Monster jugs

I made the biggest jug I've ever made today and another slightly smaller one. Here's how I made it. It's hard work on the wrists because I have to use quite stiff clay.



I always throw the body of these big jugs seperately from the neck. First of all, it allows me to concentrate on the curve of the body. It's also difficult to reach inside to the bottom of the pot when it gets tall - dropped a sponge in one today and couldn't reach it to get it out.



When I'm happy with the shape, I give it a blast with the gas burner to toughen it up.



The neck is then thrown to the right size on the adjacent wheel.



The neck is place in position and joined on the inside



The outside is smoothed in



The join is consolidated with the aid of a rib and the neck thrown to its finished shape.



The lip is pulled



Job done



And here's the other one I made too.

Decorating

Today's been a day of decorating. My friend and photographer Johnny came over to take a series of pictures for a forthcoming book about slipware.



We had to set up in a nearby barn as my workshop was too dark and outside was brilliant sunshine and, believe it or not, too bright - that makes a change, what a beautiful day. John's a great photographer and understands how to use light to its best. I haven't got any of the photos yet, but I'll post a couple when I get them.



This is a page from my scrappy sketchbook. I try and do a bit of scribbling every day, all really quickly jotted ideas. I find it essential before I throw, in order to get a full understanding of the form before I make it. Decoration gets jotted in too, but mainly just as a memory jogger, I tend to try decoration out using the bit of board with slip on it that I described recently.




These are my decorating tools, rubber kidneys with teeth cut for combing, rubber tipped styluses and a beechwood stick for drawing.



These are some of the pots I decorated for the camera today.

The downer of the day, my electric kiln has stopped working for some reason. Differant Dave is coming to have a look at it in the morning. I really hope he can sort it out for me, bisc firing with it has revolutionised the workshop.

Marky Mark's got a day off tomorrow so is coming up to the workshop to make some pots - looking forward to that.

Inspiration

There's so much to see in the countryside, it's just a case of tuning in to it.



I'm really enjoying leaf structures, the backs are full of amazing lines, these are going to find themselves into my pots somehow I'm sure.



The autumn's going to be beautiful. This leaf's spectacular.



Mud's getting me going too, particularly imprints. This is a special one, from one of my favourite puddles - you can tell I'm excited, by the fact that I have a favourite puddle. Tyre tracks and deer footprints. I like mud a lot.

Last night

Pics from my walk home last night, it was a beautiful evening.

The Flower Ladies

Just had an email from my sister with this picture attached of The Flower Ladies circa 1976. Bless 'em.

Tuesday

I had a visit today from Janette, who is a student of art and design at a local college. It was really great chatting about arty stuff - understanding of materials etc. One thing about spending a lot of time on my own is that I can have a tendency to rabbit on a bit when I do have company. I think I probably rabbit on most days, but usually there's nobody there to hear other than the birds outside the window. Anyway, it was thoroughly enjoyable.




These are some of the pots I made yesterday, handled and ready for slipping in the morning.



The wander home was beautiful. The sky was stormy looking, we've had a fair bit of rain today, but by home time it had pretty much dried up. The light from the evening sunshine made the colours very vivid, lime greens and intense blues of flowers in the hedgerow.




Lots of rain and mud.



It'll all going to start changing soon I think, last night the wind laid a layer of yellow leaves on the lanes.



The ivy's covered in bobbly flowers at the moment - they may be seeds and not flowers I guess, either way, they're really pretty.



It's my Mother's birthday today Happy Birthday Mother, love you! xxxx

More mugs and jugs

Made mugs and small jugs and a big one today. The mugs are made from clay from the woods.

What's happened to Johnny Rotten?

My mates Chris

Got the handles on the jugs I made for the film earlier in the week. Boy I need a haircut.



This evening I went to my friend Chris' opening. My son Joe had fiddled with my camera so I snapped him in triplicate. Here he/they are/is with one of his/their beautiful stonecarvings.

Andy Manson - guitars for the stars

A day off today. Went to see Cookie's table, benches and chairs that he's made for our show Paint:Mud:Wood that opens in a couple of weeks - beautiful, well done Cookie. Then this afternoon helped my friend Chris hang his show in readiness for the opening tomorrow night. He's a very fine carver in wood and stone and a thoroughly sweet man too.

In the workshop above Chris is my old buddy Andy Manson. Andy used to live at Hollyford and for a while I shared the workshop with his wife Debbie who is a potter.



I haven't seen Andy for a while so it was great to see him. He makes guitars for all the greats, including Led Zepplin, the guy with the beard(they may all have beards, but the one who is the singer)from Jethro Tull, Andy Summers from the Police etc. etc. Here he is cutting some intricate inlay. There's some incredible talent tucked away in little sheds here in Mid Devon.

Back to work tomorrow, pots to make, glazes to mix.

Sprat and Kipper

For Becky
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

Hollyford hillside

We went filming in the countryside today, digging clay from the woods and focusing on the lines in the fields that get me all excited.

The sun shone between the odd shower, but as you'll hear it was mighty windy - not cold, but exhilarating. I'm guessing that Steve and Alex' camera work is going to be better than mine - you can see them standing at the tripod.

The earth in some of the fields round here is really red - all that clay and iron, really stunning, I love it here. You can see my workshop in the valley. It's the tiny white shed on the end of all the buildings.

The film's going to be really good I think, in spite of the dodgy potter. Steve and Alex have got some very interesting ideas of how to approach it in the edit.

So that's filming over until next month and Steve and Alex set off back to Manchester this evening. It turned out to be great fun after all that worrying.

Tomorrow I'm helping my sculptor friend Chris Rees hang his exhibition, so a day off from the workshop. His show opens on Friday in Crediton, so if you're in the vicinity, try and get along. Follow the link for details.

Phew!

That was a scary, tiring but ultimately fun day, that ran on into the evening. Here are Alex on the right and Steve adjusting the light. The workshop was full of tripods and fancy lights, I've never seen it so well illuminated - I didn't know for instance that I've got mouldy bits on my ceiling, I do now.



So I decorated these huge ones, which is a challenge enough when I'm alone, but even more so in front of the lens. You only get one shot at it, working this way with wet slip. They'll look ok when they're fired I think, at the moment they look a bit odd.



And I made some more of these and put this handle on. Lots more to do tomorrow.

Steve and Alex made me feel really at ease, the nerves settled down after a while and I stopped trying to do everything at double speed. I didn't have to speak either and that was a big relief. I'll sleep much better tonight. Tired out, time for a hot tub then bed, goodnight all.

My workshop

Well this is a little video stream of my 'tidy' workshop. It's spotless by my standards, it's just the camera that makes it look chaotic, honestly. Certainly the place is the most organised it's been for a long time.

Alex will be with me at lunchtime tomorrow. I've been feeling really nervous about the film thing. Alex has made a number of films about different craftspeople so in spite of the nerves, I'm flattered that he should consider what I'm doing, worth documenting. I hope he isn't disappointed.

I'll get some more video stuff shot later in the week. Bye for now.

Sunday working

A looooooooooooooong day's work today. Mark and I cleaned the kiln shed right out and reorganised it so that it'll work efficiently - that'll be a first.

We rebuilt the firebox extensions, a job I've been wanting to do for a long time. The pic shows Mark giving it some trowel action. When we built them originally they were just piled up quickly before a firing and I never got around to doing them properly, so that's an overdue job, well done.

Tomorrow I have to try and find space for all the stuff that used to have a space in the kiln shed, that's now piled in the workshop, which is a dreadful midden at the moment. I need more space and less junk - isn't that always the way?

Pots to slip and pots to make tomorrow too. Got to get slip on to those big jugs and make some more, busy, busy.

Off to bed now, tired out. Have a good week all, happy Monday.

Saturday

It's been a busy time on both the work and the home front this week, working long evenings in the workshop and then late again last night in my friend's recording studio, adding some 'harmonies' to a Love Daddies track.

We're off into Exeter in a minute for lunch - into the city, haven't been there for ages, people, traffic, noise and smelly air - it'll make a pleasant change.

Tomorrow Marky Mark's coming over and we're going to tidy up the workshop and kiln shed. I've got Alex McErlain from Manchester Metropolitain University coming next week to do some filming, so it's time to clear away all the mouldy mugs. I'm a bit nervous about it, but I know Alex, he's a top man, so it'll be fine once we've got started. I'm so used to being on my own and 'in the zone', it'll be odd being in front of a lens.

Here's some stuff from the past couple of days.


More leaf resist.


This will be green when it's fired.


I'll put the amber glaze on this one. It has a black slip under the white, the manganese from the black will bleed into the glaze, softening the line.


Another puzzle jug


I made these big ones yesterday. Most of the pots I have for the firing are flat plates, which take up a lot of horizontal space, so I need these big pots to fill the vertical space. Nic's dropping off some kiln shelves for me tomorrow, I need to borrow some because all the plates will gobble up the kiln furniture.


I look like such a tramp at the moment - that's what happens when all I do is spend every day in a shed on my own. Anyway, must pull my wellies on now and head off to town.

Potfest South West

Blogger Paul's going to be at Potfest South West today and over the weekend. Paul Young's going to be there too - looks like a good show.

Cheers all

First of all, thank you bloggers for your encouragement, it's much appreciated and has helped me towards shrugging off the gloominess of earlier in the week.

Marky Mark came up this evening for a couple of hours. We'll be working on late tomorrow night too, lots to do to fill the kiln by the 11th.





Today I got the handles on the 8lb jugs. They're a bit fatter than I usually make them and I like that. I guess I've been looking at a lot of harvest jugs recently, with this kind of low belly. Getting all the curves in all the right places is tricky, in fact Blogger Matt and I have just been chatting about just that on Skype a few minutes ago - we must be soooooo interesting to live with!



These mugs are made from the woodland clay. There were a few stones in it - I did start to sieve the clay when I was preparing it, but chose to chuck it all back in again - not sure how it'll fire. If anything, it could do with a bit more texture so I'm seeking out a local supply of sand. I made these particular little sprig stamps recently and they were in the last firing so it's the first time I've tried these ones. It's good to have some fresh designs, I used to put new ones in every firing, now I've got loads of them, some that work, some that don't. The clay was still a bit too soft to make anything of any scale, but maybe tomorrow.




Here's a crazy looking harvest jug. It's a decorative effect typical of the North Devon tradition, whereby leaves are applied prior to slipping, then removed, leaving their outline where they resist the slip. I like the fact that it documents the foliage of the time and place for ever. A lot of the old jugs had Silverweed leaves on them, so I was pleased to use some on here.





I'm going to leave this jug in the tiny church in Stockleigh English, the nearest village to my workshop. My father is a retired church minister; when I was little there were three old ladies at his church, I think they were sisters. They would arrange the flowers each week. I never knew their names, we called them The Flower Ladies and they were lovely, so this is in memory of them, as well as for the flower ladies of Stockleigh English - all flower ladies the world over in fact.



I inscribed a verse from a harvest hymn on the front and I was a bit embarrased about my scrawly handwriting, but then I looked at the book my friends sent me yesterday and realised that that's just how it should be!

8lb jugs

A quicky this because it's late and I need my bed. I got some 8lb jugs made today. These are my favourite pots to make and my head feels in a much happier place to see them on the shelves. I've been struggling a bit with a negative head since I got back from Bideford.

I feel like I've not achieved much in the last couple of weeks, but in truth I've made lots of pots. Because it's all flatware it doesn't look like much, but there are loads of pots in reality. However, jugs is good!



Here's a load of clay I've processed that's come from the woods and field beside the workshop. There's probably about 50 kilos. It was still a little bit too soft to use today, but hopefully I can make with it in the morning - how exciting.

Thank you so much Jon and Jo for the beautiful books.

Goodnight all

Monday

The blooming car blew up again this weekend - boo, more money down the drain. Oh well, all I can do is try and stay positive. Pretty tired today, had a gig on Saturday night, playing to a barn full of hippies and didn't get home until 4am - can't take the pace like I used to.



I got all the dinner plates and side plates decorated today. That's the main parts of the dinner service completed. Now I have to hope to get a matching set of six of everything through. There are actually three different designs, but they're all decorated with the same technique and will be glazed the same, so it'll be a mix and match service, rather than six of the same - I thought it would be more interesting that way. The first pieces are in the bisc kiln tonight.



Busy times in the countryside, the last few days have been beautiful sunshine, so the farmers are out in force making hay. I draw a lot of inspiration from the lines in the fields, made by the combine and the plough.

Ceramics in the City

If you're in London over the next three days, try and get along to Ceramics in the City, where you'll get to see our very own Hannah.

Exhibitors are as follows:


Katie Adams, Leyla Folwell, Ramp, Adrienne Baba, Lisa Hammond, Penny Fowler
Lesley Risby, Svend Bayer, Margaret Gardiner, Ingrid Saag, Julian Belmonte
Georgia Shearman, Linda Bloomfield, Akiko Hirai, Laurance Simon, Karen Bunting
Imahiko Kawamura, Penny Simpson, John Butler, Hilary Laforce, Jenny Southam
Amy Cooper, Sophie MacCarthy, Pat Southwood, Prue Cooper, Hannah McAndrew
Yo Thom, Jane Cox, Agalis Manessi, Mark Titchiner, Ben Davies
Marcio Mattos, Motoko Wakana, Laura de Benedetti Bud, Emily Myers
Alistair Young, Annabel Faraday, Susan Nemeth, Stanley Field, Sue Paraskeva

Big 'uns

Two harvest jugs, one of them for a commission. These are about 18" tall so are some of the biggest pots I make. It's been pleasant getting back to making tall stuff after all that flatware of late.

The dinner service is all thrown, there's going to be a lot of finishing to do tomorrow, turning the backs of plates and applying the footrings - stuff all seems to dry out so suddenly when the sun shines.




Not that I'm complaining, the weather's been lovely today - sunshine's been in such short supply this year. It was that melancholic kind of sunshine this evening on the walk home.

The plants in the hedgerows made me think of some beautiful glass that I saw just here.

Alan Gaff

This evening many of our blogging circle are stunned by the sad news of the death of Alan Gaff of Argyll Pottery. It's shocking news. The following words are from Hannah who knew him outside of this virtual world. What a tradgedy.

'I don't want to write this because I don't want to believe it. Nicola who works with Alan sent me an email today with the horrible news that Alan had an accident last night on his motorbike and has passed away. I know there were people reading the blogs who were starting to think of Alan as a friend since he started joining in with comments on our blogs and with his own. This is not much of a tribute as as you can imagine I am not really comprehending it. Nicola asked me to let people know and this I think is the way to reach as many people as I can. I can only say that my heart goes out to Alan's family and to Hugh and Nicola who he worked and laughed with. I will certainly miss his general mickey taking and the friendly rivalry of my low fired earthenware pots to his high fired stoneware.'