Woohoo

Evening all

I'd love to share some pictures of the firing with you, but unfortunately my camera finally bit the dust today, so I've none to show you.

Anyway, it was a great firing, with some pots that I'm very happy to have made. There are a few that I wish I hadn't made too and of course, they're the ones that I always see first.

There are lots and lots of jugs in all shapes and sizes. The large raw jug came out of the kiln just as I'd hoped and the tile frieze worked beautifully.

I'm away for a couple of days now in Cornwall, but I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

What a relief!

Bye for now

Tiles

I went to the workshop today and tidied up ready to unload the kiln tomorrow. I really hope it's all okay - I'm in big trouble if it isn't, as time's ticking away towards the exhibition in November and there isn't time to re-make stuff. Oh well, I'll know tomorrow.

Here are some photos I was sent today, of some of the tiles I made recently, in their new home.







Thank you Dave and Sue

Done!

Well I managed to leave my bag(containing my camera) in Marky Mark's car last night after a brain-frying, fifteen hour firing, so I've been unable to upload pictures from the firing, but here are few from before the event. The tall jug at the top is one of the raw pieces. I could see it throughout the firing and it was still standing at the end. I don't know why I worry so much about raw firing, I used to do all my firings this way when I started out and I know huge amount more about firing the kiln now, than I did then.
This tile frieze is in the kiln, I'm really looking forward to seeing this come out. This is the one for the seventeenth century manor house and the leaves that I used, all come from the site. The varying temperature/flame/gasses through the chamber will hopefully give them a range of tones, the same glaze being lighter or darker according to its position in the kiln.
These are some 3lb jars that I made last week - they'll be in the next firing. Three more sizes to make of these, 6lb, 10lb and mega lbs if my arms will take the strain. I need some big pots to fill the bottom of the next firing, so I fancy making some very large jars.
Pots glazed, waiting to be packed. Most of these went in, but I do still have a good number left over, so it's reassuring to know that the next kiln load is well underway.

It was such a tiring day yesterday. I had a gig on Saturday night too, so I didn't get to bed until 1am, then set my alarm clock wrong and got up yesterday at 6am, thinking it was 7am.

We lit the kiln just before eight and fired through the day until about 11pm, before clamming up and heading home at about midnight, tired, blackened and stinking like a bonfire.

I got up this morning to head off to work, but then decided to go back to bed for couple of hours. I've stacks to do t the workshop, but I'm not going to feel too guilty about getting there late today. I'll head off shortly.

I hope this is a good firing. Everything seemed to go really well, but it's always risky, bathing ones pots in the naked flame and it won't be clear until the door's unbricked. I should know for sure tomorrow. I'll let you know what happened, either with a woohoo, or an aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggghhhhhhhhhhhh.

Time to get to work

Bye for now

Four days to go

These are the 1lb jars from earlier in the week. Most of them have been decorated now and some will make the firing. I made the 3lb version today - I'd love to get the 6lb ones made tomorrow, but I can't see that happening.
All these pots have to be glazed tomorrow......
....as do these and also a big tile frieze which is going in this firing.

I mixed up lots of glaze tonight, so a sieving session in the morning, then on with the job in hand. I gave the workshop a really good clean up before I left, so it should be a fairly straightforward job tomorrow.

Marky Mark's coming up during the late afternoon and we'll start the pack.

I successfully managed to get the glaze on to the big jug that's going in raw, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that comes out of the firing. If it's good, I'll be making some real biggies for the next kiln load. I still have to get it dry enough to fire, but the forecast is good tomorrow which will help. In fact there are several raw pots going in to this firing, so it'll be interesting to see how they fire.

I had a good fire in the kiln all day today, to make sure it's completely dry for the firing.

Four days to the big burn up.

Sleeeeeeeeeeeep

Back soon

Bye

The movie

Slippedy do da

A blog post at last!!.Pictures mostly.

I've been putting in ridiculously long hours lately, until 11pm some nights this week. I'm trying to get on top of orders and also I'm making pots for a solo exhibiton with Oakwood Ceramics, at The Thoresby Gallery in Notts, which opens on November 11th. I need about seventy five, top quality pieces for the show, so the pressure's really on. I have about fifteen pieces already. Here are some of the things I've been making.

This is one of the big jugs from my previous post, freshly slipped and decorated today.
An 8lb jug with applied decoration - these take ages.
Some more applied decoration. The jug in the foreground is about 12" tall.


More crazy leaf inspired, stuck on stuff.
This jug is too tall for the bisc kiln, so will be raw glazed, which is something I haven't done for a long time. I hope it works, I want to make some really big floor-standing pots which, because of their scale, will demand raw glazing. I used to once-fire all my pots when I first started, then for one reason and another, started to bisc fire everything.
3lb jugs, fat and tapered
1lb jars. I still need to make these in 3lb, 5lb and 10lb, plus some big ones too.
A big bottle. I slipped this today with a single cinquefoil leaf-resist on the front, and a small one beneath the handle.

Firing day is next Sunday, after which I hope to be a very happy and relieved man. It's stressful, working flat out, to produce all this stuff, then to stick it in the kiln and allow the naked flames to do their work. I really need this to be a great firing.

A lot of the pots that I'm making now will go in the subsequent firing, scheduled for a few weeks time - there are busy days and nights ahead.

It took a while to get back in to the groove. Sometimes I never want to make another pot, and sometimes it's the best thing in the World, sometimes my confidence is on the floor, sometimes I'm full of energy and inspiration - I'm glad to be feeling good about it right now.

I'm going to try and upload a short video later, to show you what's been going on, the big jug being decorated and some of the beautiful roses in the workshop garden.

That's it for now, happy weekend all

Tuesday

A few words and some pictures, I'm tired and dirty and need a bath then bed.
I threw a couple of these tall harvest jugs today. They'll have scroll handles tomorrow. I want to make six of these.
And I made some 5lb jugs - an unusual size for me, I usually make 3lb and 8lb jugs, but I seem to make too much stuff the same size, so I thought these would make a change.
The crazy jug from earlier in the week is no more. Slipped when too soft - silly me :(

The following are pictures from yesterday. It was a Bank Holiday here, so Marky Mark had the day off work and chose to spend it at the workshop, which was great. And the sun shone!
We tidied up the corridor between the workshop and my friend Matt's workshop. This area is going to be used for clay prep and will house drying troughs and a large vertical pug mill. It's a pity that we're getting to the wrong time of year to dry clay, but it'll be good to have it set up at last. The blunger is going to be installed tomorrow evening - it weighs a tonne, so I've enlisted the help of a local farmer with his tractor.
The cider apples are being taken from the orchard, this trailer had a wonderful appley aroma as I followed it along the lane on the way home. Cider, mmmmmmmmm
Sprigged mugs
Marky Mark at the wheel
I've been working on a number of tile orders in recent times, these are a few of the finished tiles. I have a big pile ready for glaze firing. I still need to make a few more which I'll fit in around pot making in the next few days. The workshop has been full of them, they take up a lot of shelf space and it got to the stage were it was impossible to work. I'm really enjoying making tall stuff again, I thought I'd forgotten how to do it!

Well that's all, bath and bed and bye for now

Nancy and Tim

Hi folks

Last week we had a visit from some friends from across the pond, Nancy Gallagher and her husband Tim. I met Nancy at the workshop Hannah and I gave in Virginia, back in the Spring, so when I heard that they were coming over to visit British potters, we invited them to come and stay. It was great to spend time with them, we had a lot of good fun. They're high in the sky on their way home as I type this blog.

I'm afraid the pictures are a bit blurry, my camera is on its way out - too much clay dust. Here they are in my local pub, The Half Moon Inn......

....which boasts a fine skittle alley, typically found in Devon country pubs - it's a bit like ten pin bowling - but it's free and must be played with a belly full of cider.

We toured round various potters, I didn't get pictures of all of them. Here's Hil at Svend Bayer's pottery - she liked this big pot - we have one at home, but at the moment it lives in our garage as it's too huge to fit in our tiny house.

Svend's a great master, his forms are wonderful irrespective of scale, the hugest of jars like these, or the smallest of jugs, they're always bang on. What a great way to display big pots.

This is Nancy making a selection at Clive Bowen's pottery. I used to spend a lot of time at Clive's place, he's been a great influence on what I do.

And here with Harry Juniper, a slipware potter from Bideford, who specializes in making commemorative harvest jugs.

Also while in Bideford, we went to the Burton Art Gallery, which is full of many beautiful, old traditional West Country pots. This is a wonderful museum and has to be one of my favorite places.

Digging clay from the stream at Hollyford. Some of this lump of muddy Devon has gone back with Nancy to the States.

I'm back to work now, trying to get back into the swing. It always takes me a while to get going again, so I started with mugs....

and this crazy 9lb jug. The next firing is going to be contain a number of very large pieces, so I'm going to have to warm up my skills quickly this week and build up to making them.

That's all for now, back soon

England

Dutch pots

I bought this little old pot in Delft, photographed here in our holiday cabin - it's really sweet. The following pictures are of pots that were on display in cabinets in a multi-storey car park in Delft, cool eh?