some potters have really thought out their stands to show their work to best advantage.

 Margaret Frith always has a good variety of forms wearing lush glazes.

 Rachel's work is so painterly and subtle. Unfortunately this photo doesn't show the soft colours and beautiful texture of her pots.

 Vivienne Ross adds a touch of humour and delicacy with her work.

Finally Darren Ellis who won the prize for best dressed stall. His pots were rich and earthy but looked very practical. All these potters were in the back courtyard where I was but there were over a hundred potters all together.
You can go to Priscilla Mouritzen and Paul Jessop for more details of the week-end.

 Pots and more pots. Often it can look as though there is little progress in the pottery. Because my work has quite a lot of decoration it is slow to produce but then when I catch up with the glazing work starts to come through the kiln.
These bowls are now ready to come to Earth and Fire at Rufford in a few weeks time.

 This plate is one of several that I have made  where I have tried a different treatment on the rim. Not sure if I will pursue this idea or not. I might try out a few different directions with it.

 I was unhappy with this bowl as when I came to decorate it I could see the throwing lines inside. I usually use a throwing rib to take these out when I throw the bowls but had somehow missed that part of the process on this one. I was just going to sling it into the recycling bin when I thought I'd use it to try a different design. so instead of taking my usual care with it I quickly drew out this owl. I didn't want to spend hours writing around the edge when it might just end up in the bin. But now it's finished I rather like the boldness of the owl.
I have had builders here for over two weeks putting in a new shower room upstairs!! When I showed them these tiles I'd made they volunteered to put them in the down stairs toilet. They are quite uneven but add a splash of colour.

My studio

 I thought you might like to join me in my pottery today. The studio is bijou so you'll have to squeeze in.

 Have a peek into the corner! The laptop is just used as a radio most of the time. I hope you like radio 2 or we might just listen to Alan Bennett's Talking Heads' on Youtube.

 The size of my studio to some extent restricts what I can make as space is so limited.

Look there's yesterday's bowl left out. I have several of these bowls thrown and ready to decorate so I know what I'll be doing for quite a few days.
Lets get on with today's bowl. This was thrown from 2 kilos of clay, slipped and then turned so now it's ready for the decoration.

I'm loosely drawing out the illustration using food colour. I've got some pictures from books and some of my own drawing to work from. I really enjoy drawing onto the leather hard clay with the colour. I don't need a detailed drawing to follow but just a general layout.

 The bowl is wide enough so I can get my hand inside to work on the sgraffito. Sorry lunch has to be a hurried affair as the bowl is drying out. 
By 3 o'clock we can have a break- that's my hot chocolate next to the drawings I'm working from

It's seven o'clock now and we can finish for the day. Time to think about cooking dinner. Only just managed to get that bowl finished!

Fruit platter!

I'd booked tickets to go to the Selvedge Spring Fair for Saturday. So despite the snow we went ahead and made the journey to London. I wish I'd thought to take some photos now as it was very refreshing seeing totally different work. ( All fabric, textiles and knitted things with a very retro feel. Very nostalgic).
We tried to feel more spring like with Penny's fruit platter for pudding when we got home.