Sunday 29 April 2012

Barrington Court Closed Sunday 29th April

I am Told by the Management that
Barrington Court
will be closed all day today
Sunday 29th April 2012.
We have had such poor weather over night
that it has made it unsafe for visitors.
and the forecast for the day is just more of the same. 
 Here are some pictures of the court on a better day.




Thursday 26 April 2012

One of our Big bits of News, has just gone Live!

I'm standing in the workshop just trying to take in
just what has happened over the past 3 years & 8 months
since we were made redundant.
Those of you that have been following my Blog since the start
will remember, that this summer house in the garden
was my first workshop. 

Then after 6 months we moved into this small workshop space
at Barrington Court, a National Trust property in the Village.

 Then 12 months later we moved to a larger workshop 
which looked like this when we moved in
and we turned it into this.
and now 3 years and 8 months from starting
we are now supplying pots
on the National Trust web site.
under the section Hand made in Britain
It's worn me out just thinking about it!
Here is the link to the 
National Trust web site


what a journey!
 we hope we can live up to the 
high standards expected of us.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Antony Gormley @ Barrington Court

The Excitement is building here at Barrington Pottery
as Barrington Court is all a bussell
with volunteers setting up the 
thousands of small Terracotta figures that make up
"The Field for the British Isles"
Exhibition at Barrington Court.
It opens to the public from
28th April 2012 - until the end of August 2012

Here is the link to the National Trust web site
for all the details you will need.
Mean while down at Barrington Pottery
where we are very busy indeed,
Marion did find time to create her own mini version of the exhibition
in her own style, 
what do you think? 
I can assure you that No Gingerbread Men were harmed
during the production of this art work.
So why not come on down to Barrington Court
 sometime over the next four months
 to see the exhibition and drop into see us at the Pottery.

Monday 23 April 2012

Electric Kiln Help required


I've just fired my kiln again on a biscuit firing.
having replaced the connector to one of the elements
because it had done this.
But it has just done the same thing again?
I'm adding pictures of every aspect
so that you can have a whole view in case you spot something I've missed.
This is where the element wire comes into the control box
It's the top set of elements only that I'm having trouble with.
It's the middle one of these.
and this is to show you that the elements are
all in good order.

Any help on what Might be causing this to happen 
would be greatfully recieved.

Saturday 21 April 2012

Large cooking dishes

These large cooking dishes have finally emerged from the kiln
They have proved to be a bit of a challenge.
 They are 14" wide  which means I have to make them 16" wide
on the wheel.
To stop them cracking I've added 10%. silica grog.
this is proving hard to add when it's dry
so I've been adding some water to it, but it's still a long job.
 But I am happy with the results.
These are trials for a customer, so hopefully I will be making 
a lot more of these. 
This large bowl is 18" wide and has just been slipped
now waiting for the decoration, it's for the local church font. 
and with Earth & Fire at Rufford, coming up in June
I've started to make some more pieces just for the show.
This tall jug is about 13" tall and will have white slip
on the neck only. 
 and these harvest jugs are also for Rufford.
 I'm also still making stock for the showroom
 These Garlic pots are now back in stock.
and I managed to fix my kiln yesterday
so now now back up to speed with two kilns.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Making Time to make time @ Barrington Pottery


Isn't it always the way, that when the pressure is on
a kiln goes down on you.
This is the top shelf, and as you can see the smaller pots are all under fired.
the larger bowl was being re-fired having painted some more glaze
on the rim, to cover a thin area. 
This is the second shelf and all the pots were OK at this point. 
and this is the bottom shelf and I'm pleased to say these were all 
OK. 
 upon closer inspection I found that one of my connector wires had burnt out
 I've ordered a few more and will sort this if I can.
 This is a further attempt at a bowl for the church font.
 I have added a foot rim
 Here it is after I had thrown it in place.
and here I am trying to dry the rim without drying the rest of the pot
I hope this will help it stay on.

 I have also started to make pots for Earth & Fire in June
Here are three harvest jugs for the show.

all made with 6lbs of clay and all about 10" tall.

 Getting inspiration from your surroundings
is something that can sometimes get put on the back burner
when you are busy.
But I'm determined to make the time for making time.
 This looks like it could be someone farming on the moon,
but it's the potato crop being planted in the top field.
and the hillside is coming to life again. 
This is our favorite church, but it's no longer in use. 
and I loved this.
Natures dinner table.

Friday 13 April 2012

Walking in Sunshine.

I took Caddy on a new walk this morning, 
beautiful sunshine but still a bit chilly.
 These are the woods next to the cricket pitch
 Lots of activity above our heads in the crows nest's
 I love the flow of these feilds.
 and a picture of the front of Barrington Court,
normally I walk around the back of the house.

 Caddy enjoyed himself.
 it's great to see the trees springing into life.
 It feels like a fresh start to the season.
 I thought I should throw in a couple of shots of pots.
These 20 Devon style jugs are now in a restaurant in Berlin
after being shipped out on Tuesday.
and a new pic of a set of four 5" wide pie dishes.
Plenty going on in the workshop at the moment
and I'll try and get some new pics up soon.

Harvest on the Farm TV appearance

It’s great to be back on the Blog! The most exciting thing that’s happening right now, is that I’ve been asked to appear on Channel 5’s TV s...