Free Pottery Lessons! Roll up Roll up.

Blogs are a great way of gaining what essentially are

Free Pottery Lessons!

When I started to Learn back in the 1970's

there was very little in the way of free help

and advice.

I'm predominately self taught, from books from the Library

and hours and hours sat at my Potters Wheel.

So here is a small Free lesson on making mugs with a company Logo

Before You start, Make sure your throwing is up to scratch

there is nothing worse*  than a poorly throw mug.

Throw a few mugs and cut them in half to make sure

the base and wall are even or not too thick.

Trust me this will give you more confidence about your pots.

* ( There are lots of things worse than a poorly thrown mug

but I mean in the context of this blog post )

 Stamps can be ordered from any rubber stamp company

I use

Stamps Direct

www.stampsdirect.co.uk
Roll out your clay and leave it for a few hours
trying to press a stamp into wet clay doesn't work so well
it tends to clog up the stamp.
leaving it to dry gives for a much crisper impression!

Have the discussion with your customer as to where the stamp should be

1. to the left of the handle

2. to the right of the handle

3. opposite the handle

Once you have established your position, cut out your stamp

mark it's position on the pot

I score both the pot and the back of the stamp

and apply plenty of slip to the back of the stamp

place the stamp in position and push it on to the pot

pushing from the centre outwards

smooth off the outer edge with a damp sponge.

when you have done them all cover them in plastic

and allow the pot to dry slightly over night covered in plastic.

The pots should still be leather hard but firm enough to handle.

Dip the pot in slip and leave to dry for a few days.

 when dry enough scrape away the slip to reveal the design

Repeat

Biscuit Fire Glaze and re fire

if you've done a good job

your customer will put a picture up 

on social media within hours of receiving them

showing how much they love them

Job Done!

www.frogmarygreenfarm.co.uk

August/September is harvest time

These Harvest jugs make great wedding gifts

tis the season.

I couldn't resist sharing these two Bentleys

we saw parked up in Clevedon last Sunday

And Now I've made a start on a new exciting project

to be completed before the month is out!

Watch this space.

I love a challenge and a new client.

Art in Clay 2017 Proved to be our best show ever !

 The arrival of a huge van outside our workshop

can only ever mean one thing

We are packing up our showroom to head up to

Art in Clay.

It's the only show where we try and take

the full spirit of Barrington Pottery

and plonk it right down in the middle of Hertfordshire.

We had been allocated our space in the centre of the 

Derek Emms marque.  4mts x 2.5mts

So we had done a full mock up in our showroom

two whole weeks before set off for the show and we were confident

of our plans.

I had the firm Idea that I wanted our main table to be as

minimalist as possible!

Marion wasn't so sure.

When we turned up at the event Paul Young joyfully greeted

us and said Come with me I'll show you your pitch

you've got a great spot!

It was indeed a great spot, But it was open on all four sides

and I had planned for having a stall behind us.

I must admit Marion and I had an uncomfortable 10 minuets

while she told me I was an idiot

and I tried to defend myself that I was sure we were back to back

with another stand as all the others were in other marques.

So we had to think on our feet and totally recreate a new stand from

 whatever we had brought with us!

So the original plan was to have the long table

with the Huge A frame I had found in a skip at the end

with our Banner at the back. 

at the other end we had planned to use apple boxes

to create a table effect to put the wrapping paper on.

I stuck to my guns and kept the main table as 

simple as possible

 Even Svend Bayer said  to me

 " How long will you last with it like that ? "  

  It  worked a treat and I was very proud of  it. 

A Big Thank You to Valentines Clay

for a great event and a really well run show.

www.valentineclays.co.uk

  For  a long  time now I have been toying with the idea

of making a range of lighting, I've been playing around with some ideas

this one obviously doesn't work,

But I had at least one good chat with a customer who is interested

in my vision.

and that's what shows are all about, putting ideas out there

and gauging the reaction to see if it's a hit or a miss.

 So the back side of our stall ended up looking something like this

 a bit like it looked at Earth & Fire

and I'm pleased to say sales came from every area of the stall

This new design jug made it's debut at the show

and lots of people fell in love with it

But It has made it's way back to Somerset

with us much to Marion's pleasure. 

 We sold all of our small Harvest Jugs

 and we had some notable visitors to our stall

including Richard from the Pottery Throw down.

we also had a quick chat to his lordship

Keith Brymer Jones but felt it was a bit De rigueur

to ask for a photo!

and Ray Toms finally came to collect the jug he 

won the bid on for the Clay College Auction

back at the start of the Year.

All in all we had a great show, sales were good

we set ourselves some targets and hit every one of them.

We came away a combination of

Exhilarated and Exhausted.

Thank You to everyone who came to say hello

especially the amount of people who said they love my posts on 

Facebook and Instagram. 

 We did have the pleasure of also having Felicity Lloyd -Coombes

on a stand opposite ours with this adorable

8 week old Puppy.

We were back home by 10.30 on the Sunday Night

and we were all set up for Play with clay

on the Monday morning by 9.30.

I got straight back into throwing, 

it's amazing what a good show can do for you.

 and the showroom is back as it should be

ready for a busy Bank Holiday Weekend

Our next road trip is to Derbyshire for 

Pots & Food

www.potsandfood.co.uk

9th & 10th September

Come and see us if you can it's a quirky show.

Barrington Pottery Blog Back on Track

Once again apologies for the infrequent blog posts since May

But I have today finally got my computer a new keyboard !

I was at the brink of buying a new Laptop

and it's at moments like that when you are just about to spend

a lot of money that you start to think outside the Box.

A new laptop was going to set me back somewhere in the region

of £500 - £1500 as the more I looked at them the more I was

trying to convince myself that the really expensive one was what I needed.

Of course it wasn't !

If I have learnt one thing over the past 9 years as a Potter

It's that it's not about throwing money at things

it's about making do with what you have to hand.

So in a moment of inspired inspiration I did a Google search for a 

wireless Keyboard

I feel like a genius I have solved my problems

kept my computer and made it fully functional again all for 

a total outlay of only £8.89   

-

 Art in Clay is coming up this weekend I'll be sure to take plenty

of pictures and update you on our stall and how we get on.

We had a bit of fun sorting out a new profile picture of me required by a local

publication

 We spent ages trying to set the shot up, changing positions so

 we could both see what was the best angle. 

 We had some Fun, and in the end Marion got a nice shot

of me at the wheel.

With Art in Clay looming I've been trying to 

make some more lidded jars

 I Do love making pots with lids, the challenge of making a 

really good fitting lid, must be something to do with my dad

being an engineer he's no longer with us

he died 25 years ago, but every time I make a good fitting lid

I think Dad would appreciate that.

 A recent trip to the antique alley in Bridport Dorset

unearthed some interesting old Pancheons

www.bridportantiques.co.uk

 And it reiterates what I say when people say they can buy an old one

( you never know what's been in it )? 

 I must admit I was tempted by the three dogs

for the showroom!

 I did actually resist them, but if there still there when I go back

those puppies are Mine! 

We have had plenty of firings in the smaller kilns

but I have had two back to back in the larger kiln with pots for

Art in Clay

I went back in to the workshop late one night just to check

as it was about to finish.

and it's nice when you feel your dedication pays off

as it proved to be a really nice firing.

 Yes they are still plain and simple but the richness of the glaze

makes you just want to pick them up and stroke them.

 So simple yet so nice.

 and I know my Dad would have loved this Ginger jar shaped pot

as he also loved ginger.

 So our stall will have pots that I am very proud of

and our stall will very much reflect what we are all about

at Barrington Pottery

 

We are very much about to take Barrington Pottery

to Hertfordshire

where for me it all began.

+-

The Pottery Show season is in full swing 2017

Apologies for the long gap between blog posts 

the keyboard on my blog laptop decided it would give up,

my P's & T's had ground to a halt, which made for some

interesting reading if you didn't check it !

I thought I would start with a few work in progress pics.

I'm still not happy with my little Tea Pots

but they will happen!

 Our Cottage is looking good this summer 

We both loved this Harvest jug

It inspired us to try some small ones

These little chaps were thrown using 2lbs of clay

I really enjoyed throwing the full bellied shape

I then handed them over to Marion to work her magic 

on the design 

We were both pleased with the outcome 

and are planning more.

Even if it does go against the grain, it's nice to work 

on pots together. 

Of course you always need a little down time 

and since it's almost a year since we lost Cadbury 

we never miss a chance to meet other peoples dogs.

 Barrington Village held a very successful open Gardens event 

in July

and in the evening I got chatting to Mr Robin Wild,

( he's he second chap)

 who it turned out went to Chelsea school of Art

with Seth Cardew and they were great friends.

 We went into full Country mode for our stall at 

Earth and Fire.

I even borrowed a piece of trellis from the garden centre 

as I couldn't fit it in the car!

 We took a weeks Holiday in the sun in Portugal 

and then we were straight back in it.

 The showroom has plenty of stock

and we are making pots for Art in Clay

www.artinclay.co.uk

it's at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire 

and we would love to see You!