Art on the Street June 2013

This Saturday I was again selling my work at the biannual event, Art on the Street.  It was a beautiful sunny day with visitors enjoying the art and ceramics on display.

I have spent quite some time building up enough stock to take with me, here is a video demonstrating making the leaf imprint tiles.

Leaf Imprint Tiles

The work I had on display was both red earthenware clay and stoneware clay.  The stoneware was fired to a higher temperature (1250 C) than the earthenware clay (1120 C).  The following two videos show the pots  fresh from the kiln.

Red Earthenware Slipware

Stoneware

Saving a bowl from the reclaim bucket

Before I went on my trip to the West Country I made a few pots that I wrapped up in plastic so that I could dip them in slip when I returned.
Here is one of the bowls with the slip added to the inside, I thought it was ready to biscuit fire and I had put it aside to dry.  I was unhappy with it because the slip had a few lumps in it and about four or five small lumps were stuck on the inside of the pot. Yesterday I picked it up and was struck by how heavy it was and its clumsy shape, so I decided it would have to go in the reclaim, no point in firing something you are not happy with.  Then I decided to give it a second chance.

I wrapped it in wet cloths to soften the clay and put it back on the wheel, I reduced the size of the footring and lifted the shape by trimming where the curve changes at the base (I always leave too much clay here when turning)

I have mixed up a new black slip but never used it so I decided to try it on this bowl.  I masked the bits of the pot I wanted to stay white using torn till receipt paper.  I scrapped off the small lumps of slip and made sure that the black slip covered that area.

When the slip was dry I removed the strips of paper

I was a bit worried when I took the strips off, the paper had crumpled a bit because of the curve and some slip had seeped underneath.  I quite like the effect it has produced and my Union Jack style bowl.

This bowl is destined for the Ceramics Show at St Joseph's on 9th March.  I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

March 6th - The bowl comes out of the kiln

It has a lovely shine to it and I really like the rich black colour of the slip, it has a real depth to it.
There is a bit of roughness on the black slip but it isn't too bad.
I must practise dipping bowls into glaze buckets and getting the level right!

My Half Term - A Trip to the West Country

This half term I was without husband or children as they all had something better to do, so I decided to take the opportunity to stay with my sister, Julia, in Somerset and arranged for us to visit some local potters.

Saturday
I picked up Josie in Bristol on my way down to Somerset, we called in at Auntie Ann's for delicious homemade soup and then popped over to see Karen Edwards at Barley Wood Walled Garden, Wrington.  Karen makes lovely garden (and indoor) sculptures and practical stoneware items. Her studio is in such a beautiful location with views out over the Mendips. It was a surprise to discover that I had one of Karen's birds in my back garden, it was a present from Ann to John about five years ago. Here it is on our kitchen floor.

Sunday
We headed out onto the Mendips, here are Josie, Alexander and Julia at Charterhouse

Josie the Geologist is examining fossils in the Limestone near Velvet Bottom

Monday
Our morning visit was to Philip Wood near Frome.  Philip showed us his new studio and we chatted about his amazing sprigging technique and many other things.

These are pots destined for an exhibition in Japan

Ware boards full of beautiful finished pots

Small pot 7cm wide

Wide mug 7cm high

Scraffito inside the mug

In the afternoon we went to Barrington Court and drank tea and chatted to Paul Jessop for a couple of hours.  I forgot to take any photos I was so engrossed in looking around and listening to Paul.  I have been following Paul on his blog and facebook so it was good to meet him in person.

Green slipware mug

By this time we were feeling a bit peckish but a community shop saved the day, then we moved on to our next destination, John Leach's Pottery at Muchelney.

The kiln had been opened on Friday so there were plenty of pots for us to choose from, Nick Rees showed us around and explained how the wood fired climbing kiln operates.

Pots out of the kiln at Muchelney

The pottery has nearly completely recovered from the flooding last November, you can see a news report here.  The wheels were moved out of the workshop into the gallery so that Johnnie, Nick and Mark could continue working.  The kiln firing had to be delayed until it had dried out.

Sweet jug 9cm high

8.5cm high

Nick Rees individual piece 9cm high

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning we heading out to Butleigh near Glastonbury to meet Mike Dodd.  I have seen Doves Workshops in the Goldmark video about Mike, but it was great to see it in real life. We were left to browse in the showroom, we were in there for a long time, it was all so lovely we couldn't decide what to buy.

10cm high

23cm diameter

Here is what I did buy

16cm high

Small ginger jar 11cm high

Large Lidded Jar 21cm high

For lunch we went to the Willow and Wetlands centre, I bought a lovely wicker tray to display my pots on.  Julia was given a bag of willow strippings to use as a natural dye for wool.

Wicker push chairs

Later in the day we popped into Wells and went shopping, I bought this Cider Flagon in a second hand shop (it was in with the garden tools)

Flagon with original cork and disintegrated  seal  for the tap

It appears that it may be a Winchcombe pot made by Ray Finch, there is no potter's mark but it has the right glaze and the features seem to indicate its authenticity.  I am thrilled with it, as soon as I picked it up I knew it was special but I didn't know how special.  I was particularly pleased to get five pounds off the marked price and took it home for £20!

I also bought a John Leach individual plate, dated 1995, another great find, that was hiding on a windowsill in the same shop.

Wednesday

On Wednesday I ventured into Devon on my own, first stop Hollyford Pottery to see Doug Fitch. Tea and a tour were provided and a good chat about all things clay.  Again I forgot to take any photos, but here are two beautiful jugs I came home with.

In the afternoon I drove onto Woodbury for more tea this time with Tim Andrews. I wanted to buy one of Tim's beautiful porcelain cups but he didn't have any to sell, so I had to content myself with admiring Tim's garden which is looking great.  He has put so much work into it and it was very impressive which is especially difficult at this time of year.

Before heading home I stopped in at my niece in Budleigh Salterton and you guessed it for more tea and chat.

I really enjoyed my short trip to Somerset and Devon, I am already planning the next one.  First I have to find somewhere to put all my new pots, I might have to buy some new shelving.

Pop Up Shop 'From the Kiln'

After packing up Art on the Street on December 1st, I moved the remaining, unsold pots 100m away to an empty shop in the Nicholsons' Centre.  This was the 'From the Kiln' pop up shop organised by Susan Day, twelve local potters were exhibiting and selling their work.  The shop was open for four days a week and was manned by the potters themselves.

The shop was well lit and the displays all looked great, each potter had a set of shelves in a cabinet.  Everyone sold some of their work and I was delighted to sell over fifty items.  I had to re stock the shelves a few times as it began to look a bit bare.

We had so many positive comments from customers, most of them were delighted to see a shop in Maidenhead, selling high quality products at such reasonable prices. 

Overall a great success, I hope it will be repeated again this year.