Finally made some more pots after a scary day

Yesterday I went to see my eldest daughter Laura Elizabeth Jessop, she's the one with the blog called Poppycock and Fiddlesticks

http://laurajessop.blogspot.com/

She was in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead in an isolation ward

somehow she had contracted C- Deficile and the doctors were mystified as to how she got it at such a young age.

It was scary just going in to see her , I had to wear all sorts of protective clothing. Luckily the doctors say she has got over the worst of it and will be OK.

I'm not good in hospitals any way at the best of times.

I wish I had stayed longer but it still took me 4 hours to get home afterwards.

Finally I found some time to slip these little jugs
And decorate some 1 Pint Tankards I had been asked to make

after a few attempts I found the best way to do these ones was to sit them on the outer rim of the banding wheel, that way I could do four at a time.
I'm trying to perfect the fluidity of the decoration.
It was just nice to get some things done after so much time out of the workshop.

Stopped in at Matt's Exhibition

Two of my three Daughters have been down staying with us for the past week, so not much potting done, but some enjoyable days out. We took them back up to Northamptonshire today which is a 400 mile round trip.

To break the journey up on the way back Marion and I took a detour to have a look at Matt Grimmitts pots on display in the Number 8 Gallery - Pershore.

The pots look great

The people in the centre were very nice to us.

We particularly liked this bowl Matt

But we Bought this one

Nice one Matt great show.

We stopped off at Winchcombe on the way back to see John Edgeler at the long room gallery but unfortunately he wasn't in.

So we had cream tea's in the Tea Rooms.

Back to some serious potting tomorrow.

Pugging Day

Cleaned out the pugmill, How do you stop them drying out ? maybe because I'll be around so much more now I can keep an eye on it and keep it moist.



This was just some of my recycled clay pugged ready for wedging.

I told Big Al I would show him the full set up so he could see

what happened to the big table.

And this is a picture I took of Burrow Hill yesterday morning when taking the dogs for a walk.

How to build a Showroom

At the show loads of people said

"I didn't know there was a Pottery in Barrington "?

Up until last week there wasn't !!

This is the side gate to the Cottage that will now become the Entrance to

Barrington Pottery

It was obvious That I need to get a sign put up outside, but most of all I needed to make a showroom that visitors would be able to see my work.

This lean to area in the back garden between the Cottage and the workshop seemed the ideal place, so after a few cups of tea and some cleaning up I came up with this.

Barrington Pottery New Showroom

OK The Surprise Was .........

When we got back from the show Marion had a parcel waiting for me.

She had ordered a Piranha bowl from

Ron Philbeck in America from his blog site

http://pottersjournal.blogspot.com

and Ron had very kindly

put a mug in the box as well for me.

What a great surprise and the perfect end to a very hard working weekend.

Thank you Ron & Marion

I love the Bowl and the Mug.

Yesterday's Farming - Day Two

The thing I love about this show, is that people just show off their old steam engines.

These old trucks have so much more style and character than the new computer designed ones

OK I know these would have been bone shakers with no power steering or air con, but in those days these things didn't exist anyway so you wouldn't have missed it.

As ever there was a display of the farmers friend and one of England's finest examples of engineering


How's this for a classic

This local dairy truck with it's Churn's would have been in service in the era that saw the demise of the farmhouse pottery as new technology came in, it's nice to know that as well as us potters cherishing the old pots, these trucks are still loved too.

How many shows can you sell pots at while watching Steam engines trundle past your tent ?

Successful Show - Despite the Weather

The Weather did it's best to dampen our spirits, especially on the Saturday.

There is so much to show and tell that I'm going to spread

it out over the next few days.

The weather on Saturday was atrocious, luckily for us we had pitched our Marquee facing the right way and so our tent became a haven from wind and the rain.

The first picture gives a glimpse of what the show was all about, plenty more pictures to come over the next few days.

The next three pictures show our Marquee and views of the set up.

The pots went down very well, and we sold a real cross section of things.

Marion was an absolute star, the best sales woman I have ever seen in action, but not pushy at all she just has a knack of engaging people in conversation and making them feel at ease.

We created a real relaxed country feel, that people warmed too.

It was so nice to sell direct to the public and talk about the pots and processes and to sell so much.

I had set ourselves a sales target that if we reached it, we would call it a successful show,

"We Doubled it" !!!
I had a couple of other potters come on my stand and they were very complimentary about my work and they even bought some of my pots, how nice is that!

When we got back home on the Sunday Night Marion Had a Surprise waiting for me.

more on that Tommorow...

Last Firing Before Yesterday's Farming

As Potter's it is inevitable that we will take our influences from the great Potters of the past, I have long admired the work of Thomas Toft, but strangely enough I have never had the urge to be a great slip trailer, so this Bowl 30cm diameter is my doff of the proverbial cap to Thomas Toft and there is another one at the end.
These Plain Pancheons are just so nice to make.
Every time I make them I think of Isaac Button smoking his pipe.

This Pasta Bowl was interesting because I let the slip dry a bit more before doing my Swipe
it's given the bowl an edge I think.

I made this jug a few months ago, but left it on the Biscuit fire shelf until

I had the right glaze for it.

This is one of my "Burrow Hill" mugs

I see this tree on the hill every moring when We take the dogs for a walk.

I like them plain

Well that was a good firing !!

Putting everything together for the Yesterday's Farming show now,

putting the Marquee up tommorow morning.

The Show is at

Manor Farm,

Puckington, near Ilminster,

Somerset.

Open 9am - 5pm Sat 16th - Sunday 17th August

First Full Day as a Potter for 25 Years

Yesterday was my first full day as a potter for 25 years.

The day started with a trip to CTM supplies in Woodbury Salterton near Exeter

a 60 mile round trip, which felt like a stroll in the park to me as I have been used to driving over 300 miles a day in my old job.

I stopped in Honiton on the way back and had a look at the World of Interiors Magazine in

WH Smiths, to see Doug, Hannah and Paul Young's work. I didn't buy a copy because I am now a poor potter and have to think twice about such things.

I came back home and spent two hours on the phone to BT trying to get our laptop computer going again, I got there in the end.

I was then able to get into the workshop and make up the new glazes I needed.

Then unloaded the Bisc firing, Glazed it all and loaded it back up again.

I finally finished at 11pm and went straight to bed, only to be up at 6am

to light the burners this morning.

Why the rush I hear you ask ?

Well I need to get this last glaze firing out before the Yesterday's Farming show this weekend.

This is my first show as a full time potter.

Slipped and Drying out

New style Mugs drying in the afternoon sun

I took advantage of a rare day of sunshine to slip a load of pots this morning and put them out on the lawn to dry, I'm toying with the idea of a bisc firing on Saturday, but if there not dry enough I'll wait until Sunday.

There all loaded in the kiln and I have put the burner on very low to try and dry them out.

Thank You Everyone

Thank you everyone for your kind comments, I've been waiting for this day for a long time and I hope I can produce pots of a good standard that I can be proud to sell.

I have opened the Kiln today and here are some of the new pots in the new Glaze.

Time for a cup of Tea.

I know these should be Chocolate biscuits, but Marion had given the last two to the dogs, and I had to be quick with this shot because I could here them approaching me from behind.

One New Full Time Potter Comming Up

Well it's Official

" I have been made Redundant"

So at long last I am to become a full time Potter.

WHAT A FANTASTIC FEELING!!!

This is what I looked like the last time I was a full time potter back in 1981,

as you are all too aware I lost my racing snake figure somewhere along the way,

but I am sure a life of hard physical graft and poverty will soon bring it back.

I'm firing the kiln with a glaze firing today so I should have some new pots to show you on Friday.

I feel like the Milky Bar Kid

" THE MILKY BARS ARE ON ME" !!

From The Inside Out

I found this article in a magazine four years ago while I was waiting in the Doctors Surgery

it starts off

" It's never to late to be what you might have been"

it's a Quotation from George Eliot

I must admit, I looked around the waiting room and carefully tore the page from the Magazine while trying not to make it obvious to the old lady sitting next to me,or make any noise.

Anyway, four years on I still have the Article, I've decided to share some of it's wisdom with you, because it's helping me at the Moment.

How true was that statement of Myself !

There I was waiting to have my blood pressure checked yet again, while every day I was driving around Central London calling on Architects and Interior Designers Specifying Ceramic Tiles.

I had just separated from my wife and Three Kids and had moved to a flat above some stables on a big Country Estate in Berkshire.

The Article continued " everyone needs to take a good look at themselves now and then just to check they're still happy with the person they've become or are turning into.

Yes your new direction may be triggered by a defining event such as divorce or an illness, but it may just be that your life needs a shake - up to stop it going stale."

Well it Certainly got that when Marion came on the scene.

What A Nice Feeling

I had a phone call today from the shop that is stocking my pots in Ilminster " AUREA"

They sold three of my Pots today including the one above and one on Saturday from my Apple box, before she had even bought them off me.

They just phoned me to tell me People love them,

"How Nice is that" !!

Why Does Everything Not Happen at Once

OK I wasn't going to do this blog today, but I'm just waiting for the Kiln to finish before taking these pots down to AUREA in Ilminster. The cream and Green are selling very well.

How can I do this you are asking yourself, when I am supposed to be at work ?.

Well yesterday I was called to the office and told that my job is under threat of being made redundant. The company I work for are making 80 people redundant . Anyway I'm supposed to wait until next week to find out if my job will go.

So now I'm just waiting for Personnel to tell me what my redundancy pay will be,

Oh and for the kiln to finish firing.