Tag Archives: art

Reasons To Be Cheerful . . . . .

Things have been a bit strange since the Open Studios in November.  There have been some massive highs, some horrible lows and everything in between.  To cut a long story short I have decided that I am going to bring forward the moving of my studio to Cornwall.  The building plans are no further forward but I don’t want to work in London for various reasons and so I am going to rent a studio on the Roseland until my own studio is ready sometime next summer.

I have agonised over this.  Things have been taking off in London and I didn’t want to lose out just as it was going so well.  However, I have given myself a stiff talking to; pointed out to myself that, if I am any good, I don’t need the big smoke; gone for one of my favourite walks on a fabulous December afternoon and reminded myself that I have a lot to be thankful for.

With somewhere such as this to inspire me why would I not want to hasten my westerly migration!

To paraphrase the words of Paulo Nutini I have the view from my window and a nice warm bed; I have a great place to work and a bucket full of mud; I have some great ideas and a nice warm kiln; but most of all, I’ve got my Roseland!

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming, the pigs are getting hot!  O sorry, no, that’s wrong isn’t it.  I think that I am suffering some kind of melt down post Open Studios and, as a result, I find myself messing about in the studio.

I was rummaging about looking for moulds to play with and I came across a piggy mould.

3-little-pigs-pre-firing
Covered in slips and using all kinds of clays.

Now as an inveterate saver I have always believed in incentivising people to save and what better way that to give them a piggy bank for Christmas?  Since Klay have taken a stall at the Burgh House Fair on 4th December, I thought that maybe I should think Christmassy for a while and so I got making.  The trouble is, I am pathologically unable to make ‘sweet’ and hence a litter of subversive little pigs was begun.  I have used strange clays, covered them with mono-printed slip decoration and thrown all kinds of glaze at them.

1-little-pigs
Serious cracking!

Inevitably, there have been casualties along the way – adding a think layer of Vulcan black slip to a gentle, porcelain pig was bound to end in tears – but two of the litter made it through the first firing and were looking pretty smart so I threw some random glazes onto them and fired them right up to 1230.  Well you can either

pork-crackling
Poor piggy! I don’t think Vulcan black slip fits well over porcelain!

live or die trying in my book!  The result – pork crackling!  Just one pig, the one which didn’t have a mix of slips to begin with, has come through unscathed.  Actually I think it is better than unscathed.  The mix of slips and glazes has caused some incredible blistering and now I am at that difficult point where I am trying to decide if enough is enough or whether I should be adding to the subversion by putting decals all over it.  Hmm . .  decisions!

one-little-pig
This little piggy is going to market.

 

 

Along the way I have also made a pile of tiny little tree decorations which can go to Burgh House but of proper making, there has been little sign this week.  I think I need a few bracing walks on the beach to restore my mojo.  Cornwall, here I come!