Hi there Thanks for popping in. Just got back from a rare Raku Day. In case you’re not familiar with the term, Raku is a Japanese form of pottery, firing bisque clay at low heat, and then immersing it in water to make it crackle. It is the most unpredictable artform I have ever tried – you really never know what you’re going to get. You think it said turquoise on the glaze bucket – it comes out brown. You…
Hi there Thanks for popping in. Wednesday = POTTERY for me. It’s certainly a highlight ! It was before the world got turned on its head – and it certainly is now! Today I was finishing. Sanding, priming, adding slip in readiness for some sgraffito (scratching a pattern into the slip). I had coiled a cookie jar, but it needed a lid. So I made one… All ready to go in the kiln for the first firing. I had also…
Hi there Thanks for popping in. Dropped a pot at pottery today. It was a good one too. Had thrown it, turned it, initialed it, and was just putting it on the TO FIRE shelf – and it jumped out of my hands and hit the floor. Fortunately, I was wearing a mask, so nobody could really hear the expletives, but there was a lot of effing and blinding! I certainly didn’t say “Oopsadaisy. Butterfingers!” Never mind. It was one…
Hi there, Thanks for popping in. My name’s Barbara and I’m a Potterholic! Just spent the whole morning at the wheel, throwing one pot after another after another after another! After so many months of no pottery, no clay, no wheel, I was convinced I’d have forgotten the skill-drill, and have to start at the very beginning. But not so! I was on a roll! And by the way, ready for some great alliteration? Smearing soap and spit on specs…
Hi there, First of the month? February already? What is going on ?!? Here we are, hurtling through 2020 at breakneck speed! Still, we do gain a whole day this year – it’s a leap Year after all. 24 extra hours. To be fair, I’d need about 24 extra hours a day for a year to catch up. But there we have it – One day at a time, I will get there, wherever that is… Back to AbFabFabFeb! Up…
Hi there. Thanks for popping in. Great day today. Brilliant meeting with the accountant – which was a welcome surprise, I can tell you! Sometimes you just can’t see the spot you’re standing on, and it takes somebody else to size up the situation for you. All this hard work is paying off, I’m happy to report. January is always such a telling month, almost sinister after the happy Christmas period and all the festivities. So many businesses are closing…
Hi there, Thanks for popping in. Marvellous day today. Such a good morning with my art department. You know how it is when like-minded people get together and start bouncing off each other. Well, we’re in perfect synch at the moment, and so much good stuff is coming out, it is all very exciting. December is the little window of time we designers and product engineers have in which to forge a plan for 2020, give ourselves a new direction….
Hi there! Thanks for popping in. It’s pottery this afternoon, so I’ve been obsessing about what to do. Christmas is looming, want to make gifts – so I’m going on the wheel today. It’s by far the fastest way forward. And now I’ve learned how to use a bat as well, my olive dishes have turned into salad bowls! Well, let’s say cereal bowls… look? See these little diddy ones? So that was pretty exciting, even to get to that…
Hi there, Thanks for popping in! Just got in from a crazy day of potty pottery ! Despite the abismal weather, we stuck to the plan, had our Raku day in the rain – and actually had a total blast. Rain – Raku – BONKERS!!! Now this is what you call dedication! Look!!! But we weren’t to be put off by a little bit of good old British rain! We set up camp in the garage, draped a tarp over…
Hi there. Thanks for popping in. Started shaving this afternoon. 3 hours! That’s a lot of shaving! And to be honest, I could have kept going; there was plenty more to shave, but I ran out of time! Yes, you know, don’t you. Pottery. It’s a new technique. You may recall that this term, rather than just keep knocking out more pots, tiles and vases, I am learning new techniques . Last week, I started on the Sgraffito – the…