Wall flowers...

The journey to making my poppy bowls in porcelain has been a long one. I mean really long!! It just doesn't like the way I work!!! Or at least it didn't until I got my hands on a new type last year that seems more suited to my methods. So I have been experimenting for a while, and considering where I was going with this. I did make a couple of poppy bowls, largely to prove to myself that it were possible, and then I developed the idea into something slightly different. Wall flowers. Here is the first one out of the kiln...



I made a batch of these, and the rest of them came out this evening... They look great as a group - as soon as there is good light I will take some shots of them.
They are pinch pots, and I have always been a little obsessive about making my pinch pots as thin as possible. I was told a long time ago that thin pinch pots wouldn't work... that was like a red rag to a bull - I have made hundreds that worked fine since I was told that! Making pinch pots this thin from porcelain has been a challenge I have to say, but I got there in the end... I won't tell you how many casualties there were along the way. The effect of making them so thin out of porcelain, and firing it pretty hot is that it vitrifies, and becomes translucent. The next image shows what happens when you hold it up to the light.

This was daylight from inside through a north facing window on a bright-ish day. I think it is amazing, the way you can see through the thinner parts more. It reminds me of real petals! You can even see in the centre the indent in the back where I created a recess for a pin in the wall to hold it up.
The only drawback has been how to present them. I experimented with a few different backdrops, and have had to deviate from my rule. Up until now everything I put on my shop had to be photographed with a white background. The trouble with these was that it was like looking for a polar bear in a snowstorm - you just couldn't make out clearly where the flower ended and the backdrop began. I tried pink...

And whilst I liked it in a way, I didn't think it really emphasized their subtlety. But then maybe it shows their versatility. I just can't help but think of these as whisperers not shouters! So I have chosen grey - I think it works a lot better. The only downside is that I can feel the OCD part of me twitching in panic about the fact that now not every single piece in my shop has a white background...
Opinions on the colour, and anything else of course, are as always appreciated!

It's been a while...

since I talked about poppies. Making these poppy bowls has been a bit of an obsession for me. One of the nicest things about them is that although I am the maker, and I have made more than a few of them, it is impossible to make two the same...

Each one is a pinch pot, and this basically means that I get a small piece of clay, roll it into a ball, and then gently manipulate it out into a poppy shape. It grows of its own accord, and although I can control the clay to an extent, I can't ever make two the same. In addition, the glaze that has to be applied later is controlled by the exact thickness of the clay, so that too is infinitely variable. Now whilst that may make them more difficult to list on a shop (as each must be individually photographed) it does give me a magical pottery buzz when I open my kiln, because no matter how many I make, even I can't predict exactly how they're going to look when they come out. Now this is great for individuality and great for the people who buy them knowing that theirs is truly unique, but sadly less great when someone asks me for three stacking ones exactly like the ones in the picture on the right... If you're reading this - sorry, I haven't forgotten, but it's going to take time!

Turning over a new leaf..

Leaves have been on my mind lately... They're starting to drop from the trees as autumn approaches, but some things are still growing and producing new leaves. Taking this as inspiration, I've been making some leaf inspired pots; some clinging on to summer's freshness and others embracing autumn's arrival.
Here are some pics of one of the summery ones which I've just added to my shop - New leaf
I'll post some pics of the autumnal ones soon...
As always, comments are welcome!

Picking a kiln...

is a tricky business. By chance I ran into someone today who has the same type of kiln that I was looking at yesterday, and she was enthusiastic about its performance. Having narrowed it down to a type, I just need to figure out exactly which of my 3 shortlisted candidates will come home to be christened Kenny, King of Kilns!!

I can't wait to get it all sorted out, as I'm itching to make a ton of stuff. However, it is probably for the best that I take a break from making for a week at least, as I now have quite a few pieces to upload to my shop... I have started to clear this backlog, and here's one of the new pieces uploaded today...

It's a Mountain lagoon bowl, so called because it has a pool of recycled glass in the bottom of it. Comments/critique welcome!

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?

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...

It doesn't get much better...

than sitting in the grounds of a Tudor mansion on a sunny May day working on my ceramics. It was an absolutely gorgeous day all over England today according to the radio. It certainly was here; it was wonderful to sit in the sunshine for a while! Days like today make me feel lucky! What a pleasure!

I was working on some small porcelain jewelry pieces and my new range of hooks. Hopefully the first few will be ready and glazed next week, so I'm excited about that!



In the meantime, here's a sneak preview of a few of them...




Whilst I was there today, I took a picture of the roof space, as the building has inspired me in the past to make a small dish...









It's a pinch pot, made from a single piece of crank clay. I pierced holes through it so that when a candle is placed inside pretty patterns are created on the table top.
As ever, if there's anyone out there... comments welcome!

I sell pot

Well, actually I sell pots. Ceramic pots. Not the kind of pot that you get locked up for selling...
Want to see some? Of course you do!This has been the most looked at pot on my etsy shop since I uploaded it yesterday. It's a pinch pot, which means that it is made by pinching out a single piece of clay. It was inspired by one of my favourite flowers; white lilies. I hope that, in some small way, I have managed to capture some of the simplicity and elegance of a lily here.
It's made from grogged stoneware clay. Grogged means simply that it has bits in it. You can see them in the photo above. They give more structure to the pot and that means it has more strength. Stoneware refers to the temperature that this pot was fired at. Stoneware is hotter than earthenware. Hotter firing means stronger pot. For me, that is a great combination because I like to make some of my pots very thin. (But still want them to be strong!)
So if there's anybody out there.... let me know what you think!