Half a Teapot and a Shelf full of pots.

I made this teapot body the other day but it was not the shape I was looking for it was made from 2.5lbs of clay and was supposed to be a Cardew shape Teapot for 6 cup

I felt the shape was wrong so when it was leather hard I cut it in Half to see how even the wall was. Bummer pretty darn perfect !

Oh well at least the others should be this good.

I Loaded my first Bisc firing into the Electric Kiln this afternoon, but I took this very short video of the shelves before I loaded up.





I programmed in the firing cycle turned it on and walked away.
What a strange feeling that is after 18 months of Gas firing.

Mug Shots !!

Slipping mugs Yesterday with some space to work in, what luxury.
Wet Slip oooooooooohhhhhhhh.

Electric Kiln & 40 Small Mugs

I feel like I have been a busy Bee today,

The Electrician came today to have a look at the Kiln

They are going to wire it up for me tomorrow morning.

I've had this kiln for about 8 years now, but didn't have enough power at the house to run it hence the reason I built the Gas Kiln.
I slipped this Bread bin

And then I got down to making 40 of these small mugs

I suppose they are coffee cups really, but I've never made these small ones before.

I used 10 oz of clay for them.

At Least today's play was easier to listen to while working.

The Afternoon Play on Radio 4

Strange day today, I had loads of stuff to deal with today, which included a trip in to Taunton for a 9.20 appointment, it's only 15 miles but it took me over an hour to get there, 5 Min's late,

Then the Condescending Cow only agreed to see me because she had booked me a longer appointment time than was needed.

To make the most of driving into Taunton I decided to buy some more 18mm exterior grade plywood to make 24 more ware boards, a 6ft by 2ft cut board is £22.00 and I can make

8 ware boards per sheet with no waste. £2.75 per board

I noticed you can buy a Brazilian Plywood sheet 8ft x 4ft for £25.50, I stood and did the sums in my head I reckon I could get 16 boards from this size sheet making them £1.60 per board.

But this was cheap rubbish and I decided to stick with what I know.

If this cheap stuff warps when it gets wet I would have wasted my Money. In the afternoon I was back in the safety of my workshop, and at 2.15pm the afternoon play came on. it was made from interviews with patients and their families in Cancer wards and they were talking about their experiences.

I hope someone plays this to the people in charge of the NHS.

As in all areas of Life and Death there are good people and bad, Luckily when I sat with my Brother 18 months ago as he died from Lung Cancer I was surrounded by the good people.

What's the relevance of the Robin ?

For some odd reason when I was a young lad making pots at home I always had a robin sat on the wall outside my studio watching me, and since my Dad died some 15 years ago now when I see a Robin I always say Hello Dad.

This chap lives in our back garden so I get to see him every day.

OK I've got that off my chest I can go and make some Mugs today Now.

Fresh Jugs & Pots from Cape Cod - What more could a Man want?

This Parcel arrived yesterday lunchtime, I decided to wait for Marion to get home before opening it, so I went back to the workshop and Slipped some Jugs.
When Marion came home we opened the Parcel that was from fellow potter
Hollis Engley from Cape Cod in America.
http://hatchvillepottery.blogspot.com

Two very nice Tea bowls with just a beautiful glaze.
Thank You Hollis they will get pride of place on the dresser in the Kitchen, but I'm sure they will end up in my workshop on the window sill.
I want to show you all the angles

Foot Rim

Dimple

Crisp white interior

I love the way the inner side of the dimple just catches the light.

And thank you for all the leaflets it's great to know exactly where you are.

if you ever make it over here your welcome to come and stay with us.

Just a Quick One

Just a quick one today, I made this Bread Bin this morning using 14lbs of clay it's 13" high and about 10" wide, should fit a loaf in there!

I popped home at Lunch time, to make sure the house is tidy because Marion is coming home tonight having been away again for most of the week.

And Look what I found on my Doorstep !!

all Very exciting, I'll tell you whats in it later because I decided to save opening it until Marion gets home, she loves things like this and I want to share the Moment.

A Day Full of Self Doubt !!!

I got to the workshop early this morning, but with a head full of

self doubt, where do these days come from ?

I started by slipping these small bowls, the first three were

dreadful, so I had a cup of tea and sat and thought about my working process,it's all down to me.

So I pulled myself together, put some Pink Floyd on the stereo and got on with it.

With my confidence returning I had a go at putting handles on Jugs

This time I spent much longer on deciding all aspects of the handle, thickness, width, and length

I was happy with this one.

I then turned the lid of this Storage Jar, which is a new design I had been thinking about over the Christmas break. I don't like the rim of the pot, but I like the Idea, so I'm going to work on this Idea and develop it...
Later in the day I slipped it using my Green Slip
Here are some of the other jugs I worked on today
and this is a close up of how well the new shelving system is working at the top.
This is the view from my workshop door
I've decided to take one picture from here per month over the year
just as a record.

Pots on Shelves

Yes that's right - I actually made some pots today !

and was lucky enough to see this sky when I took Cadbury for a walk.
More pots later.

President Obama

Came home early from the workshop today to watch the Inauguration

of Barack Obama.

An Historic Moment in our lifetime.

I've decided to go back to the workshop and make some Tankards as a small Token to mark this Historic day.

I made a note of some of his statements that I'm going to put on the Tankards such as

Obama:

Every Man, Woman and Child on Earth

Who Seeks Peace is a Friend of America.

Obama:

Our Challanges are Many -

but know this America,

they will be met.

Back In the Saddle

Started the day off with a rainbow - always a welcome sight.

Today was my first full day of making in the new workshop,

I spent most of the morning Pugging and then Re Pugging my clay,

I made three 1lb cylinders and cut them in half, and decided to repug the clay.

Before I broke myself in gently with some small bowls.

The re Pugged clay was feeling good, so I made some 3.5lb jugs.

Doesn't seem like much, but I feel a lot better for getting back into it.
Thinking back on it now I also made some adjustments to my wheel
I raised the feet by 18mm and added a shelf on the back of it.

Wassail ! Evening at Barrington Court

Barrington Court held a traditional Wassail evening on Saturday Night, it's all about warding off evil spirits from the Apple trees in the Orchard, to ensure a good crop for next season.

I opened my workshop and showroom just to promote the fact that I am now open.

We went down really well people loved the work and the fact that I am going to be working there all the time, it was a great opening event.despite the weather.

all of my equipment is now in place, but I need to put up more shelves, but I have decided to start working first to then find out what would be best where ! if that makes any sense.

This picture is the before picture taken on Tuesday

and this is the same shot taken on Saturday evening, complete with a medieval visitor

The Wassail event was taking place right out side my workshop and there must have been over 300 people who braved some atrocious weather howling winds up to 80mph and a real downpour..

Marion came home on Friday night she had been away in York all weekand she spent all Saturday morning painting my showroom and putting my display together.

The paint had just about dried when I opened the doors for the first time.

and this was a shot of the workshop from next to the Bonfire.

It's Boogie Time at Barrington Pottery

I walked to the workshop nice and early today, a bit frosty underfoot but the sun was rising and the world felt good.

The chaps at the Court were coming to clear away the final bits today

so I would have the workshop all to my self for the first time.

On the wall is a giant map of the village and I asked the guys if they could leave it which they have done.

Don't worry I haven't drawn on it, I took a picture printed it out and marked on the left hand side as you look at the screen Our Cottage and on the right the workshop

so you get some idea of location.

So I have the place to myself !

before I move all the equipment in there is only one thing left to do

BOOGIE

I found this Great Pottery song on You Tube

Ok so I still can't work out how to upload a video from You Tube

to my blog page

That doesn't make me a bad boy or Stupid

and in some ways I don't mind

I would never class myself as a computer Geek

and not being able to do some simple tasks helps to cope with Computers.

But I came across this video of a song about pottery that every potter would easily relate to.

It's 5 mins,

I would not normally watch something this long on You Tube but it had me hooked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6CQouI-OMA

PS The guys cleared out the workshop today so tomorrow I can fill it up again WHOOOO !!!!

Slow Progress.....

First things First today, I put a small shelf up that will hold My Digital Radio

this is above the night storage heater which is going to be next to My wheel

so the warmest place in the workshop is going to be sat on the wheel.

As you can see the place is still full of stuff that should be cleared away tomorrow

there's just as much behind me in this picture.
I managed to move stuff away from this wall and paint it this morning
then after lunch I took my shelving units down and fitted them in the space
they fitted a treat the units are 7ft tall.
I'm trying to make the most of having a 9ft high ceiling.
Each unit has 10 shelves, the shelves will hold 5 ware boards each at 3ft x 6"
so I have the potential to hold 150 ware boards.

Hopefully the guys will turn up tomorrow to take all the stuff away so I can really get to work on making it look like a Pottery Workshop.

I'm Sort of In.

Well I picked up the keys for the new workshop this morning

But I was told that the men will be coming on Wednesday to clear away

all of the stuff that is still in the workshop.

Very Exciting to get the keys

but it just took the edge off the excitement when I saw all the stuff still there.

I managed to do a few things by moving stuff around.

First I cleaned the windows so that you can see out of them
Then I painted one of the walls

Then I took the door frame out because it was too narrow to get my wheels into the second room.

I also took down part of the stud wall.

I had an appointment in Taunton this afternoon so that's all I got done today.

A Bit Chilly

It's been a bit chilly around these here parts over the last few days

minus 7 oc when we took Caddy out for a walk yesterday.

But it does look so nice it makes up for the cold.

I seem to be suffering with some kind of cold which knocked me for six yesterday and I spent most of the day in bed.

Which is so frustrating because I just want to get things sorted for the workshop.

I pick the keys up tomorrow morning.

The Shelving Under Construction

Thank You for all the input into my shelf design questions

I have decided on my design.

All the cutting was done outside but the assembly was done on the kitchen table, it's still very cold around here at the moment.

I've gone for a 6" gap between the batons and the bottom baton is 16" off the ground so I can store my buckets underneath, and the top shelf is 2ft below the ceiling so I can store larger items on the top.

I made two of these today and will do the rest on Friday.