Tag Archives: ceramics

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.

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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.

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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

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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!

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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!

The Highs and Lows of it all

Oh what a week!  I love Open Studios.  I enjoy all the meetings, I like talking about myself and my work and I love selling but it all seems to take a great toll on my energy levels.  First comes the build up with all the making involved – have I made enough?  Have I made the right things?  Is the quality up to scratch?  Then two days or so before the actual opening I begin to worry about layout  – how much gallery versus how much studio.

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Gallery or studio?

People like the idea that this is where I work and yet they also seem to like a well presented gallery space and so getting the balance right is quite difficult.  Then comes the event itself – 4 days of talking to whoever comes in.  What do they want to know?  How much do they want to engage and how much do they want to be left to look and think.  I don’t find this at all easy.

 

This time I decided that I would make a piece throughout the show and yet this is also fraught with difficulties –

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I am always covered by mud!

I am permanently covered in mud when I make and this is not always a good look when trying to engage with a gallery owner.  Not to mention the mess that it makes all over my phone as I try and keep up with Instagram and facebook and use my phone for my credit card sales.

 

The aftermath of the show often heralds the most almighty emotional crash.  I am exhausted and the room is a mess; there is half a packet of pop-corn and some stale wine lying in the corner but nothing nourishing to eat and I have lived on hastily shovelled pasts salads for 4 days. I am elated by the sales and possible openings but drained by the prospect of getting it all back to normal and beginning to make once more.  I am unsure what the future holds and which opportunities to chase and how hard to chase them.

Probably the most useful thing to do with the few days after the show would be to take 3 full duvet days but I am not very good at that and so I was in bright and early on the Monday morning trying to get back to normal.  It was mighty quiet I have to say!

One thing is clear though.  These Open Studio events at Wimbeldon benefit enormously from the fact that we have a dedicated co-ordinator who’s job it is to get the shows up and running.  She has found us some great sponsors and some fantastic opportunities, she has ensured the smooth running of the event, she has greeted many of the 4500 visitors personally and has probably had little to eat and very little sleep for days.  So Julie, this blog is largely for you.  Your tireless hard work and cheerful attitude to everything we throw at you is incredible.  I am a great many other artists really appreciate what you do on behalf of the studios – it won’t be the same without you.