I've hit another brick wall.

OK I'm not sure I should do this blog!

I've got some kind of virus and have spent the majority of today in Bed.

and it's not good to write stuff when you are feeling down.

But I feel as if I have hit a brick wall ( Again )

I put a post on 30th July 2010 with the same title.

In the last post I talked about reaching another level.

Well it feels like I have done that now but this is bringing it's own

worries and problems.

I am not complaining at all, but this is what the blog is all about

sharing the problems I am encountering as and when they happen.

I can not make pots fast enough at the moment.

Well I could but I don't want to churn out crap!

I have a number of shops asking me to supply them at the moment

and they want to see a structured price list and terms and conditions.

Plus some want more discount than others, and here I am struggling to make enough pots.

At first glance it's easy to say no to some of these shops,

But at the same time it's all about increasing peoples awareness of me.

I never did complete the Rubik's Cube.

I am strong enough to say no to people, but I can't seem to get my head around

all the Terms and conditions stuff. There are not enough hours in the day.

If anyone has some suggestions I would be most greatfull

if you want to email anything to me

paulthepotter@btinternet.com

I have so many small shows to do over the next few months

I'm feeling the pressure.

Not something I thought I would be saying.

as ever the only way out of this pressure is to tackle one thing at a time

and pot my way out of it.

I hope this wasn't too bad.

But you guys come up with some gems sometimes

and I feel as if I need a bit of Potter input.

We Are Not Alone!

Here at Barrington Court

I am no longer the only craft worker in the Farm Buildings.

So there are far more reasons to come and visit the craft workshops.

Access to all the workshops is free and we are open all year round.

The first unit is now Barrington Patchwork

Run by Janet East

Janet has a great selection of Fabrics for the Quilter and general

sewing fraternity, she also stocks lots of accessories and books.

Janet's Fabric prices are very hard to beat and she also runs workshops

and classes, you can check out here web site here.

www.barrington-patchwork.co.uk

Do you recognise this place?

It's my old workshop.

Now home to Jozef Mezar - Wood carver

Jozef does some amazing carving work and also has a range of paintings

by his wife Anna

You can check out his web site.

http://www.jozefmesarwoodcarver.co.uk/workinprogress.htm

The next workshop is

The Muddy Dog Company

Run by Beverley Holtom

Here she is chained to her sewing machine.

Beverley makes a beautiful range of hand bags, In Leather

and fabric.

Here are a few shots of her workshop and showroom,

at this point I'm sure Beverley wouldn't mind me suggesting that you

are welcome to look around her showroom,

"but don't pick up and mix up her materials that are laid out for making bags"

people do it all the time and they really should keep their mitts off.

Here is a link to Beverley's web site.

www.muddydogs.com

I also have a new hands off policy in the workshop area.

In the showroom I have a sign that says

"Please pick up and handle the pots"

But in the workshop

I now have a shoot on sight policy!

Can you believe how stupid some people are

I'm surprised they are able to get themselves dressed in the morning!

I'm pleased to say that these people never buy anything

they just waste your time and ruin pots in progress,

so I don't class them as Customers.

My Customers on the other hand are some of the nicest people

you could ever wish to meet.

and of course they have good judgement ,style and taste.

I'd just like to say a big thank you to all of my customers

Your nice comments are always very much appreciated.

To busy to be tidy

In a desperate attempt to get some stock on the shelves

I got in the workshop early this morning

and glazed a kiln load before 10am.

I also made up a new batch of glaze.

Does that mean I get away with this amount of mess ?

Rehearsals for a play were going on out the back of the workshop

on Sunday.

Nothing to do with me, but it made for a good picture.

I've also ordered a new KT250 connector from Potterycrafts today

for the other kiln.

Thanks guys for being so nice and helpful.

Not about the Royal Wedding

It's exactly a week since the last of the

Royal Wedding coffee cups came out of the kiln,

Today I have opened a kiln that wasn't full of coffee cups.

This is what I'm calling my Horizon Bowl

it's taken from an Idea I was working on way back when I was at

college doing my Pottery A Level in 1979.

"Yes I'm that old."

I've also got into writing stuff on bowls.

Some things I just make up and others are things that follow you through life.

I like this one because it seems to fit well with being a potter.

It's been great to get back into making bigger pots.

These lipped bowls are for showroom stock.

and I've been asked to make a Country Jug for a wedding gift

with wording on.

This one is hitting the spot for me.

I can't seem to get away from weddings at the moment.

I'm not complaining ,

I Love Weddings.

All Done

Thursday Morning saw the last of the Royal Wedding Mugs

go out of the door.

all done and all on time.

These last batch were for Hambridge school.

This Batch were for Pitney Village

and these ones went to Isle Brewers Village.

It was a great sense of achievement to fulfill all of the orders on time

and they all loved the presentation

which was all down to Marion.

We still have orders for a further 75 which will be started this week

and I'm going to make some extras that will be on sale in the showroom.

I took The Friday off and watched the wedding

and then retired to the pub for a few well earned Beers.

Royal Wedding Mugs Update.

Don't Panic

with only 5 days to go before the big day

The mugs are now past this stage.

and past this stage.

In fact the first batch are all out of the kiln.

I was able to fit 125 mugs in this firing.

They were a mixture of three different orders.

These are the first batch for the Village of Pitney

being packaged up by Marion

This is the final deal

each mug wrapped in tissue and placed in a bag

along with a certificate and my new leaflet.

This is part of the first order of 100 pots

ready to go.

and Dave who ordered them came and collected them on Friday.

This is part of the second batch for Isle Brewers Village

just waiting for the next firing to complete the order.

also in the firing are 50 for Hambridge school

and these should be completed by Wednesday evening.

But I've come in to the workshop this morning only to find the kiln had

stopped with the pots looking like they had reached about 300 oc

So I've had to put it straight back on

and keep my fingers crossed.

New Barrington Pottery Leaflet

I have now produced a new leaflet that people will be given when they buy a pot

it's a revised version of my original one

that we first produced in October 2008.

It folds into itself and this is the front cover

which is the same as the previous one.

I have revised the wording on the back cover

and added the local authority logos as they have helped me with the costs

of printing the new leaflet.

These next four pages which make up the inside of the leaflet

are all new.

I'm very happy with it.

The whole idea is to make it different from any other leaflets .

and I'm proud to say I think we have done just that again.

And Finally

I have finally had a picture of some of my pots

published in Ceramic Review Magazine.

I've sent a copy to my Mum.

she'll think I've made it.

Royal Wedding Exclusive!

First Pictures of the Royal Wedding Coffee mugs.

These are going to be either given to school children in the area

or sold to raise school funds.

In total I have 3 orders that add up to 250 mugs.

The Royal Wedding is Two weeks today.

I've been putting in some long Hours and Marion

has been helping me in the evenings.

We are working on Two designs

One that has the slip sanded away leaving slip

in the wording to heigh light it.

and the second with wax resisit for the slip

and wax resist again for the glaze.

They are starting to come out of the kiln now so they should all

be done by this time next week

Certainly by the 27th at the latest.

Working Late is No Hardship in the Workshop Tonight.

I'm working late most nights at the moment

to try and get these 250 coffee cups out the door

by the end of next week.

I have 60 in the Bisc kiln cooling down at the moment,

working all day Wednesday , so 7 days a week yet again.

But stood here tonight listening to Football on Radio 5 Live

while I put on 20 handles is no hardship.

At this time of night the sun comes streaming into the

workshop windows and gives a calm warm feeling.

I couldn't wish for a better place to be able to come to work.

I'm doing the job I love and I'm very busy

What more could I wish for.

Oh!  

apart from a Chelsea win their 1 - 0 down at the moment.

It's a Mugs Game.

I'm getting into making the 250 coffee cups.

it seems like a heck of a lot of pots.

But I have remembered that back in 1981

 I made 500 mugs for a scout jamboree.

But I was only 19 then.

I'm weighing the clay 3/4 lbs for each one

but apart from that I'm doing them all by eye.

This batch have been turned and handled.

and these ones have had the stamped heart added.

and these ones have had wax resist painted onto the heart

and slipped in white slip.

They seem to be taking ages to dry

so I'm firing the kiln with other pots later today

to try and help the drying process.

Making sure the heart stays on is proving a problem

but I think we have cracked it.