Quick Pots & Chaos.

Last Saturday & Sunday I made Pie Dishes

and Ramekin Dishes.

This morning only 1 week later They are out of the kiln.

We have had some warm weather and the fact that they

don't need handles etc: has enabled them to dry

quickly in the sunshine.

This kiln load had four layers of shelves.

and for once I did a glaze test.

something I know I should do a lot more of.

This was a new batch of my honey glaze on the left

which has 7% Iron Oxide red

the one on the right has only 3.5%

and I'm very pleased with it.

The Ramekins are now on the shelf in the showroom.

a quick turn around of stock helps the showroom look

a bit fuller.

Here are two of the grandchildren

Archie on the left and Koby on the right

They say never work with Children and Animals

and yesterday I had both in the workshop.

Now I know where the word Chaos came from.

This was a shot caught on the iphone

and not a set up in any way.

Don't worry Archie is still alive.

This was Thursday's day out.

and this was just a Weird Toilet wall !

There's Early and there's Early

Last Night I was up till midnight

filling in my last Larc claim form.

These Doves were on the workshop roof as I left the workshop last night.

Then this morning I needed to be up at 6.30am

to go to the workshop and glaze pots for a firing.

This was the workshop this morning

it was like a scene from Bambi when I got there.

Four Bunnies on the grass, the small Owl on the roof

and the doves were still there.

I started to unload the Biscuit Firing and looked up at the clock

It was only 5.45am I had misread the clock at home

and had got up at 5.30am.

Now that's Early.

Still the kiln is now on & I'm off today

with two of  Marion's grandchildren for a day out. 

Donyatt Inspired Order.

Yesterday I had two Bowls come out of the Glaze firing

that were made to order.

What was nice about the order, was that the old chap

that ordered them

Gave me Licence to use any of the designs

in the Donyatt Potteries Book.

I chose this rim design and moved the wording

down into the bowl.

In the original pot there was a lot more fancy stuff in the middle

but I felt that it would detract from the wording.

The chap was very pleased with them

and it was a lovely order to work on. 

Monday was a very warm day here

and it gave me time to slip and dry some pots in the sun.

The back row here 5" pie dishes

and the front two rows are 4" Ramekin dishes

something I've not made before

but I think will fit in well with my product range.

I'm trying to focus more on producing a product range

and do a few one offs in between.

I'm going to make some large bowls today

as centre pieces.

I've also ordered another Tonne of clay

that's the quickest I've ever got through a Tonne of clay

3and a half months.

Paul the Potter Meets Elvis....

It's not every day you get to meet

ELVIS

But last Saturday night we did

in the form of Barry Paull

He did a show at the

Dinnington Docks

to raise money for the Free wheelers

motor bikes that deliver blood and organs.

This is Me & Elvis just before the show started.

Here he is in action

He really is very good

The atmosphere was fantastic.

we were well into it.

This was much later in the evening

Wendy grabbed her chance

Then Marion did

Sam wasn't going to miss out

and Pat shouted

"Wait for Me"

An excellent evening with fun had by all

and funds raised as well.

Thanks Barry you are a true Gentleman

and a Star.

"Oh dear" I said.......

So there I am in the workshop nice and early

so that I can concentrate on

putting the wording on four bowls I have on order.

No Music, No Radio, no distractions.

I work out all the wording first by writing it on

with a soft pencil.

The mistake I made was moving the wording over a bit

after I had penciled it in.

Look at this basic error

I Missed out the "R" in church.

"Oh Dear"

I said.

at this point the whole pot is ruined.

so what do I do apart from throw it in the bin?

I had a cup of tea and gave it some thought.

and I came up with this little plan.

I drew in an R further down the bowl

and then wrote this little  wording around the base.

My Mum used to tell me not to drop my R's

so

I will make another

luckily I have plenty of time on this one.

But I will offer this one to the lady that ordered it for nothing

as well as the one with the correct spelling.

It made me feel better about it

and I hope the Lady will see the funny side of it.

Another Day in Paradise

Almost every day someone visiting my workshop

tells me I'm so lucky to work & live here at Barrington.

and everyday I am reminded why.

Yesterday morning me and caddie went for a walk

and we watched this Buzzard hunting in the field

you can just see him perched on the right hand side of the grey tree.

and sat on top of the workshop roof at the same time

was this little Owl

He was watching the Buzzard as well.

It was a lovely warm day and I was able to dry

my pie dishes in the sun prior to

putting them in the biscuit firing.

I only threw them on Tuesday, and dry enough to fire by Friday - result

The big dish that Marion made had come out of the kiln and it sold

within an hour of being on the showroom shelf.

I'm pleased to say we have two more in for a glaze firing today.

We also had a visit from Dave & Sue, Dave is a blog reader and

had spotted us at Rufford but didn't want to approach us.

We remember seeing you Dave,

 we were sat on a bench in the rose

garden and you were both looking at the sundial.

If anyone spots us out and about come over and say Hi

we love to meet people that read the blog.

They are from the Ashbourne area of Derbyshire

and were down this way on holiday, they had met up with Doug Fitch

earlier in the week.

They bought a few pots with this jug amongst them.

Thanks guys it was nice to meet you.

So I've had a busy week, what with delivering pots to London

Marion's Birthday, on Thursday

making pots and a good sales week.

and we have new land lords in the Barrington Oak

We had a meal and a few pints in there last night

and it was the best meal I've eaten in that pub for 6 years.

so go on try it.

Central London Stockist of Barrington Pottery.

So You can now buy Barrington Pottery

in Central London.

"Where"?

I hear you ask!

Edwards & Todd

25a Museum Street,

Bloomsbury,

London, WC1A 1JU.

Tel: 020 7636 4650

It's just around the corner from the British Museum

and coincidentally just around the corner from the

Contemporary Ceramics Gallery.

Gary Edwards & Johnathan Todd

tell me they have been following my blog for some time

and watching the workshop grow

Gary had studied pottery himself

at the Central School of Art in London

and so he knows what he's talking about.

I delivered the pots myself yesterday.

and they were going to make a

window display with them later in the day.

Thank You Guy's the order is very much appreciated

and I hope they sell well for both of us.

afterwards I made a day of it and went to have a look around

Liberty's

where I found these three large Pancheons priced at £95 each

Then I met up with my eldest Daughter Laura for lunch

who works at the National Theatre

amongst other things we discussed my new iphone

and she loaded up a new app for me

that does this to your pictures.

I'm already seeing a sgraffito application here.

Help for Heroes Calendar Now Available

OK

I can't quite believe I'm writing this post

some time last year I gave two Tankards to the Auction

for Help for Heroes

held at the Duke of York Pub, Shepton Beauchamp.

They raised £75

and on the night the total money raised was

something in the region of £8,400 and a great night was had by all

the pub was so packed people couldn't get in the front door.

So back in January I met Malcolm in the pub and he'd

had a few beers by the time we walked in, in fact he was pissed.

And he asked me if I would do a naked pose for an Idea he had for a Calendar

for Help for Heroes.

I SAID YES,

AND I HADN'T EVEN ORDERED MY FIRST PINT.

Well it turned out I was one of the first he had asked

and one of the first to say

 Yes

He said afterwards that if he hadn't been pissed

he wouldn't of had the courage to ask me.

We almost gave a photographer a nasty surprise

when I got them mixed up.

and thought the other guy was coming to do the Naked shot,

when in fact all he wanted was some workshop shots! oops!

Anyway I'm waffling, I think because I'm nervous.

As the Photographer said

"Lets get down to the business in hand"

I have 20 Copies for sale in my workshop,

all of the printing costs have been met by sponsors of which I am one.

we have had 300 printed and are looking to sell them

for £10.00 each

to raise £3000

100% of the sale price will go to Help for Heroes.

So go on treat yourself or better still

buy one for someone you Love

I'm September,

 but I'm told by Marion that most women wont bother

turning over past February which is the football team,

and it's a leap year next February,

not that you'll notice that

but it does give you an excuse to keep it on that page for a day longer.

So Come on don't be a shy one and Buy one.

I like that I just thought of that.

New Pots 2011

I seem to be back on track right now,

trying to catch up on orders.

These new jugs fresh from the kiln.

and a leaf resist jug

and salt pigs are now back in stock.

I made about 12 and two have sold already.

It's been a very busy week because 

July 2nd was Barrington Day and we are on the

organising committee.

I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can.

I've put a few on facebook.

Raku Firing this evening with my evening class students.