The World finally seems to be spinning at a more comfortable speed!

Hi, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt able to get back on my Blog 

I’ve missed doing it!

When I look back at some of my early ones, I was quite raw and open, a quality 

that gave it an edge and told it how it was, the good the bad and the indifferent!

I started the blog at a point of major changes in my life that sent me on my current journey.

So now two weeks into this Coronavirus Covid-19 World Pandemic,

 at this time it feels only right to re -ignite the fire of the Blog!

In recent years I've been feeling more and more like the World is spinning

far to fast for me!

I just want to jump off and take a break!

Well be careful what you wish for 

is my current mantra!

I like to do things at my own pace, which could sometimes be described as

" did he just move? I'm not sure? "

and yet other days I'm up with the Lark and full of beans!

I seem to work in bursts (I was going to write spurts) but that sounds a bit rude!

Whatever you think about this crazy situation we all currently find ourselves in

I'm actually enjoying the lock down

Time

Time to do all the things I should have done, Like repair the front windows on our cottage.

Time to take new pictures for our website and generally do all the little extra bits involved in running a fully commercial selling website, It needs constant updating.

Earlier this year we had our 1,000th online order.

Anyone who says selling pottery online can't be done

look away now!

We can actually get into our workshop without meeting anyone all day

because the whole Barrington Court National Trust site has been closed down,

But to be honest I haven't felt very much like making anything

until we have sorted out how we are going to survive financially!

Its taken a lot of time and effort 

on both our parts but we think we have most things sorted for now.

 Going into the workshop feels very strange, but I've decided i'm going in on Monday morning

to get orders finished and new pots made.

Of course for us one of our biggest headaches is going to be the re-scheduling

of all of our Pottery Taster sessions and full day lessons,

That's Marion's job and luckily so far everyone has been really helpful and understanding

so thank you all.

We will get you on those wheels! 

Time for reading stuff

I've had this little list of rules on my Computer for a few years now

and I felt now is a perfect time to share it!

 So That's got me back into the Blog

more in depth thoughts in the coming weeks

Remember

Chill out, Make use of your time, take time to have fun

try and get a good nights sleep, that's been our hardest thing

until very recently 

don't worry about everything at once, 

just pick things off your most urgent list and concentrate on them.

Don't be afraid to laugh even if it's only at yourselves.

Give yourself time to do the things you love doing

and Finally flowers always make you smile!

So Stay safe, Stay well and Stay at Home!

Pottery requires Patience.

This year seems to be flying by so fast it's hard to keep it in focus!

On a plus note I've been very productive in the early months of 2019.

If you've been able to visit our showroom you would have noticed

increased stock levels.

I have been very focused this year on not only making pots

that I love to make but on keeping up a Professional standard

within our showroom and online offerings.

Our Online Business continues to grow and Marion's reputation

for excellent packaging always gets a mention in our 

online reviews!

An earlier visit to the Clive Bowen exhibition back in March

at the Goldmark Gallery 

gave me a boost of creativity, but I'm not one for copying

so it gave me a sense of freedom to continue down my own road.

I didn't get the chance to do a Ceramics Degree at a University,

the closest I got was an interview with Mick Casson

at Harrow back in 1978/9.

He said that at 17 my throwing was good but he felt

that I wouldn't be able to cope with the academic side of the course.

( I had failed my English 0 Level twice by then )

along with the fact that the average age of students on the course was 27.

He suggested I come back in 5 or 6 years!

Naturally I was devastated at the time, but as time has passed

I now believe it was the best thing he ever did for me.

I carried on teaching myself and developed my own style and learnt

what I needed to know about what interested me.

I dabbled in Stoneware in the early 80's

but by the time I was 23 I had a full time job selling ceramic tiles

to architects in London, a Daughter and a company car.

There was no way I was going to give that up to go and 

join a pottery course! it just wasn't even an option I considered.

So here I am 40 Years on

back to my first Love English Slipware Pottery

making pots in my own style how I want to make them!

I've always had plenty of patience, but my god it's taken a long time

to get to this point.

I seem to be making more architectural pieces for people

like this large sink for a new build sleek house.

But I still love to make my basic core range,

I do actually love the fact that customers walk into my workshop and buy my work,

for those of you who follow me on Facebook I know you might

think I'm telling porky pies, but I do.

It's only the few first thing Sunday that seem to wind me up

and in actual fact I love the banter we create on Facebook

as I know many of my fellow potters feel the same way.

Here's my wheel

devoid of any distractions on the back wall

but that's going to change ( watch this space )

Here are a few newer pots with a more relaxed approach!

The tall white jugs are a bugger to make but people 

have been swooning over them in the showroom!

The one second from the left went off to New York this week.

 While this two handled Pancheon is just sat in the showroom

waiting for it's new owner to walk in.

I didn't apply for any of the shows this year!

I struggle with issues of self worth on the run up to the shows it really

seems to have an effect on me.

So I thought I'd give them a miss this year and see if anything felt

any different by not having the shows to deal with?

And it has removed a lot of pressure off my shoulders so for this

year at least it's been a good decision!

Having said that we are planning to visit 

Earth & Fire on the Sunday.

We have always said that if we relied on just the visitors to Barrington Court 

to survive we would have gone out of business 7 years ago.

So in my next Blog I shall show off some of our Brand New Customers

that we have been making some exclusive pots for.

Have a great day

and thanks for stopping by.

PS: as you can tell I never did pass my English O Level

I've Finally reached the Dark side of the moon!

I'm back on the Blog again and Why?
Because The Chinese have landed on the dark side of the moon?
No, because I have time, time to stop and think,
time to look back and reflect, and more importantly time
to plan ahead!
If you want to reach your ultimate goal
You need to plan ahead.
We love planning the year ahead, because we love to know how the year is going to pan out. (well that's the idea! )
We actually bought our 2019 year planner and diary back
in September last year!

Our biggest decisions have been:

A: Not to go on holiday for 10 day's
B: Not to apply for any of the big shows
C: Buy some more wheels for the school room
D: To offer a brand new service ( details to follow )
E: Write a diary throughout the year of our showroom

The reasoning for the above list
The last few holidays we've been on haven't quite gone to plan and we both said we could have explored more local areas and spent more time in our own home, which this year needs some new windows ( handmade of course ) and a new boiler! £££

The big shows are great but I get so uptight on the build up, that my simple pots are not good enough
that for us we have to make the harsh reality of adding up all the costs and deciding that yes we make money and yes we get to meet great customers, but we might just save a few bob.

Our school room continues to thrive with so many people coming for our lessons that have been recommended by friends. a small increase in spaces available will enable us to fulfill the ever increasing booking list.

I'm quietly excited about our new venture for 2019. We have close links with the interiors world as it's an area I spent most of my working life in before we started the pottery and it's putting that knowledge to the test that's going to be exciting!

And lastly I'm going to keep a diary on the showroom because we get such a mix of people through the door from the highly knowledgeable about ceramics to the utterly stupid

 " I can't believe their Human " How do they function type of people!

 and every time I go on a rant about them on my Facebook page the response is comforting.

So there's some mileage in that and at the same time it get's the frustration out!

But most of all I'm looking forward to making some very nice pots

Having more fun and feeling under less pressure!

Come on Visitors

I'm ready for you this Year!

Cue Pink Floyd

Barrington Pottery 10 Years in the making!

This Year Barrington Pottery will become

10 Years old

It's been an incredible journey with some amazing

highlights, but it's not been easy!

I'm going to be selecting links to some of my Early Blogs to give a flavour

of where it all started.

I started with absolutely no money to back me up

and so to survive each month has been a challenge

that some months took me to the brink,

but a determination to succeed has led me to dig deeper

into my inner soul than I had ever thought possible.

I've been reading some of my early blog posts and I have been surprised

as to how open and candid I have been in the past about my thoughts.

It has led me to realise that the openness was something that I liked

and is what made the blog in the early days such an intriguing insight.

My first attempt at becoming a potter back in the early 1980's

failed due to ME,

 I can't blame anyone else, I was too young and inexperienced as simple as that!

It's amazing what a sheer determination to survive can do for you

combined with 24 years of experience in the contract sales market

that I have been able to use along the way this time around.

So here is the first of a series of blog links

that for me mark the milestones of my journey.

Thank You

Here is a link to the blog showing my first showroom in the back garden of our cottage.

https://paulthepotter.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/how-to-build-showroom.html#links

Pottery is the New Yoga?

Earlier in the year one of my daughters sent me a link

to an article in Vogue magazine which stated

"Pottery is the New Yoga"

I can fully understand where this comes from as so many people that attend

our twice weekly taster sessions tell me it takes the mind away from

anything else they have going on!

it's a place to escape from the day to day life stresses.

So where does that leave Me?

To me the day to day stresses are the Pottery!

I have to find some other place to escape and for me it is my computer

it all seems a very backward world sometimes.

At the start of the year I stated that I was going to make large pots

in 2018 and to expect more from me!

Well it's been a bit of a mixed bag if i'm totally honest.

Teapots are new from me and I've enjoyed making them

and the response has been unbelievable.

As a warm up to a day's throwing I've been making small quantities of

my small sauce pots and ramekins

as these are regular sellers in the showroom. 

The jug here I think is one of my best ever!

it's nice when you look at a pot and it hits all the spots for yourself

it's a rare moment. 

 I have started on making bigger pots, Much Bigger

It may not look elegant at this point, but it is great to be challenging myself

to go bigger, It's all about self belief and that's my biggest hurdle.

I've been far more open to trying new things this year with  mixed results

This just didn't quite work for me, but someone asked if they could buy it!

But I know it didn't come out as I wanted!

How many of us have sold pots that we feel that about?

I probably shouldn't ask that! 

The standard stock items haven't gone away and luckily for me 

they continue to sell, but then they have remained at the same price

 for the last 6 years Time to put the price up?

My bigger jugs came out nice and in previous years I've held pots

back to sell at Earth & Fire and then not sold them at the show!

so this year people have asked to buy them and they have gone

to new homes.

Don't worry I'm making some more this week to take to the shows.

 Marion's Sgraffito work on my harvest jugs has been a great addition

 this year and I do enjoy making these little jugs.

 I wanted a plain big serving dish for the table at home.

 and This is what country pottery is all about for me

 This 18" wide dish now sits on our kitchen table at home

 On the bigger theme I've made some bread crocks

and had reclaimed oak lids made for them

but I have had very little interest in them!

Sometimes ideas work and fly off the shelf and sometimes

they sit around forever just waiting for the right person to walk into the showroom.

If pottery is the new Yoga

then this is one of those positions you don't 

do very often!

Thank You for catching up and have a great week!

Paul

This Year I'm going to confront all of my Inner Demons and actually Make Stuff.

At the start of each New Year

I like to take time out to reflect on what's just happened

and what I want to achieve for the Year ahead.

For the past two years I've been telling myself

"I Want to Make Bigger Pots"

I've made a few, but nowhere near as many as I am capable of.

My Biggest obstacle is

 Me, Myself, I.

I suffer from self doubt on an industrial scale, and it's this self doubt

that stops me from making bigger pots all the time.

Well I'd better look out!

because this year I have found an antidote to Me, Myself. I

In the words of this Performance of Titanium by the

Postmodern Jukebox

This Year I'm going to be made of 

Titanium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3iL596QKII

( it works for me OK )

So in 2018 expect more from Me

more than I have ever achieved before,

This New Found inner strength

couldn't have come at a better time! 

Why I hear You ask ?

About Bloody Time I hear Marion Cry!

2018 will be 10 years since

 I started Barrington Pottery

Ten very hard years in which I have learnt so much about human nature.

I've met some amazing people along the way.

I'd like to think I've surprised a few of them,

and some have been kind enough to tell me I've

inspired them which is amazing.

More to come on My Tenth Year later this month.

Here are a few pots that hit the spot for me in 2017

These nest of what I describe as swan jugs had the most likes of any

of my pots on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/paulthepotter/

and having my jug pictured in a group that includes

Nic Collins and Lisa Hammond was a real treat.

 So have yourselves a very pleasant New Year

take it easy and party hard.

I look forward to sharing some great pots with you

in 2018

I'm Certainly up for it!

Free Pottery Lessons! Roll up Roll up.

Blogs are a great way of gaining what essentially are

Free Pottery Lessons!

When I started to Learn back in the 1970's

there was very little in the way of free help

and advice.

I'm predominately self taught, from books from the Library

and hours and hours sat at my Potters Wheel.

So here is a small Free lesson on making mugs with a company Logo

Before You start, Make sure your throwing is up to scratch

there is nothing worse*  than a poorly throw mug.

Throw a few mugs and cut them in half to make sure

the base and wall are even or not too thick.

Trust me this will give you more confidence about your pots.

* ( There are lots of things worse than a poorly thrown mug

but I mean in the context of this blog post )

 Stamps can be ordered from any rubber stamp company

I use

Stamps Direct

www.stampsdirect.co.uk
Roll out your clay and leave it for a few hours
trying to press a stamp into wet clay doesn't work so well
it tends to clog up the stamp.
leaving it to dry gives for a much crisper impression!

Have the discussion with your customer as to where the stamp should be

1. to the left of the handle

2. to the right of the handle

3. opposite the handle

Once you have established your position, cut out your stamp

mark it's position on the pot

I score both the pot and the back of the stamp

and apply plenty of slip to the back of the stamp

place the stamp in position and push it on to the pot

pushing from the centre outwards

smooth off the outer edge with a damp sponge.

when you have done them all cover them in plastic

and allow the pot to dry slightly over night covered in plastic.

The pots should still be leather hard but firm enough to handle.

Dip the pot in slip and leave to dry for a few days.

 when dry enough scrape away the slip to reveal the design

Repeat

Biscuit Fire Glaze and re fire

if you've done a good job

your customer will put a picture up 

on social media within hours of receiving them

showing how much they love them

Job Done!

www.frogmarygreenfarm.co.uk

August/September is harvest time

These Harvest jugs make great wedding gifts

tis the season.

I couldn't resist sharing these two Bentleys

we saw parked up in Clevedon last Sunday

And Now I've made a start on a new exciting project

to be completed before the month is out!

Watch this space.

I love a challenge and a new client.