Jar & Bowl Inspired by Michael Cardew

These two pots are the result of me seeing some Michael Cardew

pots about a month ago.

This jar is 300mm tall.

This is the Bowl it's 13"wide.
I'm very pleased with this one.

Lessons in Pottery

I will be posting more info on my Pottery Lessons within the next week.

But that's not what I mean in this title.

This post is about me learning something about myself.

As with most potters I get asked the question

" Do you make it in Blue"?

I do have an answer to that question in my mind, that always wants

to rush out, but I can't put that on here.

So I trialed some blue slip last week.

Below are two samples of one blue slip 99% Ball Clay & 1% Cobalt Oxide.

The two bowls are both just 100% Ball clay Slip

one with a light honey glaze and one with a clear glaze

and the blue slip samples in front are with the same glazes.

Personally I don't like either of them, but Marion likes them, she Say's that they are very Victorian in colour, and thinking of it that way I can see the attraction.

But It still goes against the grain in my mind.

This on the other hand, this one makes you want to pick it up and hold it.

and this.
This looks like it's been wood fired, but it's just the way
I position other pots in the kiln around them.

Now here is Lesson Two out of today's firing.

You may remember a few weeks ago I posted a blog
(2nd November)
about trying to create a slip resist leaf design that looked like
an Autumn leaf,
Well here it is fresh out of the kiln

The Idea worked a treat,
but it is not something I intend to ever do again.
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to do it.

I decided some time ago that
if I was going to be a potter with any credibility
and integrity then.

"I am only going to do, what I feel to be true to myself."

If I can stick to this, at least I will be able to sleep at nights.
I know most of the people that read this are either artists or craftsmen
and I know that sometimes in life we have to do, or make things that we
are not entirely happy about,
because as we all know, Money makes the world go around.
But I'm still going to stick to this Mantra.

Inspiration from Michael Cardew - Part two

I unloaded the glaze firing this morning, a good number of the pots were orders

but in amongst them was this Michael Cardew Inspired Jar.

I've made a large bowl to go with it but I couldn't fit that in this firing

so that will be fired on Wednesday.

I'm very pleased with it.

This Casserole is an order from John the Lights

( he used to operate traffic lights for a living).

You may remember he ordered on of these last year and the lid stuck

to the pot, so this year I've made especially sure it's ready for Christmas.

and these are my favorite jugs at the moment.

but I seem to have lost the picture.

More pics later, got to get back to the workshop.

Inspiration from Michael Cardew

A few weeks ago I saw at close hand some Michael Cardew Pots

that were Black with simple white slip decoration.

The simplicity and beauty of the pots has been playing on my mind ever since.

This 12" dish has been painted all over with Black Slip

and I have just trailed a white slip on top.

I have tried to keep the design simple and flowing.

A Potters Way to Start the Day

I got to the workshop nice and early today

and Decided to take Caddy for a walk around the grounds.

We Have had some rather rough weather over the past few days

and Today was a nice break, before more is due tomorrow.
It was nice to see the sun make an appearance and a general lack of wind.

A real treat at this time of year to just be able to walk around and soak it all in.

the court is closed now so nobody was about.

Just a small sign of the strength of the wind over the past few days here.

It was all very inspiring especially when I had a whole new ton of clay waiting for me at the workshop.

Some pics of Pots tomorrow.

What's Going Down at the Workshop

I'm starting to feel a lot better this week but by no means am I back to full health every thing seems to be a struggle.

Something that has helped me is that while I have been at home I started watching an old re run of a BBC programme called "The Victorian Garden" which if I can read my roman numerals correctly was made in 1968.

The programme follows the gardener bringing back to life an old walled garden that had been neglected for some years.

When digging the soil the gardener said

" you have to do this work at an economy of pace that will enable you to last an eight hour day".

Yesterday I was able to do a full day's work, because I went into the workshop with this phrase in my mind.

I thought it has been a while since I posted a video of the workshop

so here's an update on whats been getting on down at the workshop

over the past few weeks.

Still Under the Weather

This is day 7 of feeling rather unwell to put it mildly.

I've been back in the workshop on Saturday but felt awful again on Saturday night

I did a bit on Sunday but again felt worse again.

Today I have been making the amendments to the Planning application

for the new workshop, that the planning office asked me for.

Whilst going through one of my draws I came across this old picture of me and my dog Patch. she was a total nut case.

I'm not sure if i have put this picture up before but this was me outside my workshop

at home that my parents built for me.

it was 10ft square and had a small kiln and a wheel that my dad built

a sink with running water ( what a luxury )

and a workbench and a cupboard.

I can recognise the cider jar in the window , which was one of the first things I made a college

so this must have been taken in 1978 when I was 16.

My parents put a lot of faith in my interest in pottery at a very young age

something that I will be eternally grateful for.

Look how skinny I was - OH my God !!!.

I spent two years at college and lived of a diet of Sausage and Chips and Chocolate.

it's not surprising to learn then that 30 years on, I now weigh twice what i did back then.

Let's hope I can get back in the workshop this week and work some of that weight off.

Proud Dad Moment.

I'm always proud to be the father of my three Daughters

they are all great kids.

But this is one of those moments in life that you treasure.

This is Laura Elizabeth the eldest of the three

and she has Just passed her Masters Degree in Theatre and Play Writing.

She works at the National Theatre in London.

and I'm her proud Dad .

Poorly Bunny !!!

I seem to have gone down with a nasty cold today which has knocked me for six.

I tried to stay in bed this morning but by 9.30 I was up doing things on the computer.

it's amazing how things seep into your sub conscience

(I found this picture in a magazine a few weeks ago)

Because when I was decorating some leaf resit coffee cups yesterday

I painted a splash of green slip, let it dry applied a leaf and then dipped it in black slip.I'm hoping that the leaf will look like an Autumnal leaf with green fading to brown.

Here are some of the other ones I did as well.

I have slipped all the insides with white slip and the outer slip is green.
so it'll be interesting to see how these come out.

I'm spending the rest of the day filling out a 21 page
Crafts Council Development Award Application Form.
wish me luck.