This week has been...

flat out crazy busy! I have had an obsession with making birds and flower head bowls and am very excited to see what they'll all look like when they get out of the kiln. My new pieces for Casa Interiors are ready too and as soon as we have a bright day here they'll be photographed and taken down there. They are stoneware wall panels with lavender rolled into the surface and then glaze rubbed in for emphasis. I also made a matching planter, so the overall effect is simple but stylish. Or at least that's what I hope!

Inspired by this small blue leaf bowl, I have also been making some tiny leaf jewellery with melted glass. It's great to be able to recycle glass in this way- using recycled materials definitely feels good to me! I just love the juicy crystalline effect in the bottom of this dish, and think it will work well on a smaller scale. I've also been experimenting with the same glaze with a little turquoise added to give a Carribean warm ocean colour. With the glass added, and a porcelain clay body underneath... fingers crossed it will work well!
That is not to say that I don't love this glaze as it is though - the subtleties of the one pictured here make it one of my all time faves anyway!
Comments welcome...

It looks like our days are numbered.

I sometimes work at a community pottery facility close to my home. I have used it for quite a few years now, and it has been running for 23 years under the name of Artbase studios. Run by the council, it provided a warm, supportive environment to anyone who wanted to drop in and make a pot. There was no curriculum and no teaching as such, but if you wanted to know how to do something, skilled instruction was at hand. I once took a friend of mine who fancied having a go, and her quote perhaps best summed it up.
"This place is like something out of a dream," she said.
I couldn't agree more. What a magical place it is. There are professional potters, extremely skilled amateurs, people who've never tried it before and everyone in between. There are people in their twenties through to pensioners.
I have learned so much there, and would never have had the chance to experiment and grow in my own practice without it. I have made good friends and have grown as a person and a potter there.
Sadly, Salford council don't see it the same way and we are closed as of 29th June 2008.
We have formed a committee and a group under the name of Salford Community Pottery in order to try to continue autonomously, but at the time of writing, the future looks pretty bleak.
I'll keep you posted...

I heart knowing where my keys are...

My new pieces as featured in last week's sneak preview are now ready, glazed and for sale in my Etsy shop!
Heart hooks, perfect for keeping small keyrings, necklaces and other hangable items safe in the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom or hallway...
I made these from a white heavily grogged clay very similar to T material and fired them to high temperature, so they will be strong.
I'm really excited about these! Very cute. I enjoyed making them so much that I'm working on more already...
As ever, comments welcome!

Hydrangea flower pendant

For a few years now I have been rolling plant matter into the surface of clay to create texture and surface pattern. It began with plant pots which were slab formed out of two or more slabs of crank clay. This gave good results, but more subtle details were lost. Flimsy flower petals for example were barely noticeable. Recently I began to experiment with looking at these subtle details on a smaller scale for jewellery. Today I got my first hydrangea flower piece out of the kiln. I used porcelain, as it shows the subtle details off far better, and applied oxide for emphasis. The sepia tones created give the piece an antique feel which is brought up to date by the clean, simple shape.There's something nostalgic about using an ephemeral object and capturing its imprint in a more permanent material. I am pleased that the colours here fit in with that feel. I felt that a vintage chain would be appropriate for this one, so I used the bronze one pictured. A matching brooch is coming soon. Each pendant or brooch uses one flower for each, and the flower is destroyed in the process.

Some more jewellery...

I made this range for a number of reasons. It was inspired by a vintage lace doily made by my great grandmother. The patterns and designs in the lace itself are exquisite. I was thinking about crafts, and how we are losing many of the skills that were commonplace in our history. For example, I own several pieces of lace that were made by my great grandmothers and their sisters, which would suggest that it was a common pass time at that time, but I don't know how to do it myself. Within a couple of generations, skills are lost. So I imprinted the antique lace into the surface of some porcelain to capture and preserve the delicate patterns and added some gloss black glaze for contrast and emphasis.
I wanted the range to also be contemporary, stylish and elegant, to bring the lace into 2008 and preserve it! I have tried to create something that could be worn (as modelled) with a dressed up dress, but also , in the case of the pendant, tied a little higher around the neck for the office or even with jeans and a little black shirt or vest top.
I added black satin ribbon to tie in a bow at the back of the neck to carry on with the vintage feel, but keep a simple, sexy elegance.
I hope it works.... As always, feel free to comment!

I saw these today...

and was inspired!
Forget me not range of porcelain brooches, earrings and pendant necklaces coming very soon...

I love....

this glaze... mmmm!