Last week I spent a lot of time working on commissions. Several of these were for people who are particularly important to me – either because I know them personally or because they have become some of my best customers. It seemed to me that this had a strange impact on my work. I think that I was trying particularly hard to get things as good as I could get them and this proved to be a mistake!
There are weeks which go really well in the studio but this was not one of those. Trying too hard takes the spontaneity out of things and they spoil. Opening the kiln was not a good experience. Things had warped, discoloured, cracked or peeled. So after a flurry of emails to explain why delivery might be a bit later than planned, this week I am back to the drawing board – sun or no sun!
On the up side, I firmly believe that every error leads to a development and an improvement. The lucky people for whom these pieces were intended will shortly be benefitting from improved models. Well, that is the plan at least. So, if Sod is reading this, please could he go and upset somebody else this week whilst I rectify a few things
Material used to strengthen the porcelain has never discoloured it before!
This flat platter now goes round corners.
Decals are not supposed to peel up from the centre.
This week I have been in Portugal. I opted for the´sudden immersion´ approach to the City. It is some while since I have travelled in a foreign city alone and so I was quite relieved to have adequately navigated the mysteries of the Lisbon Metro, successfully coping with the ticketing system and the map and emerging into the light for the first time at the Cais do Sodré on the banks of the River Tagus in the middle of the city.
It is exciting after the impersonal , non-nationality specific aura of airport and international hotel to ‘Arrive’. To feel, for the first time, the light and the atmosphere of a different place. I love the assault on the senses which comes from such an approach. Here was bright light and the smell of the River and the Atlantic. A busker was playing classical guitar in the square and, in the market, there was every conceivable type of fruit and vegetable. Hams, wrapped in muslin, hung from long rails. Fish gazed, glassy-eyed from beds of ice. The smell of spices was intoxicating!
Hams hang from long rails
I wandered, without direction, up narrow cobbled streets dodging trams and Tuk-tuk and gazing up at tall terraces of buildings in a multitude of colours. But what struck me most was the ceramics. Many buildings were clad, at least in part, in beautifully decorated tiles.
Colourful buildings, trams and Tuk Tuk make it feel different.
This is the Portuguese way of protecting their buildings from the elements: Azulejo cover almost every flat surface and the impact is incredible!
Many buildings are clad in tiles to protect them from the elements.
Later I walked along the river to the National Tile Museum to learn more. The museum is housed in an ancient monastery and I had difficulty focussing on one thing because there is so much to see. The architecture of the building is old and beautiful, the tiles range from sixteenth century to very contemporary and the tea room served some of the best Pastel de Nata (custard tarts) I was able to find! The second floor is given over to one enormous mural of Lisbon, part of the museum is given over to an explanation of the making of Portuguese Azulejo through the ages, and in the cloisters, a group of children were decorating their own tiles under the watchful eye of a curator.
This museum is less well frequented than others in the city because it is not so easy to get to but I made it my fist port of call and I was so glad that I had – it is a treasure!
Bridget Macklin 