To West Wales and beyond...

 We have had a hectic week-end away. Going to Aberystwyth via North Devon.
We had a walk through the Vallery of the Rocks and on down down to Lynmouth. After getting very wet walking the coast path to see seals we had much pleasanter weather when we walked in the RHS Rosemoor Gardens.

 At Aberystwyth I walked along the sea front dashing to the shops when the rain became too heavy.

 Of course I've been wanting to go to Devon for some time. Mainly to visit my brother and his wife but also (not surprisingly) to see the pots! One of our first stops was the Burton Art Gallery Museum. If you click on the link you can view all of the slipware pots from the Reg Lloyd collection. Here are just a few to whet your appetite.

 One of my other ambitions has been to visit Harry Juniper's shop. Unfortunately I didn't see him but I did enjoy looking at his work. After seeing all the pots in the museum it was wonderful to see the tradition of North Devon commemorative ware still carried on. John Edgeler has just published a book about Harry Juniper to celebrate Harry's 80th birthday.

 At Aberystwyth's Arts Centre there were yet more pots to get excited about. Although the collection is quite small I found the selection of works by Michael Cardew wonderful. They looked so lively and fresh they could have just come out of the kiln.

 These two jugs by Peter Smith are so animated. It was interesting to see such gestural work after looking at the precise detailed work of Harry Juniper. These jugs seemed to have real personality.
The wassail bowl below is from Ewenny pottery in South Wales. Probably one of Wale's oldest potteries and still producing work today.

 There was also an exhibition of work by Michael Flynn. His work is so lively you almost expect the figures to move before your eyes. The way he has captured wild, unrestrained movement is magic. 
Today I've been back in my studio working with my mind buzzing with ideas.

Park Life

Do you remember these? The lyrics are from Blur 'Park Life'. (Only John got it right ). I had meant to take them for an outing to Ceramics in the City but I was too late getting them out of the kiln and didn't fancy carrying them on the train.

Catching up.

It has been a very busy few weeks and I am only now looking back over my photos. Whilst I was in London for Ceramics in the City I called into the V and A. The image above is a little owl on the base of a Renaissance cross. I like these small images and this one in particular is a great little fellow. In the shop there were these other owls. Also very wonderful. These are reproductions of early slipware owls from the ceramics gallery. I don't know who they are by but the large platter is also by the same potter. If anybody knows let me know so I can fill in the gaps.

The above image is a large trunk also from the renaissance gallery. Sometimes looking at images on other objects sparks off an idea. I find the lack of scale quite appealing, sheep and magpies all the same size, just so decorative. I was also attracted to the decorative arrangement of the oak leaves on the large bottle below. A few objects like these sets my mind buzzing. I might not use the ideas straight away but they tend to lodge somewhere in the back of my mind until I need them.

Here is Hannah at her stall at the Geoffrye Museum. I've included a picture of Prue Cooper's wonderful plates and one of my stall. The three of us are all working with slipware but our work is very different. Prue's plates have a great sense of whimsy with their combination of words and images.

This last image is of some plates on my mother's wall. These plates were on my grandmother's wall all the time I was growing up. My grandfather won them at a fun fair. This suggests that they would have been really inexpensive. But there is something about them that has just lodged in the back  of my mind all these years. Influences and ideas come from all sorts of places even when we aren't looking for them.

The last festival and the next.

 Can you remember weeks ago we had warm, no, hot weather? It's easy to forget now the rain and storms have washed the sunshine away. Anyway,one hot day when the kiln was on and the studio was baking the pots were drying too fast, I was just about to recycle this pot when I thought I'd quickly experiment with a different design. Here is the result. Not quite sure whether I can develop this idea or not.

 Anyway,the pace of life has changed this week as I take a break from the studio to go to pottery festivals. The week-end was spent at Wardlow Mires. Here's my stand. The week-end was very enjoyable and went all too quickly. I think the combination of pots and food works really well. The countryside around the festival is wonderful with rolling hills stretching in every direction only broken by sudden outcrops of rocks. I only wish we could have stayed longer to explore the area more and enjoy Pat and Geof's hospitality at The Three Stags' Head.

 Back at home I am preparing for the next event which is Ceramics in the City at the Geffrye Museum in London. The bowls below will be coming with me. I set up on Wednesday and the event runs from Thursday evening through to Sunday evening.

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.