2017 work: The easy-going themes of 2016, the sea and the light mood of a lovely wedding didn't stay long; there has been much violence and mayhem in the world for that. I have thought much of the plight of people in the midst of war and in peril. i have thought much of the threatening events closer to home and these thoughts are inevitably coming through.
Parliamentary Democracy
Blue Moon
2016 work: Once again Sheffield Ceramics Festival was great! Great company, great visitors who knew their onions and helped to clarify the work, as ever. Good deals were done and talked about... and then the wedding event, for which all the fish and cylinders were intended, happened and took hold of the story, ending the ceramic year on a very high mark.
It has been very good to constrain the colour range to sea blues and greens and to endeavour to match shapes and tones to the mood of events ongoing. Erosion of colour, form, will power, confidence and purpose meet the high tide of determination and good luck: here and there a little satisfactory accident . The wood fired sardines are still being coaxed as are the many flat ones bound for an adventurous and exciting celebration.
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Pots, Jars, Jugs and Fun in 2015
Jugs and Beakers
Small folded pots - their journey of experiment
Folded Pots Stage 3... See if you can find them in earlier stages?
From November to June, a journey of hope and learning. Try again...
Failed Pot. The iron oxide slip surprisingly turned a coral pink after bisque firing and the stain that filled the grooves below tinted the surface a grey tone. I was expecting some sort of yellow/amber with very dark blue below. I wonder where all that iron went after I applied the transparent glaze over it? And the stain bled everywhere, the underglaze lines are like bird droppings, the surface is dirty and repellent. All of this could conceivably be worked on if it weren't for the fact that the bottom of the pot became glued to the kin shelf and parted company with the rest of the piece. Incidentally, the matt sea green glaze inside needs to be applied quite thick and is passably handsome where thick, but streaky and fugitive elsewhere. In short, this is a complete compendium of what not to do.
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Inside, Within, Secret, Shelter, Safety, Process...
Ceramic containers are a basic necessity for survival: potters have been making clay containers ever since the first accidental burning. They keep water pure, oil uncontaminated, flour safe from weevils. They are our cup of tea and our bowl of rice. And each form has a different use. But the surface of the useful container is there to to take you along somewhere. To your childhood, to your regret, to your joy or pain...