30. MAKING FOR THE KITCHEN.

Hello Potters and Friends,

Our summer exhibitions are just around the corner starting in May, so over the past couple of months I've been doing some serious thinking and drawing in order to create new work. I want to surprise people by putting out a different style, and hear them say 'Oh, I haven't seen this before'.
So, my workshop is producing a lot of kitchenware at the moment. I've always produced cups and jugs but this year I'm really going for it!
And to begin here are two pestle and mortars.
First the conventional type.

Stoneware. Unglazed on the inside and on the end of the pestle in order to get a good grinding contact. As the pestle is so chunky and solid, I left it to dry-out for about a week before bisque firing. Any moisture lurking in the middle could blow the whole piece open.

Now for something a little bit different.

Stoneware. A flatter, shallower bowl but with a pestle that resembles a door handle. 

I saw something like this on Nigel Slater's TV cookery show but have since discovered that it was made for him by a potter who has since stopped selling them. So, here we are. It works and it looks great. I haven't used this turquoise glaze before but I'm beginning to love it.

So next up comes painted cereal bowls.

Painted with black and blue stains before the bisque firing, then transparent glaze inside and my smoke glaze outside. I hope to catch the eye with these. 

Potted herbs from the supermarket take up too much of my valuable work space so this is my solution.

Alan suggested he used his drill to create the large holes that I wanted. I was horrified! I really didn't think it would work but....it pains me to say it....I was wrong. At leather hard stage it worked like a dream. 

Out of a bisque firing yesterday.

Small casserole dishes - oven to table - as the cook shops like to say.

And here's how I made them.

Straight sided cylinder with a rolled rim. (See post 28). Cut in at the base to give a nice finished look.

The handle. I threw enough clay to make two handles - the first being thrown off the hump, as small amounts of clay are quite tricky to get centred.

Mark the clay with a finger to indicate where to cut it off.

When pulling my wire through I always bring one hand round to meet the other as the wheel very slowly turns.

When both are leather hard I cut the handle to the length I want, then cut this sort of shape...

This will then snuggle nicely with added slurry onto the rounded side of your pot. For added security I press a very thin worm of clay around the join.

And to finish here is some  

WARWICKSHIRE NEWS

We have a tea and coffee shop in town called VINTEAS. They take you back to a genteel time when cups and saucers were the tea drinkers' preference.

And last Friday lunchtime The Gallery Trio entertained us with a little bit of 30s and 40s music, with a touch of classical thrown in.

Delightful.

HAPPY POTTING FOLKS.

29. SPRING FORWARD.

Hello Potters and Friends,

As you can see, I have posted a few Youtube videos that I found and liked. I'll be changing these when I come across some other little crackers!! So keep checking.


Well, with the emergence of spring here in the UK here comes some new-looking pots from the kiln.

I painted white, low-fire slip as a background to my paintings which burnt unevenly in the glaze firing. It was a bit of a risk but I like the mottled effect. And it didn't affect the glossy transparent glaze.

I'm still using my brush on 'Copper Float'. The drips are another Mayco glaze 'Alabaster'. These glazes mix well with each other and sometimes produce interesting effects. But try out on a test tile first.

Another Mayco glaze. 'Smoke' on the top, with 'Satin Speckle' from Spectrum below. I love the pale blue run where the two over-lap.

I thought you'd like to see the finished pots from 'Rolled Rims and Chattering'.  Scroll down to the previous post to see how I made them.

This heavily speckled dish is made from Lava Clay. It arrives dark grey in the bag, bisque fires to pale pink, then ends up like this. A tad tough on the hands when throwing but not so painful as to put you off. 

Small porcelain oil jars with a few random, dancing squiggles. This has to be the easiest of all my painting ideas, but I love the effect.

Porcelain buttons. I'm making loads at the moment. I squeeze them in amongst the pots so that every inch of kiln shelf is covered.

Here is what I improvised to cut them out.

Cut off bottle tops. They cut perfectly into leather-hard clay. But should they stick, a quick spray of WD40 on the rim will do the trick.

Now for a couple of new Warwickshire News items! 

Gardening Alert!

Our neighbour Andy called round with his home-made walking stick.

Any idea what it's made from?

A dried kale stalk.

You can also use a broccoli stalk, he tells me!

Mum, Dad and Teacher Alert!

Our teaching of maths in the UK needs a serious re-think. - This is what our government has been saying for some time now. So, Alan  (who wrote maths courses for the Open University)  has decided to make a start and is in the process of writing a series of books for the iPad, covering primary level maths, using pictures rather than symbols, in order to help get young children off to a good start.

The first book 'Numbers in Pictures'  is FREE to download and the others in the series are only £1.49p ($1.99) each. If you have a child who needs help, try this.

Click here to find this first book in Apple's iTunes Book Store.

Happy Potting Folks

28. ROLLED RIMS AND CHATTERING.

Hello Potters and Friends.

Well, despite the freezing temperatures here in Warwickshire I've put on a few extra layers, turned my heater to high, and started the new year with some new work.
As you can see from the post title I've been trying my hand at chattering. I've seen it done, and loved the results, but this is my own very first attempt. So I just had to record it.
This is how it looked on the wheel two days ago.

I am really pleased with this, not to mention amazed. So often I try something technically difficult and have to work at it for several weeks. But my success might have something to do with starting with the right tool.

This piece of metal came from Alan's tool bag. I don't know what it is, and I hope he doesn't need it, but it's a little bit springy – enough to fire a ping-pong ball across the room – but definitely not bendy. A stiff spring is what you want and this is how I used it -;

As the wheel turns – medium speed – hold the metal quite firmly against the clay. You can see that I held it pointing slightly inwards towards me in order to get it bouncing or you could say juddering against the clay. It leaves behind a unique repeating pattern that will be emphasised by glazing.

The bowls I am chattering on are going to be good-sized breakfast bowls with a pouring lip. And to add to the rustic feel, I have given them a rolled rim. This serves two purposes. Firstly, everyday bowls are likely to get chipped, and so a thicker rim gives them a chance of preventing this. Secondly, a rolled rim stops the bowl from warping in the kiln. It also gives a lovely finished look.

So here's how to do it.

With your right hand supporting the side, gently flair out the top with your left.

Keep pushing it round and in – all the while keeping that right hand on the outside.

Tuck that right finger upwards and into the rim. Don't worry about trapping air – you won't.

Finally, use a piece of chamois (or a strip of plastic bag) and finish the job with a smooth rolled rim.

Chattered and Rolled. 

Not only were the pots chattering – my teeth were too!

This was our street about a week ago. View from our upstairs sitting room.

Alan loves it. He can't wait to get out with his camera.

And Rosie's new knitting classes are just the thing for keeping you warm. If you're in the Warwickshire area then look up the Caroline Rose School of Sewing, Regent Street, Leamington Spa, and learn to wrap up warm.

HAPPY POTTING FOLKS.

27. Something Old, Something New.

Hello Potters and Friends. And A Happy New Year!!

I thought that this post could take a look back over the past year, make a note of what was most popular with customers, and see what gave me most satisfaction in the making.

Small is beautiful, and my very popular pots on wooden blocks are always a joy to make.

And you never have to worry about getting all of them the same size. In fact it's better that you don't.

A Japanese look for my tea-light holders.

Then back in May I started making Grab Jugs. This design was very popular in the 1930s and these small jugs were used mainly for cream. Grabbed by the neck they fit very comfortably in your hand and look very dainty on the tea table. About 8 or 9 cm high (just over 3 inches) is a good size.

For anyone who gets frustrated and a little nervous about attaching handles, then this is the jug for you.  

But while on the subject – when attaching a handle, never make it curve out more than half the diameter of the rim. i.e. it can still be chunky if you wish, but don't let it stick right out like a massive question mark. That unbalances the whole piece.  

You may remember that the summer of 2012 saw me struggling with porcelain. But the purest of whitest of clays kept me persevering in order to produce simple, clean-lined forms.

                                     

 A lot of what I produced was miniature – tiny versions of larger stoneware pots. Someone had said to me that buying a large vase was easy, but trying to find something for small flowers was impossible.

I myself have picked little yellow primroses and ended up putting them in an old glass or a Marmite jar.
Very nice, but something in porcelain would please the eye so much more.

My tip would be to wedge it and knead it well and don't use too much water if throwing with it. And above all keep it clean. I kneaded some on a board that I thought I'd cleaned after rolling out a flecked stoneware. Disaster!

Towards the end of the year I experimented with Mayco brush-on glazes. I'm pleased with what I've got so far.

This is called Smoke. (2 coats)

Wrought Iron (3 Coats) with my own satin glaze inside.

And finally can I recommend this terrific book written by Tony Birks.

He tells the story of Lucie Rie's life which, unusually for a biography, reads like a novel. Then a large section towards the back has some great photographs of her work. If you're a fan of Lucie Rie, as I certainly am, then you'll find this book a little treasure.

HAPPY POTTING FOLKS.  

26. FAMILY FESTIVITIES

Hello Potters and Friends,
And a hello from Alan.

Click on the tunes back at the top which are played by himself on his Irish whistle.   

And, the fiddler on Castledawson is none other than me!!

As my foot is still in plaster my main occupation this month has been watching the festive preparations from the comfort of the sofa.
Alan, Rosie, and her partner, Rich, decorated our Christmas tree last week.

Meanwhile, I could only look out on one of the coldest days Leamington Spa has seen in years.

View from the bathroom.

But the kiln kept the basement nice and cosy but not entirely with my pots.  Rosie decided to try hand-building some bowls, and came up with a rather good idea for gifts that have a very festive look.

When the pots were leather-hard she made two holes in the sides, about 2cm apart, and when all were glazed and fired she threaded ribbon through and tied a fancy bow. As with all small holes, scrape out a good deal of the glaze before firing, otherwise there is a danger that the holes will close up and disappear.

I fired some gift tags which will be added to my presents.

These little ceramic leaves have become my signature now, so I no longer need to sign the underside.

I also decided to re-fire a pot that I thought looked dull and pretty uninteresting.

As you may know by now, I love my white satin glaze but this large bowl needed a bit of jazzing up. So I painted these copper oxide leaves straight on to the glazed pot. It sticks to the pot very well without having to be mixed too thick, and it won't run in the re-firing. It takes on a black metallic look with a slight bleeding of green into the glaze. So there you go, saved from being relegated to the back of the shelf. 

As Christmas and New Year draws closer I sit and think of what I might do next year. I was told about a porcelain clay called Royale; great for throwing apparently. So I've ordered a bag to try out and see if it's better than my Ming porcelain. I'll let you know. 

But until then I hope you all have a jolly time over the holidays and I look forward to reporting back on my discoveries, experiments and hopefully successes next year.

HAPPY POTTING FOLKS

                  From Alan           

From Rosie

  

And from me.