Rufford and Back

Well it's been a very long week, This time last week we were

having breakfast in the cafe at Rufford Abbey.

Friday is normally the quietest day for us, as this is when

the collectors tend to come to buy the best pieces of work

from some of the well known names in the pottery world.

This was how we set our stall up, as ever different from all the others

We set a theme to our stalls relevant to the time if we can.

And this year we set it up as a tribute to all of the country potters

that found themselves in the middle of the first world war.

This Year we were in the turning circle again and our stall

was right next to Doug Fitch.

But we had a fantastic Friday of sales when most of the bigger pots went

That was really encouraging for us, as bigger is the way I want to go

I love making the bigger pieces. 

The weather was kind to us this year as well, which was a first for us.

As ever I took part in the potters games

I was in the relay throwing team for Team Lambert.

 Four pots all 10" tall in as quick a time as possible

we won by a mile.

 On the Saturday I did my demonstration of making pots with lids

it seemed to go down well, this was the question section at the end.

Team Lambert were the overall winners

of the potters world cup. 

All in all we had a great show and a nice easy trip home.

full of enthusiasm if not energy,

but we were straight back in it on Monday morning

with two ladies booked in for a taster session.

Escape to the Country TV appearance on BBC1 iplayer

Well the programe that was filmed last October was shown today on BBC1 at 3pm

for all of you out of the BBC area here is a link

on the i Player

The idea behind the show is people who want to move to a new area

in the countryside get shown a number of property's in a given area

and the couple also get to try a local craft.

We had two ladies come to us and they were such good fun.

Our bit is about 3 mins long.

Let me know what you think?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b047hqfc/escape-to-the-country-series-14-71-somerset

We are off to Earth & Fire on Thursday at Rufford Abbey

in Nottingham

Why not come and say hello if your in the area

the show is on from Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd.

Hence the mad production of pie dishes. 

We have spent the day putting together a stand for the show

There is a prize for the stand voted the best by the visitors

the prize is a free stall next year,

so we have put together what we think is a nice stall

lets see what the punters think?

My Country Business Awards News

Well I'm sorry to say we didn't win the Business Award

In the Country Homes & Interiors Magazine.

I've put the link here so you can see all the winners

http://country-days.co.uk/2014/06/09/my-country-business-awards-winners-announced/

Very well done to Gabrielle Vary for winning in the Craft section

here's the link to her web site, and a worthy winner.

http://www.gabriellevary.co.uk/

I'm pleased to say that

Country Homes & Interiors Magazine have contacted us

with a view to doing an article on us

at some point in the future.

and Don't forget to watch out for us on

Escape to the Country

on BBC1 at 3pm on Monday 16th June.

Here is the Gas kiln in the back garden this morning.

Great to see some real sunshine!

BBC ONE Escape to the country TV appearance

Back on October last year

we did a morning of filming in the workshop

for the BBC TV show

Escape to the Country.

It was good fun and the couple were really nice and good company 

The show will be on BBC ONE 3PM

Monday 16th June 2014

so make sure you set your TV to record.

Lets hope we do potters proud with our short appearance.

Look Out! We are up for an Award. My Country Business Awards 2014

We are Very Excited to have been shortlisted for the 

Country Homes & Interiors Magazine

"My Country Business Awards"

we are in the "Craft" section.

http://www.housetohome.co.uk/countryhomesandinteriors

In Other news, I found this picture of our Ramekin dishes

being used at Mogg & Melzer in Berlin.

Over the Bank Holiday weekend we attended the

 River Cottage Food Fair.

 Marion came up with a new stand design

using bits and pieces we had in the workshop.

 We also had our new T shirts on

But most of the time with a big jumper on top.

This large dish sold.

 The weather wasn't kind to us on the Saturday

in fact it poured down with rain all day.

But the folk that had come out to brave the weather

were in a spending kind of mood and sales were great! 

 Sunday morning the stall looked like we were going 

start filming Lambing Live.

But at least it stayed dry. 

all in all we had a Brilliant Weekend.

we met some great people and had some good fun.

A Visual Feast at Barrington Pottery

I was just sorting out which pictures to put on the blog

and I decided to keep it brief, not because there isn't much to say

far from it, but I spent so much time looking at all the great pictures

it has made me think how lucky we are to be living and working in

Barrington.

 I said on my previous post that I am loving working at the moment

and I am I'm loving some of my new much bigger pots.

"Simple Honest Pottery"

really does sum up what we do! 

 Marion has been working on the garden a lot this year

and this is the view from the kitchen window

when I was having breakfast the other day.

 I've been putting in some late hours at the workshop

and this was the sun set the other night.

It really doesn't feel like work

more of a dream come true.

 Look at our small Cottage

why it hasn't been featured in Country Living magazine yet

 I'll never Know.

 Bigger chunkier handles on the large dishes look and feel good.

 and here is the sun moving around to the front of the workshop

and lighting up Marion's wall of inspiration.

at night, this was about 8.30pm on Tuesday Night.

This is a Nice photo of Cadbury, so nice to be able to stop on our walk and just

 lay down on the grass and enjoy the moment.

 Our new design Corporate T shirt's arrived this week

in time for the River Cottage Food Fair 24th -26th May.

So what do you think it say's on the back of mine?

I'm Loving Making My Pots

At the start of the year I said to myself that this year 

I would make more time to make Larger pots.

This conscious decision is paying off ,why?

Because I'm loving making the bigger pots alongside

the standard range.

I'm much happier with the quality of my pots now

something that must play on the minds of all potters all over the world.

One night this month I woke in the middle of the night

and my head was saying

" Your rims on your Pancheons are too thin"!

The very next morning I added an extra pound of clay to my

Pancheon size and made a thicker rim.

I'm much happier with them now, it's the small details

that make all the difference. 

 I also wanted a more rustic colour that would work well

with the rest of the collection

and I think we have found it with this Biscuit colour.

 Here is one of my larger dishes in Black

I just love the flow of the slip even the bits that didn't quite

flow all the way are there in the mind, it's all about

the confidence in which you approach the pot.

You just need to go for it and keep the flow.

 This one sold yesterday and it will be shipped to America next week

the lady just fell in love with it when she walked in the showroom.

I love it when that happens,

I love it when my pots speak to people, it's one of the joys

of selling your work direct to the public.

 It's very easy to get caught up in the bigger pots, but we know as a pottery

that not everyone can afford the bigger pieces, so I've started

making these Mini Pancheon serving dishes,

They measure just under 6" across and have a retail price of just £10 each

I love the simplicity of them.

 This 17" dish has been in the showroom for almost a week now

it's lovely to watch people running their hands over the rich honey glaze

and feeling the throwing ribs.

 Here is a selection of the colours

they really do work well together. The Jugs a cracker!

This is the new Biscuit colour on one of our locally made tear & share boards.

And this picture below taken at the end of the day

just as the sun caught the daffodils in the showroom

looks like they have been plugged in.

Have a great week.

A Blank Canvas to work on.

When you look back over a year

some weeks tend to stand out rather more than others

I think this is going to be one of those weeks.

I shall start with some of the pots we have made.

I love pots when they are at the leather hard stage

this 17" wide dish is a blank canvas

and I stand looking at it thinking of all of the designs I could add

I have so many Ideas I just have to pick the one that I feel

will make the most of the shape & size of the bowl.

I'm stood here thinking I should have made 20 so that I can slip them

all in different ways.

This is what it's like to stare at a blank canvas but have 10

ideas running through your head.

it's all very exciting and a moment in life that only you can

live, this is the best part of being a creative person, having the belief

to do what is right by the pot.

Other people can appreciate the finished pot but as a maker

you have a unique bond with each piece.

Here is the other end of the spectrum

60 balls of clay weighed out to make ramekins

and the 60 completed in just over two hours.

This in it's self is a great discipline and a moment that you can really 

get into the zone and loose yourself in your work. 

As a Potter I find the time adding handles to be a strange place

because sometimes I love to just get on with it

but at the same time I want to be making more pots

and this time feels like lost time, if that makes any sense?

Marion has been trying out a new slip

these three bowls by Marion all have the same slip

but with three different glazes. 

I took a few days out of the workshop on Monday & Tuesday

to paint the front windows of our little cottage.

 Then on the Friday night we had a chimney Fire

and we were lucky not to loose the lot.

it turned out to be not that bad, but it gave us a scare.

 I said on my facebook page that some days you go out of the door

looking for inspiration and some days there it is staring you in the face. 

This was the sun on the statue across the road.

I love the shadow on the wall.

 We had a day when the light was just great everywhere you turned.

 and I finally took the plunge and started making bigger pots

this bread crock is made of 14lbs of clay.

 It looked like spring was here last week.

 So I captured some of it and put it in a jug.

 We had a very quiet day at the court today

but the Morgan owners club were in town

and I took this shot that I really thought captured the event.

I hope this gives you a flavor of what's going on in the workshop

at the moment.

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at the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/barringtonpottery