Textiles

Here are some images of work I have made that has been influenced by textiles. This bowl was a bit of a labour of love, and was far more difficult to make than I originally anticipated... After several broken attempts, finally I got the technique right, and it was worth the effort!
Other ways in which I have combined textiles and pottery have been to roll fabric and lace into the surface of clay to create pattern and texture. Sometimes I have used the resulting slabs to create vases (like in the detail image below) and plant pots. At other times, I have cut the slabs into little shapes, and used these to make jewellery and buttons.

I first began working with lace for quite sentimental reasons. The lace imprint you see above was actually made by my grandmother. After her death, I felt quite sad that I had not learned how to make it with her, so I decided to get as much mileage as possible out of her work! After that, I found that for jewellery even finer detail was possible to use, and began rolling delicate embroidery into the surface of porcelain to get fine detail with a vintage feel. I particularly enjoy mixing the vintage texture with a contemporary shape such as the bird brooch below...

As always, comments welcome!

Back from my break...

and fighting a cold with some chilli and lentil soup...
Here are some photos from September's pottery workshop at the Heritage Open Days in Liverpool.

The workshops were a great success, and the children who participated made some amazing artwork. Little ones love to get their hands into mud! At times we had to ask people to come back later, as there were more children than we could cope with!
We had a range of shapes for them to cut out of rolled out clay, and then they decorated them by stamping in texture, cutting out shapes with biscuit cutters, pressing in their hands, or drawing into the surface of the clay with pencils. The football shirt shape was a big hit with the boys, and the girls made some gorgeous hearts and flowers.



I was able to fire some of the pieces and send them by post to the children. We pierced little holes near the top so that they can be hung on the wall by ribbon, and I think they'll make lovely artworks in the artists' homes. The fired pieces can be painted with acrylics or just left as they are.
A big big thank you to those who helped me on the day, and to John for the invite.
The Heritage Open Days were organized to raise funds for the renovation of the Old Christ Church in Crosby, and the building is spectacular. They are holding a Christmas fair on 22nd November, and I would recommend anyone in the area to go and check out the building and perhaps buy a couple of Christmas presents.
They are hoping to run some more craft activity days in the Spring, so all being well I'll be back there for those.

Chasing chickens

Here are some of my recent bowls, flocks of little chicks chasing each other in a spiral around a bowl... Or should that be a brood rather than a flock?
Either way, I think they've come out pretty well...

100% organic free range chickens, no battery hens here guys...
Comments welcome!

These two belong together....

How could I separate them? I've noticed a few people have been buying the lovebird bowls in twos, so this time I thought I'd try listing them on my shop as a single item... We'll see what happens. I think they look good together!

The first autumn leaves are falling...

so here is my new falling leaf dish...
I stamped each little leaf into the surface individually and rubbed in some black iron oxide to bring out the texture before glazing over the top. This one's the first, but I'm experimenting with some red iron oxide in a similar one to see if that gives a warmer autumnal shade.
I thought this shape of bowl would be good as a soap dish or trinket holder.

Eat your heart out...

I've made improvements to my Eat your heart out plates, with a new, slightly larger stamp for the hearts, and a gorgeous glossy glaze for over the top. This one is a more generous size than the previous ones. At seven inches diameter, I think it's a better size for a larger dessert or a sandwich. Having said that, the smaller ones were very cute, so I think I'll make some more of those as well soon.



I've also changed the stamp to the larger one in the full of love bowls and the big love bowls. What do you think?

I just can't wait...

to open my kiln today! I mean really, the suspense is killing me. I have tried getting on with other things, tried to think about something else and succeeded for the most part, but I keep finding myself from time to time standing in front of it, gazing at the temperature numbers and wishing they were smaller... Patience is something you definitely need to be a good potter, and whilst most of the time I manage it, some days I just CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!