In a Tizz

In a bit of a flap this afternoon so this is a very quick post. Trying to sort pots for Bovey Tracey, pack clothes etc for all next week and finish a cake and have a bath and all the other wee things that need doing.
So party tonight as a post Spring Fling celebration, hope the sun keeps doing what it's doing at the moment. Fingers crossed.
Off to Doug's tomorrow, long old drive so I will be starting early and stopping often I think.
Oh and in my haste I blew up that nice jug from the other day - oops!

Sgraffito jugs a drying.

Busy a day today, straight back into it again after the Spring Fling. I was wanting to unpack the bisque, glaze all the pots and repack the kiln. It was still at 110 degrees this morning which was a bit of a pain but I got it all done in the end. Amanda popped over and gave me a lovely lovely present which I stupidly forgot to photograph for you. I'll try to do that tomorrow.

I got this big jug sgraffitoed too with mad mad daisies which all being well and assuming it will a, dry and b, fit in my test kiln I will take down to Doug's next week to pop into his kiln when we fire it. I am enjoying the handle decoration.

Postcards a plenty. They arrived yesterday, here in time for me to take down to The Contemporary Craft Fair next week. I'm very pleased with them.

I was glad it was behind bars

Spring Fling Day 3.

Well twenty one children later there was slip all over the place, many weird and wonderful questions asked and tried to be answered and I'd been photographed more times than ever in my life before by the chap that Spring Fling employed to record the event, I was ready for a cup of tea. Another great day, the weekend seems to have been a great success from all the stories I was hearing from visitors which is great to know. Having a slightly lazy day today, been and put the workshop back to it's usual way of being and tidied up and taken down the arrows that we'd put up so people could find us. The builders are the house today putting in new windows and we are about to go and have lunch out.

Spring Fling Day 2.

Today I met a neighbour of none other than Mary Wondrausch. Well what a thing, she was visiting family in the region and has bought many pots from Mary over the years for her family. Another very busy day here today, I have been busy demonstrating slip trailing and at the same time decorating some pots that I hope to get bisque fired in time to take to Doug's next weekend and hopefully fit into his kiln for the firing.
Tomorrow will be an early start as I have to go in and prepare for 21 children visiting the workshop at 9.30. I'm hoping that they will be able to have a go at some slip trailing or some sgraffito. So I'd best get off to bed and refresh myself.
Lots to do, toodle-pip.

Spring Fling Day 1.

No pictures I'm afraid, but maybe tomorrow. Today we have had lots of lovely people through the door lots of fabulous people to talk to. Loads of great tales. I met Andrew McGarva's mother which was really exciting, and she lives about 20 miles away from me. She was obviously very proud that I knew who her son was.
Lots of other fabulous people, too many to mention just now as I'm shattered and Paul's mum and auntie are here to stay for the weekend. A few people who were obviously very excited about the kiln which was great. Some of course couldn't fathom why on earth I may be at all excited about the pots that came out but some were with me which was fabulous.
Anyhow, that's all for the night. Hope the weekend carries on as well.

Next time a chequered floor

What a flipping day it has been and the 'to do' list is still as long as my arm! So I didn't unpack the kiln till this afternoon, blimey what a vision! That shiny glazed jug you see is a re-fire so don't get too excited about that. It's blooming exciting though even though it's all over the place. So many things to change next time. Let me at it I want to do it again now!

Here are all the ducks. The heat did not in any way shape or form circulate before it went up the chimney. It hit the fronts of the pots and then made it's merry way skywards. So I have some lovely fronts to some pots, properly melted and the same pots have backs that look like the glaze would still wash off.

Almost all are dunted but I could hear that happening as I was trying to clam it up. I was expecting that because of the amazing amount of holes in there. I might invest in some ceramic fibre or just spend a bit longer building it next time and splat some clay in the gaps.

This little jug below is the best I think. I know way too much ash flying through from the fire box but I'll know that for next time. Lots of blistering on the pots that did have melted glaze but look at the clay on that little jug. Yummy. I want another go, rebuilding it a bit first though. I still can't believe the glaze melted at all, that is just marvelous.

New pots out of the electric kiln too, I love this one.

I've been trying to sort myself out for the weekend today. Spring Fling is upon us again. It does fly around so very fast. With Paul's help I got my plates hung on the wall of the barn. The big chargers are up outside too, but they look so small up on those huge walls.

I might not be back now until next week, but I'll try to call in and let you know how it goes. I'm just putting together a bit of blurb about the whole wood firing thing for people to see when they are at the kiln site as of course I can't be in two places at the one time. My wee sister is coming over to give me a hand tomorrow so that'll be fun. She's is brilliant at talking to people so she'll help man the fort.

Hot tired and tired and shattered but exstatic!

This firing offers huge thanks to blogger Andrew for his constant and helpful text responses and blogger Doug.

Important things to do. . .

So two days to go till Spring Fling and the important things to do are: tidy - a big huge tidy up is required, clean the floor, dust the pots, price the pots, pin up some pictures, get tea and coffee and cake sorted, put away anything 'dangerous', find wrapping things, paper and tape, finish pots for Bovey Tracey, unpack glaze kiln, pack and fire bisque kiln, tidy and clean the house - Paul's mum is coming to stay over the weekend too.
So with this big to do list yesterday I got itchy fingers and spent the whole day shufting kiln bricks around to make this:

I know it's not the best kiln in the world but it's a start. Andrew it's partly your fault as I keep thinking but damn it you just do it and it's so exciting so I just did it. It's not what I plan to have there in the end but it's a start and it was so exciting getting the bricks out and piling them up. I was vaguely following three pictures in a little book that Andy Priestman has lent me, other than that it's a random collection of bricks.

A random collection of bricks with a lot of holes! So I put a layer of lightweight bricks on the inside, I knew all those quarters and thirds of HTIs would come in handy for something. No cement, no fibre, no nothing. It is so good to play though. A bit like lego but a darn sight heavier. Am aching like a very achy thing, yesterday I could barely move after stacking two pallet loads of bricks.

Haven't got much in the way of kiln shelves other than the circular ones for my electric kiln which though they just fitted it was only just so there wasn't I felt (in my huge experience of wood kilns - not!) enough space around the shelves to let the flames in, so lots of little triangles it was. About a dozen or so pots in there, some refires and some not.

Bringing it in at the top was fun, blimey it's random jumble but you know weather permitting I might just light a fire in it tomorrow to see what it does, because of course there is nothing that needs doing more at the moment than burning some wood and making some pots get hot.

Please don't rain please don't rain!

Money boxes and fresh slip

Busy old day today, after trying to work out why the phone wasn't working and having to run back up here to test it on another line before I could get BT out and then having to proof an email before 2pm I did manage to get some work done.I managed to slip the six money boxes I'd made at the weekend though one which had a lovely oak tree on the top did collapse, I think it must have had a very thin top.

Slipped some wee jugs too and unpacked a bisque firing, glazed it all and got not anywhere near all of it back in. I'd bisqued them all just piled up high on top of each other with barely any kiln shelves just so I could get more pots in there. There's almost enough to get another whole glaze firing done but not before Spring Fling. It's good to have pots at every stage of the process to let people see how it all works when they come round.

FOUR DAYS TO SPRING FLING! ! !

Don't forget the Spring Fling blog too in case you have managed to miss that one, much more to come on there before Spring Fling and stories from the weekend afterwards too hopefully.

I just couldn't sleep last night for thinking of kiln plans, mental, need some sleep but I got myself all excited again about what I can do or can't do. All we need now is some sunny weather or at least dryer weather and some oh what's that stuff that days and weeks and months are made up of? Oh yes time, that's what I need.

Elves a plenty

My mum is getting in on the cake baking elf act now, she always makes a big pile of tasty cakes for Spring Fling here she is off on her baking marathon.

Only spent a couple of hours at the workshop today, a party had to be attended this afternoon, Happy 60th Su, which made for a welcome break from working hard all day. I did however put handles on all the little jugs I'd thrown the other day and put tops on these money boxes. I think I'm going to have to start making bigger money boxes as the decorative tops seem to be taking over the box part. I like the blowing in the wind oak tree.

And a few big fat jugs just because I could.

I woke up this morning with the following words going round and round in my head as if they were some important mantra that I must not forget:

"When the pigs start flying the mops will take their place."

Hmmm, profound words are they not?

More elves about the place

This time it's the greater green fingered elf, otherwise known as my dad who is kindly potting up my not so healthy plant pots with fresh new fuschias ready for Spring Fling. I do try but gardening is in no way my strong point as Hazel will agree.

I've been throwing again today, lots of small bowls, some rounded ones which you can't see in the picture which are for an order and lots of these new flared out shapes that I've been using for the Harlequin range. I am obsessed with these new shaped bowls and the mugs that go with them. I've got these bowls in every conceivable size and I love them. I haven't actually sold many yet but I really love to make them so here's hoping that they go down well next weekend. If not there will be plenty to be seen at The Contemporary Craft Fair in June.

I'm also obsessed with big jugs, I think I've caught that infection from Doug, I keep wanting to make big fat bellied jugs or more of the tall slim ones that I had last week, again whether people will want them or not is another matter but I want to make them.

I packed my kiln today for the last bisque before Spring Fling, that'll be out late monday or early tuesday and back in again to be out friday all glazed and happy - hopefully. Anyway as I was trying to pack it I realised again that I always think my kiln will hold far more than it actually does. I make way more than will fit in and then kick myself as it means that I wont get everything that I've made out in time for Spring Fling. I have lots of pots ready to show people but you know what it's like, you always want your freshest newest pots to show people, not the ones that you have had time to get used to, you want the ones that aren't there yet. I always too when I am getting ready for a show beat myself up for not having all the things ready that I would have liked to have ready. I know that I can only do what I can do, I'm thinking of making a big poster to pin on my wall at work to remind me of that along with the one that says "posture!" and the other one that says "knee exercises!" I always want to have even more to show than I have and am never satisfied with what I have done. I suppose that that is a good thing because if I was finished well what on earth would I do next?

All sorts

Well yesterday I was over at Jason's place to "help" him fire his kiln. So up at 4am to light it and then finished at around 6pm, about two and a half or three tons of wood used and it seemed to be very smooth. Fingers crossed that it's a good un for him. There is an awful lot of work in that big beast. Some of it is things that have been constantly left over from previous firings as other pots have taken priority but were made by me when I was there so that will be strange to see them finished. Jason was on top form, always amusing and fun to be with and of course lots still to learn from him.

Busy busy at work still, trying to finish pots for The Contemporary Craft Fair down in Bovey Tracey, Devon which will be taking place from 5th to 7th June. The pots for Spring Fling are pretty much done, well apart from that small thing of firing them. Anyway I can't really make anything more now that'll be finished before the weekend, or can I? What can I force dry and squeeze through the wee test kiln? Hmmm. . .

I unpacked a glaze firing today which was all ok, lots of sgraffito oak leaved pots, a big charger and a nice bog bowl. Will repack the kiln tomorrow for another bisque firing which will be glazed tuesday and out friday all being well.

I'd blame the follwing on heat fatigue but it was quite early on.

I prefer them dressed

I'm much happier with these tall odd jugs now that they have handles and slip. The black one I much prefer, the white one was a bit disjointed as the phone range when I'd gotten just started and I should have let the answer phone get it but I didn't and then it took quite a while so it was all not quite right when I got back. Never mind it gives me the inspiration to do some more.

I feel like haven't decorated anything in ages. This leaf is on a jar.

Shhhh, you have to be quiet else you'll scare the shed building elf that is working away hard building my kiln shed thing. He's been hard at it all day bless him. This is a different breed to the clay stacking elf that visited last week but just as useful. Amanda is after a glass cutting elf and I have said I will keep my eyes open for one and give him a map to her place once I find him.

Sunday saw a most fabulous day. sunshine all day and we were up in the Galloway hills walking with the Spring Fling committee. Fabulous, Andy P was a brilliant guide and we had a great time with almost all of us falling in either a river or in my case a blooming deep bog at one point or another. We came home shattered, sunned and soggy but very very happy.

Above is Loch Enoch which has, though you'll have to believe me as you can't see it in the picture, a loch within a loch as there is a smaller loch on the island in the middle of the main loch. How cool is that.

It was one of our groups birthday on sunday and Natalie had made a birthday cake complete with candles which she carried up and surprised Rebecca with on the top of the Buchan and Rhiannon pulled a bottle of bubbly out of her rucksack. What decadence!

I've been all over the place for the last week or so. Head has gone to pudding. Hopefully it'll be much clearer by the weekend. I'm away over to Jason's tomorrow to help him fire his kiln. Back soon.

Wierd Week

Not sure yet what I think of these two 'things' they are I feel, sort of all there but not necessarily in the right order if you know what I mean, bellies too small and not quite in the right place for the wide necks. I think I'll put handles on still and see how they feel then.

I managed to pack a bisque kiln this afternoon, at this time of year the kiln is barely cool before it's back on again - usually. At the moment though I just can't get anything to dry at anywhere near a reasonable rate. Very frustrating to say the least. Anyway packing the kiln suddenly gives me lots of free space on my racks to put new things on. Hurrahhh!

New pots from the Harlequin Range are now on display at The Craft Shop in The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. So if you are in that area do pop in and have a look. I'd love to know what you think.

Finally a big pile of congratulations to my good friends Caroline and Graeme and to their new baby boy who made an appearance yesterday morning. He doesn't have a name yet but I hope they pick one soon as then I might manage to refer to it as something other than 'it'. The more I try not to call tiny babies 'it' the more I do it, apologies to you both if I do that, thankfully you know it's not personal it's just my stupid brain.

Fancy a Spring Fling?

Rushing towards us now at one hell of a rate of knots is Spring Fling, Dumfries and Galloway's open studios event. It is held annually on the last bank holiday weekend in May, this year that is saturday 23rd to monday 25th May.

www.spring-fling.co.uk

Around 80 artists and crafts people are opening their doors to the public over that weekend, many of whom are usually shut away for from sight in barns and kitchens, sheds and garages across this fabulous region that I live in. What better way to see the beauties of Dumfries and Galloway than by hopping from studio to studio seeing some fabulous arts and crafts as you go.

I'm not what you might call ready for it, I never am as ready for it as I would hope to be. There are always so many more things that I would like to do, make, or get ready to show than I ever have the time to do. I try to give people a feel for what I do and why I do it. I do make a big effort to clean up and tidy and get the pots dusted and try to make the workshop a little less chaotic but half of the beauty of the event I think is seeing how and where people work. I always try to do some demonstrations, a bit of throwing and some decorating. It's hard to do as generally I'm there on my own and you need to be able to do so many things all at once, explain techniques, answer questions, demonstrate and hopefully wrap up pots too. If any one fancies coming to give me a hand over the weekend that would be fab, I can offer a tent in the garden for the weekend if you want it (only the tent as Paul's mum and auntie Pauline are coming to visit that weekend too.)

www.springflingopenstudios.blogspot.com

So if you are looking for some fabulous art and craft then look no further than Spring Fling, from pots to photography, clogs to sculpture, pots of course and painting, some fabulous pots and woodcarving, gilding and willow, furniture and glass. Something for everyone would be an understatement I think. Come and join in the fun and say hello.

Special events for this year are a ceilidh - Doug you know you'd love it! - on the Saturday evening in Castle Douglas, Magical Mystery Tours each day where you can take a mini bus tour which will visit at least six very different studios over the course of the day. The Robert Burns Centre in Dumfries is holding a programme of documentaries and films during the Spring Fling exploring Art in The Landscape.

What are you waiting for? Visit the website to order your very own full colour very attractive brochure or ring 01387 262084 and we can get one sent out to you in plenty of time for you to book your trip. Quick quick come on don't be missing out on this treat.

PS Just as an aside to this post but interesting none the less. I appear to have my very own pottery elf finally. I've been after one for years but now I have one who somewhere between me leaving work last night and getting back there today has ever so sweetly and kindly moved the other half ton of clay from the pallet in the yard into a lovely neat stack in the barn. Now can you beat that? I'm very chuffed indeed, a huge thank you my little elf!

Umbrellas at the ready.

Rain rain go away,

come again another day.

Preferably when I am not here and not trying to get pots to dry so that I can put them in the kiln so that I can have some space back in my workshop so that I am not falling over leather hard (some not even that dry) pots at every turn and having to move things three times or more just so I can put a board into the shelves or rescue the jug needing sgraffito or just to squeeze another couple of beakers on to the shelf somewhere. Oh and so that I can move the other half ton of clay into the barn into a neat stack instead of it being sat out in the yard in everyone's way and looking a mess. Sorry Alan and Hazel and anyone else that it's annoying. Very hard to pick up wet plastic bags of clay without dropping them and doing your back in as you try to catch the darn thing. I gave up after the first half ton.

Well enough of my moaning for the day.

Today I have been. . .

. . . throwing bottoms of jugs. I know they look weird but bear with me a couple of days would you.

Thanks for all the votes on the postcard issue, it seems a clear cut decision on behalf of you folks, watch this space.

Do you know what is really scary? Last year I balked at the idea of buying lead bisilicate at around £75 per 25kg, this year, hold on to your chairs, around £140! Talk about inflation.

Had wiggly tin delivered today for my shed roof but my shed builder has been called of down to Portland of all places. Well what's another few days when it's taken me this long already. Ho hum.

Baby hare and big bad rook just before the bird dived at the hare. You will be pleased to know the hare did a great job of running away fast. Phew!