Alex McErlain and Alice Kettle

Here are a couple of pictures you may find interesting. Remember the pots Alex McErlain made from Hollyford clay that were then decorated by Alice Kettle?



Well here they are at the Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace.



Alex took to the sewing machine as this was a collaborative project and stitched that beautifully embroidered fabric - stunning, I love it.

Here's what he said about it,

'The stitched elements of Knit and Stitch images includes some of my efforts at sewing where I made stitched drawings, mostly of jugs.

Some large fabrics have been machine stitched by computer from my real drawings of pots, this is something Alice has been exploring stretching the boundaries of that machine technology (its amazing how much like my drawings the work is.)

And some of the stitching was done jointly such as the stitched cloths which are made for the pots to stand on.'

The work will be shown again at Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show next week (Thurs - Sun) .

Tuesday

It was another soggy day at Hollyford Pottery today, although it's mild for the time of year. At the moment I haven't got a wood burner in the workshop, so it's taking ages for pots to dry - I'll need to get that sorted out in the next week or two, before the hard frosts start.



This is a large harvest jug I decorated today, it's about 15" high. I decorated bowls too, but didn't take any pictures.



Freshly applied scroll handles on last week's 8lb jugs.

That's all for now, panto rehearsal beckons.

A trip to Plymouth

I went to Plymouth today to deliver my pots to Plymouth Art Gallery and Museum. Here they are displayed in one of the new cabinets that the Museum have recently installed.



Different Dave came with me and was really helpful when it came to arranging the pots.

We were lucky enough to be given a tour of the Museum(which is closed to the public on a Monday). This included a chance to handle some of the beautiful, ancient pots held in the reserve collection. Many thanks to Alison for giving us that opportunity, it was an unexpected treat.

Back to making tomorrow for an exhibition in Exeter later in the month. I'll get some pics up of work in progress if I get time after panto rehearsal.

That's it for now, cheers all.

Rememberance Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
WE SHALL NOT SLEEP,
THOUGH POPPIES GROW
IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

8lb jugs

I made 8lb jugs today, I haven't made them in ages so it took a little while to get my hand back in.



I have to go out in a few minutes because I foolishly said I'd take a part in the village pantomime and tonight is rehearsal night. Fun fun fun!

Back

Hello again.



Well we're back after a week away in Suffolk with my parents, where we had the best of times.



It was fantastic weather considering the time of year and we spent quite a bit of time on the sandy beaches which are beautiful along that part of the coast.



The terrain is very flat and in places, visible over a number of miles, there are networks of these wonderful old windmill pumps that were used to reclaim and irrigate the land. Some of them have fallen into disrepair, others have been converted into accommodation and some, like this one have been restored.



Our friends Jon and Jo live nearby so we were able to spend some fun time with them - here we are on a trip along the river in a little boat. What a great way to spend a day, cruising slowly along, mooring at a pub for a drink, then returning to the boatyard, taking in the scenery and wildlife - stunning turquoise kingfishers and a marsh harrier hunting for prey.



The boys loved it because they got to steer.

I could happily wile away a lot of hours on a little boat like that, travelling at pedestrian speed.



We got to hang out with Abba and Dame Edna Everage....



and the King of Pop....



and Mr Bean and Samantha Fox amongst other 'A listers' - (at least that's who I think they were supposed to be, perhaps the lights had made the wax melt a little?)



And so back to work this week, finishing off orders and making bowls. I have been rebuilding the inside of the workshop recently and it was good to come back to the new system - I just need to fill it full of new pots now as the shelves are bare. Late night working tonight with Marky Mark.

I have a fantastic new laptop now which is going to make blogging a lot easier once I've caught up with the huge backlog of email that I amassed when my old computer broke down.

Well I must get to work, have a good day all, back soon.

Blog

Hello all

We're off on holiday in the morning for a week. When I get home I want to try and get this blog up and running again. It still takes ages to get my computer to work well enough to post. I know I need to buy a new one, but there's always some other bill that needs to be paid first, boo.






Here are a couple of pictures of a large harvest jug I made a while ago. It's about 15" with fingerwipe decoration.

I've been making orders recently, I'm nearly up to date with them. I'll post pictures once they've been delivered to their new owners.

Next commitment for me is a trip to to Camberwell College in London to do a talk and demo for the Craft Potters Association on 7th Nov. I don't worry too much about demoing these days, but the thought of navigating the big City is always a worry.

Following that, I have a showcase at Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery starting on 9th Nov.

In the past few days I've been completely reorganising the inside of the workshop with some racking I got from Wenford Bridge, thank you once again Mr Cardew. It's going to be a much better system - well it's going to actually have a system, there's a first for me! I hoped to get it finished before going away as I need to get straight back into making pots on my return for a show in Exeter at the end of Nov.


Well that's all for now, there's lots more to report, but I need to go to bed as we've a six hour drive tomorrow. Take care y'all, catch you soon.

PS The film Alex McErlain and team made at my place is on Facebook, so add me as a friend if you'd like to see it.