Curled Leaf

I am finding that I keep referring back to the research work and ideas which I had when doing my Access course; a really productive year with not enough time to implement all my ideas.
When researching for my final 'Seed' project I came across an image of a piece of work by the Sculptor Will Spankie
 
This piece of work called 'Curled Leaf' and is a Stone carving of three leaves curling around each other. They form to make the shape of a drop of water. However, at the time it caught my attention because of the similarity in shape to a seed pod, so I kept a copy of this image in one of my sketchbooks.
I used this image as the starting point for a new piece of work, which I have also called 'Curled Leaf', much smaller than the original stone carving.

'Curled Leaf' - Ceramic (~15x25cm)

Weaving 2

In January I posted a blog about my weaving, especially using my ceramic weaving frames.
I have since made another couple of frames and have woven more abstract images within them using some lovely wools which I found on Etsy from SixSkeins.


The first weaving frame has seed impressions, so my choice of wools for weaving was inspired by the green fields around us, and incorporates a few lovely beads bought a few months ago in South Queensferry.

The second frame has impressions of lots of different shells, so my starting point for the weaving was a photo of the surf in Pembrokeshire.

Opportunity to see

Back in February I found out about a group of local Potters called West Forest Potters. I decided to join the group so that I had more opportunity to meet like-minded people. I have already attended two meetings where we have had fascinating talks and demonstrations from Richard Phethean and David Wright.
Another advantage of joining the group is the opportunity to exhibit in their annual axhibition which forms part of the Henley Arts Trail and runs over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Each member can exhibit up to 18 pieces of work; so I have been having fun trying to decide what to exhibit and at what price (I find this bit very hard). I think that I have made the final selection and pricing and suggested display

Please do come along to the exhibition running from Saturday 5th May to Monday 7th May at Henley Rugby Club, Marlow Road, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2JA; not only will it be an opportunity to see (and possibly buy) my work, but a great opportunity to see a wide range of work produced by local Potters.

I have also been invited to display and sell my wares again at the Thrive Spring Fair on Saturday 12th May from 11.00am to 4.00pm. My stall at this event will include items made not just in ceramic, but all my various other craft activities.

Looking forward to seeing you at one or both of these events.

Little boxes

 My little boxes/pots with driftwood and Paua shell handles have now gained polished Yew handles. There are 2 reasons for this:-
1. I do not have anymore suitable pieces of small driftwood until I have another holiday in Pembrokeshire (only 6 weeks to wait for this!)
2. I now have small off-cuts of Yew from the beautiful wood given to me by Meir Weiss. A lovely way to use these pieces of wood which would otherwise be burnt; however quite fiddly and time consuming.

One of the Ceramicists who made an impression when I visited Farnham Art in Clay in 2010 was David Wright. Not only did I aspire to his simple shapes with very natural finishes achieved by use of a wood fired kiln; I was also intrigued by the hand carved wooden lids on his range of coiled boxes. With this in mind and a piece of yew (and a lot of 'elbow grease'!) I have produced my own box with wooden lid.
Without any chisels I have been unable to make a really snug fit for the lid, but I am pleased with the combination of the colour of the wood and the glaze.

Plant Life

In 2010 I was lucky to be given 2 free tickets for Chelsea Flower Show. In the Great Pavillion I was particularly interested in the displays of carnivorous plants, especially the Sarracenia. This led to some initial sketches and plans to create these fascinating plants in clay. I have finally got around to implimenting these ideas and have produced this set of Sarracenia mounted on a piece of beech wood which has been shaped, sanded and waxed.

 

I also felt it was time to make some more small Koru. The set below has been glazed using the Copper red and Autumn shades combination that came out of my 'experimentation'. Instead of using a silver birch mount, I prepared one of the lovely pieces of yew that I have acquired, the colour of the yew compliments the glazing.

Also on the plant theme, this time real ones, I have completed a larger Cowrie shellform which I have planted up with more sempervivum.

 

Experimentation

Whilst slabbing some 'grogged' clay to make two more weaving frames, I started to play with some of the slabs and experiment building some different shapes. Initially I used drawings of a stone as inspiration.

This then led on to further experimentation and 2 more shapes built from slabs. I then decided to use all 3 shapes to experiment with different finishes.
With the first piece, which most closely resembled the original stone, I covered it in white slip, then loosely brushed on cobalt oxide and underglaze colours, before finishing with a clear glaze. The result was colourful, but not very successful.

 

With the further 2 shapes, my 'apostrophes', I sratched into the sides of the shapes, highlighting these with copper oxide. I painted on a wax resist spiral before dipping into two glazes.

 I was very pleased with this combination of Copper red and Autumn shades glazes over the copper oxide.

 Light oatmeal glaze over Copper red, not quite so effective.

 Fun to experiment, and has given me a new glaze combination (Copper red and Autumn shades) to use.

Quality Quilt

Having been working on alliteration at school with year 3 children, I felt inspired to use this in my title for this post, but there are not so many words beginning with 'Q'.
Just after Christmas I started to make a quilt, having looked out all my fabrics that have been stashed away in the attic and using an old patchwork book to give me the instructions for a 'log cabin' design. As a teenager I had started a quilt using hexagons all hand stitched together. This had languished in the attic for many years before finally being completed about 10 years ago, and is now a family favourite on chilly winter evenings watching TV.
I have long been fascinated by the log cabin design and decided it was time to learn how to do this and to make Katy a quilt for the cold ,windy days in Wellington. When I started the quilt I never expected to finish it in time for her birthday on the 29th February. However the quilt took over my life for a few weeks, as I enjoyed working on it so much, and I was able to post it out to Katy in New Zealand in time for her '6th' birthday.

I think I must have spent over 60 very enjoyable hours making the quilt. I look forward to doing more quilting; but I am enjoying getting back to ceramics, wood carving, knitting and gardening for a while before I start on another quiliting project.