Busy doing other things...

Another 4 months have flown by since my last post, I really must be old as time is whizzing by quicker than ever! Thankfully my lack of ceramic production has been due to being busy doing other things, and not because of any injury.
I had a successful month in the More Arts Gallery in November last year. I was unable to remain there in December since I was unavailable to fulfil the rota requirements due to a big family holiday in New Zealand. Four weeks were spent with husband, daughter and son enjoying the summer sun and exploring the beautiful scenery that the North Island has to offer; previous trips had largely been spent on the South Island. The main reason for the trip was to burst with pride as Katy graduated with her PhD at Victoria University, Wellington! Having travelled all that way we just had to spend more time with the kids and enjoying NZ.

Returned to the cold and dark of a British winter, but cheered myself up by starting the search for a new puppy (we had delayed doing this for 1 1/2 years because of the NZ trip) and playing on my sewing machine.
First I made some cushions using kiwi fabrics bought on our trip.

Then  made a quilt for my Mum.

It was tempting to keep sewing but the lure of the dirty stuff prevailed and I made some more burnished and smoked work.
Firstly I made some vases and hearts

Pleased with the finish of both the blue vases

The fern resist has worked really well on this vase

 

Vase or bowl? Not really sure

 

Hard to control the amount of smoking on the hearts in the incinerator

I then started to play with the clay using some of my many beachcombing finds as starting points and some inspiration from the work of Antonia Salmon. I have had fun experimenting and produced some different shapes which I hope will lead on to further developments.

small spiral, burnished and smoked

shell form

broken shells

I did say that we started the search for a puppy on our return from New Zealand. It didn't take too long to find just what I was looking for, a cross golden retriever with border collie. We collected her on Valentine's Day and she has definitely broken our hearts.

Her name is Cuillin after the Black Cuillin of Skye, a happy climbing ground for us in our youth

Needless to say, not a lot of potting has happened since she arrived!!