Decorating

I got two discs with these pictures on today. My mate Johnny took them a couple of weeks ago. There are loads of images showing each of the decorating processes that I employ.



This is a leaf resist jug. I stuck leaves collected from the lanes on my walk to work, to the pot's surface, then poured white slip over it. When the slip turned 'cheesy', I peeled the leaves off. I like this way of capturing the seasonal flora and with it a record of the time and place, forever. It's a technique used a lot on old North Devon harvest jugs.



This one is a shot of applied decoration being added to a puzzle jug, using fired clay stamps, inspired by the wild Dog Roses that are common in the hedgerows here.



Here I'm drawing through wet, white slip, to expose the pot's body beneath. This is an exciting way of decorating, because it depends upon striking the surface at just the right time in order to gain the type of mark I'm trying to achieve - too soon and the line becomes blurred, too late and the line may become scratchy. You only get one shot at it too, so I enjoy the challenge of getting the composition correct. In order for the decoration to work effectively, the marks have to be applied with swift, confident moves - it's easy to get it wrong. I think a lot about which lines should be beneath and which should be dominant, so the marks are applied in a particular order - does that make sense?



This jug was made during the filming a few weeks ago, so it's a well documented pot. Beneath the white slip is a black slip. The manganese and iron will bleed into the glaze(I hope), softening the lines where the black slip is exposed.

I've been asked to provide images for a couple of books. I had to have two photo sessions with different pots on seperate days, so that the same images are not repeated.

The pots will be in my next firing of the big kiln which is on November 12th. I'm looking forward to some new wood fired work.