This curvy little number...

was inspired by some sunbaked mud I found on the beach in Brazil...


some of which had curled and formed organic shapes. Some had curled even more than these, and I wanted to recreate some of the shapes. I added deep orange red to the inside to create emphasize the warmth of the originals and their environment.

I have made...

some more poppy bowls. Is there a name for this urge? Compulsive poppy bowl making syndrome? Some call it OCD, I call it passion...
Anyway, my digression aside, here they are-

I've experimented with a different surface texture inside these ones and think it's quite effective. Also, they're larger than the last ones, so they feel a little more substantial, and are better for holding a floating candle or wrapped shiny sweets. That is if you can bear to cover up the inside! They're pretty just as sculpture too...
As always, don't be shy now guys - what do you think?

Stamps...

are ace! I love my little stamps so much! I make them out of clay. I've used the one I used for this bowl quite a lot now, so I was very sorry when I chipped it yesterday... Perhaps it's a good thing. I've made a four matching bowls now, and a couple of shallower bowls/side plates using this imprint, so I can now honestly say that they are part of a limited number produced...

One little bird was never going to be enough...

So here are a couple more. Testing out different glazes has been great fun on these - the colour is really emphasized in a less is more kind of way. I love bright colours, but I often find that a little is enough. I am easily overwhelmed by it, and find that it works best often when it is shown off by a white or neutral contrast. That's not always the case, but often I find that's how it works for me. When I used to work as an interior designer, I found that one or two bright accessories in a room were often enough for a splash of colour, and I think that has influenced the way I approach it now. Maybe it's an English thing too. I really noticed when I was traveling that in tropical places, people wear more bright colours and even houses are painted in bright colours. Our environment influences the colours we pick, but then I think the shades around us influence us too. So I have injected a little more vibrancy to my recent work - summer's here, lets be cheery!

Plant pots

were one of the first things I made out of clay. I made more and more, imprinting various things into the surface of clay slabs and then forming the pot. These are a few I made quite recently with plant material rolled in. Any bits of plant that are left in the slab simply burn out during firing. I love working this way, and a surprising amount of detail is created.

For these pots I used lavender and mint. I prefer to emphasize the texture by glazing only the details and the inside of the pot.
Comments welcome...

I was reminded recently

of a gorgeous project I did with some children to make plant pots for their dad's garden. We rolled out big slabs of clay, and the girls pressed their hands and feet in and wrote their names in.
I took the slabs away and curved them round to create the pots. It really doesn't get much sweeter than this - full credit to the girls for artistic ability and adding the cuteness factor! A big part of their strength as objects is in the fact that when they're older they'll make really adorable reminders of the girls' childhoods. (I emphasized this by writing the date in the clay on the inside.) Very sweet...

Time for some cuteness!

The first of my new range of little bird bowls have come out and are gorgeous! Not very modest I know, but there you go, I love them!
The first one to be uploaded to my shop is this one, Little love bird. It's a little tiny one, so I would use this to keep rings in or use it for a tea light candle. It has little hearts stamped into the surface to create little wings which have been filled with my favourite glossy pinky red glaze.
As ever, feel free to share your opinion!

My new poppy bowls

came out of the kiln yesterday and I uploaded a couple of them to my shop. Out of the first test pieces, I was happy with these three...


and will be putting a couple more through before the end of the week. They are pinch pots, and each one is created in the palm of my hand from a single piece of clay. No molds or wheels are used. I have loved poppies since my degree show where I grew troughs of them and arranged the troughs as part of a sculptural installation piece. Clearly the intervening seven years in interior design have resulted in a less high brow/more practical object. The texture in the centre is created by drawing into the surface of the clay. I used the same dark pink/red glossy glaze on each, but in varying amounts, and mixed it with various other things to emphasize the detail. All the ones that I was happy with were made using white grogged T material. (mmmm I love that clay!) Unfortunately, the ones I tried on the crank clay were horrible. The glazes just did not look good. I've tried an experiment on the crank again with a more orange red glaze that I'll get out of the kiln in a couple of days, so I'm hoping that will work better.
However, that said, I think I'll concentrate more on the combination above, as these really are quite beautiful with a candle in or just on their own. They're perfect for summer, but with gorgeous colour that would brighten up a winter's night too.

As ever, comments welcome...

Summer's here!

Sitting by the river today in the sunshine watching the world go by was a real treat. It's been a weekend of fun and friends after a few weeks of being flat out! It was great to get these out of the kiln towards the end of the week, and they have now been uploaded to my shop. It had been a disappointing week in pottery in some ways, with crazy reactions and minor flaws making a couple of pieces unsaleable, but I was very happy with these two pieces. Both of them have the same crackled effect in the bottom, made with recycled glass from a wine bottle. Tomorrow I'll hopefully get the first few test pieces of my poppy head bowls out, and I am hoping they work well... fingers crossed! As always, feel free to give your opinion!

The Caribbean blue droplet pot in my last post sold very quickly, and I am told it was featured on Etsy's front page, so that's a huge compliment! I also sold two of my lily pots, so I will definitely be making some more of those. I am currently working towards having a shared stand on 28th June with some fellow potters in Altrincham, Cheshire, more details to follow on that one, but in the meantime here are a couple of leaf inspired pots that are featured in my online shop this week...

I used recycled glass from wine bottles to create glossy crackled texture in both of them. Comments welcome!

Here it is!

The same glaze as was used in the previous post, but now with more turquoise vibrancy. I like that it hasn't lost the subtleties of the original with its dark speckles. I'm very pleased with the effect, and I think the glaze works well with the recycled glass in the bottom. I've been trying to get a tropical sea effect, and so I've named this one Caribbean. This seemed like an appropriate shape for it- a water droplet shaped bowl. The great British summer is living up to its wet reputation at the moment, so I'm trying to add a little tropical colour to life! As always, if you're reading this, feel free to give your opinion...