Art on the Street 1st Dec 2012

After a very quiet summer in the studio, I have been making up for it in the last two months.  I had to make enough work for the Art on the Street event in Maidenhead on Saturday.   Art on the Street is a local art market run by volunteers, it takes place twice a year and brings quality art to the masses of Maidenhead. I am included as a 3D artist, with the added benefit of having a stall inside the shopping centre. I was very pleased about this as I felt for the artists standing in the freezing conditions out on the high street.

In a departure from my normal stoneware clay, I have been experimenting with terracotta.  I needed to fire the pots I had made on the Richard Phethean course, this meant I had to make a full kiln load of red earthenware pots to biscuit fire. I had great fun dipping the bowls and plates in white slip and then decorating them using paint brushes and slip trailers. The glazing is then very straight forward, every pot has the same treatment, dipping in the transparent glaze. I am really pleased with the results everything has come out really shiny and I like the warm effect of the cream coloured slip.

A kiln's worth of earthenware slipware

These pots all came out of the kiln half way through November, but I still had some stoneware pots to fire, so I worked on making enough pots for another kiln load.  These pots were biscuit fired on Tuesday last week and then glaze fired on Thursday, the kiln was cool enough to open on Friday evening, when I needed to deliver the pots to the shopping centre for the stall.  Talk about cutting it fine!  I had to wrap the pots in newspaper because they were still quite hot and I was worried that the bubble wrap would melt on them!

Here I am with my stall, even though we were inside it was still quite chilly, so I kept my coat on. There were eight of us with ceramics stalls, all of us have very different styles and it is great to chat with fellow potters about their work and how they achieve their amazing results.  We all know each other and I love to see other potters' new work and we spend the time swapping tips and techniques.

 Here is the stall, my earthenware is at the front and my stoneware on the main table.  It is very tempting to put out all my work and this looks quite cluttered but the camera (phone) has foreshortened the view and it wasn't quite so busy.  I had a box of extra work underneath to replenish the stall, as I sold items, fortunately I had to go to the box on several occasions during the day.






This is one of my large fruit bowls (30cm diameter) made from a gritty clay (crank).  I make this in a large plaster mould and then smooth the inside and make the outside rough with a surform blade.  The outside is given a toasty colour, I achieve this by adding a blue glaze and then wiping it off with a sponge.  The inside is glazed with shiny white and splashed with my green glaze.

 This crank bowl is made in the same way but has straight sides and is much taller, it is about 40cm diameter and has a green and blue glaze pattern inside.

This jug is one of my favourites, it is very spherical and looks like a chubby little fellow.  It is green on the outside and white inside.










I was really pleased with my day at Art on the Street, I sold about 30 pots and four people have asked for commissions.  I love talking about my work and shows like this give me an opportunity to do this, I hope they weren't too bored by me!  I better get back to my studio now, I have those commissions to make and more work for a ceramics pop up shop (more on that later ...)

Art in Action and a Bowl made by Phil Rogers

Yesterday two potter friends and I went to Art in Action at Waterperry Gardens, we arrived just before 10 and parked at the nearby airfield to use the park and ride facility.   How fortunate that we had arrived when we did, ten minutes later and we would have been delayed another 45 minutes as the buses struggled to get back to the airfield due to the traffic.  I was so pleased I had sacrificed fashion for practicality and worn old jeans tucked into my wellies.  I didn't feel out of place as we trudged through the rather wet pathways, the road up to the usual car park field looked like a river of mud.  Several of the exhibitors told us of the troubles they had experienced setting up on Wednesday, trying to get their wares on to the site.
So we didn't make a beeline for the ceramics marquee, we were very self controlled and managed to visit a few of the other marquees first, such as Calligraphy, Printmaking (lovely work by Laura Boswell), Sculpture and the Best of the Best (each exhibitor has one of their favourite pieces displayed here).  So finally we made it to the Ceramics marquee hooray, and what a feast for our eyes, I won't list all the exhibitors because you can look that up on the Art in Action website.  At the entrance were Tim Andrews with his fabulous raku fired items and Richard Godfrey's brightly coloured earthenware.  I should have been on commission at Tim's stall as I picked up a beautiful porcelain fluted cup with a perfect Celadon glaze and when I replaced it on the stand it was quickly snapped up and purchased by a lady standing next to me.

Tim Andrews raku fired form, don't know who that is hiding behind it.

In the Best of the Best tent we found some wonderful pieces:

Kevin Millward

Kevin Millward's porcelain bowl is an amazing example of perfect throwing, it is about 45 cm diamater and as light as a feather.  The bowl has distinct throwing rings and the shape has been altered.  This is probably my favourite piece in the whole exhib
ition.

Linda Bloomfield

Linda Bloomfield's delicate, thrown porcelain with a perfect satin matt glaze on the outside of her work and a coloured glaze on the inside, yummy.

Paul Jackson beautiful shaped jug with nude

Paul Jackson's jug is such a pleasing shape and it takes a while to realise it is also a canvas with a very well depicted nude.

James Oughtibridge

I didn't manage to frame the whole of James Outibridge's piece in the shot I was trying to get a view between the pots to see how the two separate pieces relate to each other.



Then onto the ceramics marquee, here is Phil Roger's stand

and Paul Jackson's

Then in the Practical Classes Tearcher's Exhibition Tent

Jennie Gilbert

Jennie Gilbert Bowl

A Week of Throwing with Richard Phethean

I am just recovering from a week of throwing, it was great fun but for some reason my calf muscles ache.  I spent last Monday to Friday at Richard Phethean's studio at Sibford School near Banbury, learning how to throw bigger, stronger, better pots.  It was great to have so much time in the presence of a renowned potter and he was so generous with his time and knowledge.  I feel much more confident about my throwing now.

Here are some pots I brought back with me they have been coated in white slip, either painted or dipped. The saucers and one bowl have some coloured slip decoration too. They will be biscuit fired and then a transparent glaze applied before the glaze firing. Some of them have suffered a bit in transport, the larger bowls have deformed slightly and some of the white slip has been smudged so they might not all make it into the kiln.

 Of course I couldn't come away without buying a some of Richard's work.

 


















I would highly recommend Richard's course to anyone who wants to improve their throwing skills.  There were nine of us there, all with different levels of ability and we all gained a lot from his tuition.

Richard is planning a move to Cornwall in the next couple of years so how about combining a holiday with a pottery course.  His website is here.

Making a Bowl from Raw Clay to Finished Pot

Recently I decided to make a video of the processes involved in making a bowl from the raw clay to the finished item.  I recorded almost every step in the bowl's development and combined the 22 separate videos to make a seven minute film.  So that you don't fall asleep watching me throw, turn and glaze the pot I have speeded up the action and most of the film is at four times normal speed.  The full length of the original film before speeding it up was about 23 minutes. 
The processes involved in making this bowl are:
Reclaiming clay
Drying the clay on plaster bats
Kneading
Throwing
Turning
Biscuit Firing
Glazing
Glaze Firing
There are a few other processes that I haven't included such as setting up before each task and washing up afterwards.  I also make up my glazes from the raw ingredients this involves careful weighing out and sieving.
After I had made this film I thought about how much time I spend on my pottery and how much I charge for my work.  I sell these bowls for £8 each, if you consider all the processes above it probably takes me an hour to make three bowls.  Add to that the cost of the raw materials, the clay is relatively cheap at about 50p but the glaze ingredients can be quite expensive plus the electricity for the two firings.  On top of this  there is the original cost of the equipment such as the kiln and wheel and all the additional tools.  So its a good job that I do this for the love of making pots and not to make a living!

Bowls, Plates and Tree Printing

Today I spent a good chunk of time in the studio, I threw some more plates and twelve small bowls off the hump, so a very productive time for me.  I also rolled out two slabs of clay which I carried down the road to take a bark imprint.  I have been admiring the diamond pattern on the Silver Birch at the end of our road and have finally managed to do something about it.  The pattern transferred onto the clay really well but the impression is quite deep.  I plan to biscuit fire the textured clay and use it to create patterns for future pots.
Josie kindly videoed the event for me.

Artspace at Barn Galleries Henley

My trip to Artspace this morning was fantastic.  The displays are amazing, the ceramics are all displayed on tables, shelves and cupboards.  I spent about two hours there admiring the variety of work.  It was raining so my tour around the grounds viewing the sculptures was a bit wet, the bottom of my jeans were soaked. I met two fellow West Forest Potters while I was there.
Inside the barn I took a few photos of the work.

Hannah McAndrew, Slipware

Hannah McAndrew, Slipware

Jane White, Pit Fired

Jane White, Pit Fired

Alison Dix

Akiko Hirai

Hilary Sims

Lea Phillips

Nina Lund

Marshall Colman

Asger Kristensen

Monday 14th May - Time to Relax

After a really hectic two weeks of making  pots in my studio and feeling like a full time potter, it is time to relax.  The Art on the Street event was a great success, the weather cheered up for the weekend and we had a really good turnout.  I sold 27 items, so I am very pleased with that and I can put the profits towards my throwing course with Richard Phethean in July.  But its not about the money, money, money, I really enjoyed chatting to everyone about my work and techniques, some of them even seemed interested!  Also it is great to meet up with the little group of potters exhibiting in the Waterstone's unit. Here is a short film of my stall before it opened

As part of my relaxing day I am off to the Barn Galleries, Henley to see the Artspace exhibition
www.barngalleries.com

Art on the Street 2012

I am busy sorting out the pots I want to take with me to Art on the Street, this afternoon I unloaded the kiln and have quite a selection now.  As usual everything is very blue, I will try and take a few other pieces to break the blue monotony.  The problem is that I am very disappointed with anything I made more than six months ago.

I have written out my price list, photographed the pots and now need to pack everything away in boxes so that I can set out the table this evening.  If you are in Maidenhead on Saturday please call in and say hello.

West Forest Potters Exhibition

What a hectic weekend!  The West Forest Potters were holding their annual exhibition at Henley Rugby Club as part of the Henley Arts Trail.  There were 26 exhibitors and what an amazing variety of work on display.  Friday was setting up day and having moved most of the furniture out of the room it was time to move the tables to their positions for displaying the pots.  The tablecloths were laid out and the work carefully arranged.  The evening 'invitation only' party was a great success and several items ended the evening with a red dot adornment
The exhibition ran from Saturday to Monday and was well attended.  My stint of stewarding was Sunday morning and I had a great time, chatting to visitors and the other stewards about pottery.  I also had a chance to study all the items in more detail.  Monday saw the exhibitors packing up their wares, some were pleased with the number of sales they had made and some were a little disappointed.  However it is always satisfying to know that your work has given pleasure to those who came to see the exhibition.

 This is my display, I sold three items - the ornamental ball, a set of three small bowls and a lidded pot.