Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

Here I am home again from the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, I've been back a day or two but I'm shattered and not been feeling too great so it's been a slow return. I had a great time away but sales for me were very poor this weekend. It's a great show, the organisation is brilliant, the set up is great in the large marquee though I was unsure about the second pavilion that was there this time, I think it was a bit awkward having it as an entirely separate structure though I understand there were reasons for that to do with the site. The position of the show is great, it's in a very smart newly rebuilt area of Manchester and surrounded by great places to eat, many of which myself and Amanda enjoyed sampling.
This picture makes the whole stand look a bit wonky but I don't think those boards were as wonky as that, I certainly hope they weren't! I measured them, honest! As you can see I took jugs jugs and more jugs and a few other pieces but I did like the emphasis on the jugs. The picture looks a bit dark but it was pretty well lit in there actually. I met up with lots of people from the Manchester area who I haven't seen in a long while and a few customers who had bought pots last year and were returning. Two of those returning were Adelle and Justin from H is For Home who took a little collection of jugs home with them. You can read more about the show on their blog here. It's interesting that they have used pictures of my pots and Ruth Green's work too, Ruth's work is lovely.

The quality of the exhibitors is for the main very high, one of my favourites is Ruth Green, there's some work here at the Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery, I do love her prints, one day one will be mine, Ruth has a couple of my pots now which is lovely, I think we both look in similar places for our inspiration and ideas. And, she's a lovely lass too, what more can you want.

There were many other great exhibitors there who I enjoyed catching up with again, Teresa Green, James Hake, Alison Macleod, Fiona Thompson and Chris Donelly, Brian Young, Janine Partington, etc etc etc. Then my stand was almost opposite Tone Von Krogh a potter who I used to work with in the Royal Exchange Gallery in Manchester 10 years ago so that was great to catch up with her. Opposite me was Sam from Creo Ergo Sum whose work I know my bike obsessed bloke would have loved!
Now it's back to continued packing of pots to go out for Christmas exhibitions and a wonder about whether to book a last minute show up in Glasgow but my head is currently full to bursting and I can't seem to make any decisions at all.

Jug Tastic!

Well I'm almost ready, a few more pots to price and wrap and then the van to pack and the journey south begins. It's not too huge a journey but it's big enough. There was a time when I did this drive a couple of times a month thank heavens that's not still happening. The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair starts on Friday at 10am, be there if you can, it'll be worth it for the variety of high quality work that is on display. I'm looking forward to some visual treats.

I will be taking - jugs, and jugs oh and some more erm jugs! Anyone else with a jug fetish well you know where to come. All shapes and sizes, all sorts of decoration, there should be something for everyone. I'm taking a half a dozen plates for the walls and some of the pressed dishes but mainly it'll be jugs and I'm looking forward to it.

I've been running about like a good and proper headless chicken today, a crazy long list of jobs to be done and all very bitty and all over the place. I was struggling juggling wet freshly painted boards, pots needing turning and handling and a slab to put on the mould and pots to unpack from the kiln, and price and pack so there was bubble wrap and boxes all over the place and my stand furniture and some jugs that needed slipping and the phone was ringing and the jets that usually fly quite low were as good as damn it popping in to see what the chaos was. Next time they can stop and give me a hand! Anyway after a couple of hours of this madness it crossed my mind that next door was a big and very empty space so I decamped half the chaos into there and it was all suddenly so much clearer.

There are some funny textured handles on jugs that I slipped today. I had put the handles on just after a mishap with a retracting metal tape measure. It cut a large flap into my thumb, unfortunately it was in the direction that when I was pulling handles it kept pulling it more and more open and leaving funny gouges in the handles and an unhealthy amount of clay in the cut. I've cleaned it now I promise.

Some lovely friends from up the road cam back from their holiday to Wales this weekend and brought me a couple of carrier bags full of clay from the beach. Bless them for going to the trouble to pick it up and carry it back, it's a heavy big lump of it so they worked hard. Thanks gang, I'll have a play with that when I get back home.

So that's me for the time being I think. Manchester here we come.

Friday

A little cluster of sgraffito jugs from today's frantic working. Paul thought FLP stood for Fat Lazy People, I haven't managed to find out what the Gaelic for "Bonnet Babes" is yet but I'm working on it. Remember this? Have a laugh at this, bear with it and all will become crystal clear. Happy weekend all.

Big Bang!

I had a bit of a fright this evening, I'd been slowly using the kiln all day to dry out some pots before I put them on the proper firing schedule. At about 6pm I turned the kiln on to the firing and went back across the yard into the workshop, shut the door, sat down, picked up my trailer and BANG! Oh blimey I thought, that's going to have done some damage. I rather gingerly put my head round the barn door, the kiln was still in one piece, I peaked in the bung and everything looked as I'd left it. Then, BANG! Ah, it clicked, it was the game keeper round the corner, phew!

A few more FLPs, maybe Funny Little People isn't the best name for them, what do you think, it sums them up but maybe isn't gentle enough.

Something I didn't realise when I told you about the JustArt exhibition in Fochabers and the fact that the pots were all available to see on-line was that you can vote for the award on-line too.

No movement yet on the new workshop front, awaiting joiner. It's probably a good thing as I'm still cramming as much making as I can into the days, after Manchester I think it should ease off a bit - unless I sell out! Now wouldn't that be interesting...

Sunny monday & SPA

Sunny sunny monday so I played truant this morning and went for a bike ride, how could I not take advantage of this fabulous weather that we are having. October and it's warm and bright and lovely, soak it up while I can that's my plan. Having said that, having the morning off didn't make me be any less panicky once I did get to work and realised just how much I have to do before next tuesday night. I leave for Manchester on wednesday and I'm so much less prepared than I should be. It's not just the show that I'm stressed about but also the fact that by the time I come back it's nearly the end of October and I have one hell of a lot of pots that I have promised delivery of by the end of October.
I make a bundle of little jugs on friday, this was one of them, I've made these straight sided jugs before but never kept any as I wasn't happy with them. Lots of people make them and make them well but they aren't really in my repertoire yet. They are harder than they look really.

Lasagne dishes are out and ready along with their tiny wee pancheon pals. They'll be off over the next day or so to their new home. When I find out the name of the restaurant they're going to I'll let you know then you can go there and test the dishes.
Speaking of dishes, I made an apple and blackberry pie yesterday, it was a very big pie, we just finished it. It was very tasty but the apple flapjack is also going down well, especially as post cycling treats.
Currently on in the JustArt gallery in Fochabers up in the Highlands of Scotland is the Scottish Potters Association's exhibition "Everyware" which has been wonderfully put together by Stewart Harris who runs the gallery. I've had work in the gallery at various points for years and he has always sold really well for me so it's good to have pots there again.
Also at the exhibition is the chance to vote for the first Alan Gaff Award. This has been started by the SPA as a memorial to our lovely pottery friend Alan who you may remember was sadly killed just over two years ago. People can vote for the pot that they think is the best from the exhibition. All the pots are available to view online at the gallery as well as to those people who are in the vicinity and can call in.

October Frenzy

Here they are again, I have a sneaky feeling there'll be a lot more where these come from the wee sweeties. What I haven't decided is whether they are tiny little things or human sized, they are both at the same time in my head and maybe there are different groups. I had though there would be some that were tiny siting comfortably under toadstools kind of sized and some are definitely easily capable of wielding one of those traditional old lawn mowers that you push along with all your might.
Sgraffito harvest jug snippet. This one is an order, a mermaid theme. The one below is for my stand at The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester in a couple of weeks time. I've a plan for that stand, I just need to work a bit harder between now and then to be able to do it as well as I would like. I'm most of the way there I suppose but there's pots still to be made. I have lots of great pots but it's that thing again of not having the right ones - yet!

So today I have been frantically sgraffitoing and trailing and glazing and packing the kiln and taking advantage of some incredibly sunny and warm weather to get a lot of pots out basking in that fabulous autumn sunshine.


This article copied below is from a newspaper in North Carolina which is all about the Clay and Blogs show happening there at the moment.

"Potters from all over the world are participating this month in “Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story” at Campbell House Galleries in Southern Pines. The exhibit will be up until October 29.
Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery in Seagrove is the curator of the exhibit and spent several months organizing all the details.
The purpose of “Clay and Blogs” is to showcase the connection between potters from different parts of the world who are members of the online blogging community, said Heywood.
Several of the 50 potters participating were in attendance at the opening reception on October 1. Some travelled hundreds of miles to be there.
“It’s interesting because we’ve all known each other through blogs for a couple of years, and this is the first time some of us have met,” said Linda Starr, a potter from Lecanto, Fla. “It’s nice to see everyone’s pots in person.”
Hannah McAndrew, a participating potter from Scotland, wrote in an e-mail correspondence that blogging is beneficial to her because she lives in a rural community and rarely sees other potters.
“I eventually plucked up the courage to do it (blog), but I wasn’t sure whether anyone would want to read my waffling. Bizarrely, they do!” wrote McAndrew, who was unable to attend the opening.
McAndrew and fellow U.K. potter, Doug Fitch, have been invited to come to the U.S. to do a series of workshops and demonstrations in April 2011. The invitation is a result of other potters reading their blogs, according to McAndrew.
“There’s a lot of cross pollination with blogs,” said Hollis Engley, a potter from East Falmouth, Mass. who attended the opening.
Engley explained that most people give links for other blogs they read within their own blogs. The community grows bigger with each new connection.
“Part of what’s so fantastic about this show is that it’s worldwide,” said Engley.
The 50 potters featured in “Clay and Blogs” are from the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, U.K. and Spain. Several North Carolina potters are included.
Featured potters will have their wares and samples of their blogs on display at Campbell House Galleries for the duration of the show.
Campbell House Galleries is operated by the Arts Council of Moore County. It is located at 482 East Connecticut Avenue in Southern Pines. The phone number is (910) 692-4356.
For more information, including a list of participating potters and links to their blogs, visit www.mooreart.org. "

The story was printed in a weekly magazine called “Get This!” that they put in “The Courier-Tribune” on Thursdays

A last blurry picture I'm afraid but it's a candle holder, of a fashion, I'll see how successful it is once it's fired.
Tomorrow I will be back to...... kiln building! I'm fit enough now I think to shift a few more bricks, it's been a while and we'll see. I'll still be trying to be a little careful though, I promise.

To Autumn

To Paul, congratulations lovely. He and his runner Steven Smith cam first in the team event at the Hardrock Challenge on sunday. It's a ten mile run and a seventeen mile bike ride round the red route of one of our local mountain bike routes. Second and third place were taken by two other riders from the same club as Paul, Ross Green and Ryan Fenwick, both quite young lads but exceptionally talented. Ryan came third even though just shortly into the ride he snapped his saddle right off the rails and so just completed the rest of the technical down right tough ride standing up the whole flipping way. Paul won a great cycling mug by Christine which now sits on the hanger next to the cycling one Christine made for me when I met Paul while we were both out cycling (actually we met in the car park but that's a whole other story).

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

Keats.

I love autumn, I think I've raved about it every autumn since I started this blog, I just love the fresh crispy-ness in the mornings and the sharp clearness you get and the crispy leaves and the colours that they are and the falling fruits. Paul thinks going for a walk with me at this time of year is like taking a five year old for a walk. It appears I stop every half a meter to look at something or pick up some acorns or conkers or spinning jennies. I tend to leave little clusters of collected things all over the house in little bowls and in pockets, maybe I was a squirrel in a former life. Most of them get planted I have to say, I try to grow a dozen or so trees each year from them. In the mean time though I just love having them around and looking at them, hence the collection that have gathered in the candlestick in that picture. I've some more plant pots to make soon to get them planted in and so they can sit waiting for spring.

Busy day, lots of throwing been happening, too much really sore shoulders as a result but then I started trailing the jugs for my upcoming show in Manchester, The Funny Little People are back!

This is all on one jug, it's about 8" high I think. Oh I so like these people, I'm starting to make up stories and scenarios for them and am trying to work out how to get them to work well enough.

Apple collecting today, conkers and acorns tomorrow...

Here's a copy of the picture that was just in Country Living magazine, the October issue. That particular jug us already taken but it's a lovely set up and great getting my work in that magazine again. Thank you to all at CL.

Bottle of white, Bottle of red

Sorry the pictures have now gotten a bit skewed in order, this should be half way down the page, Amanda Simmons and myself enjoying a glass of bubbly at the gala evening of the Origin show.

This is going to be a bit of a whirlwind tour of a post I'm afraid so hold on to your hats! I've been away for ten days and then I came home and the computer blew up so I've been blog and scrabble-less for a while. I'm going to try and give you everything today and catch up with what's been happening.

While in London for the Ceramics in the City show I couldn't not visit the V&A to see what they'd done in "Stage 2" of the ceramics department. Blimey! How many pots? It's crazy. I couldn't handle it, I wandered through for an hour or so with my jaw on the floor and probably muttering to myself and maybe even dribbling before I could take it no more and had to leave. I wasn't prepared for the sheer number of pots in there. I think when I go again I will have to pick one case and look properly, otherwise your head explodes.

The Geffrye Museum show is such a lovely show to do, I do so enjoy it. It's in a great museum and it's quite small, there's only about 45 exhibitors and so you don't feel overwhelmed there. This year I was with lots of lovely friends including Michelle Freemantle and Katrin Moye and Linda Bloomfield and also Dylan Bowen and Matthew Blakely and Prue Cooper and James Hake and well pretty much all of them were just great to spend time with really, maybe I should just list every exhibitor there. I got to meet a couple of people who have bought from me over the last year but who I've only ever emailed or spoken to on the phone before so that's always good to put a face to a name.

I tried to be much less cluttered with my stand this year, I did manage it to some extent I think.
Sales were ok, not exceptional but they were ok. It seems that people are still tightening their belts to some extent listening to the stories from other potters about their years events. For me so things have been really quite good but I am all to aware that there is not much happy jolly economic news around at the moment in the press.

Hear are the lovely ladies Katrin and Linda having a good gossip probably. Linda has just written a book, Advanced Pottery, which will be out in January. It's got some of my work in there.

By the way maybe a tiny prize for the first person to comment with the correct link of the title to this post, maybe it's just the way my head works that saw the link though.

After the Geffrye and before I helped Amanda set up at Origin I had a very swift trip out west on the train to spend the night in Devon and go to visit Mr Fitch. I haven't seen him for a while, too flipping far away he is. We are both going out to America next year, pretty much for the whole of April I think. We're doing an American tour! It's really exciting, Dan, Hollis and Ron have been setting up a scheme for us to visit and demonstrate our way around their three spots in the US. I know there are people that do this sort of thing on a regular basis but me! Blimey! Scary, very very scary but very exciting indeed. I'm looking forward to it and to meeting a whole new bunch of the bloggers who I read about and share comments with but have so far not met. Plans plans, I need to make plans. I hope we're going to be what you think we are folks, you do realise we're a couple of slightly obsessive people who sit in sheds talking to ourselves all day don't you?

Oh and speaking of Bloggers the Clay and Blogs: Telling A Story show is now open in Southern Pines, North Carolina USA. I won't be there to see it unfortunately but I hope that many people visit and enjoy it, it's on until October 29th.

So after a short but sweet bit of country respite I pootled back into the big city to Spittalfields to meet Amanda Simmons who was exhibiting at Origin again this year. It was all change for the show this year, new venue, new time of year, this time as part of London's Design Festival and organised by Tent London instead of the Crafts Council. I believe there were some teething problems shall we say with the whole thing. I thought the general standard of work there was higher than last years show but there was a more "design" feel to it and less of a high quality "craft" feel I thought.

Amanda's stand was lovely and simple too. She had this year concentrated on the vessels that she makes, working three series of them along different themes. The Labyrinth series above is engraved before she slumps the sheets of fused glass, the stretching in the kiln the causes the etched lines to elongate and in some cases expand. They are stunning pieces.

Tower Bridge at night, beautiful. We stayed in the same hotel that we had used last year and had the same light trauma but this year we were prepared for the insanity of the electrician that wired the place up. It didn't make any more sense but at least we knew it was going to be crazy.

I came home in time to visit the preview of Bea Last's exhibition at Gracefield unfortunately I got no pictures there but the Spring Fling Blog has more details. Then on sunday my friend Andy Priestman up at Glentrool had the opening of an exhibition of his pots and paintings. I've mentioned Andy before on this blog. A great chap, highly talented and very knowledgeable and a genuinely good bloke. There was a great turn out for his exhibition, lots of other artists and crafts people there and some beauties of pots out of his most recent firing. Really beautifully displayed, everything is just so and it's a treat for the eyes. A massive contrast to how my open studio looks but so very much more appropriate to Andy's aesthetic and style of work.

My kiln has been on hold again for the summer, I haven't really been in a fit state for hefting bricks about. I am feeling tons better now though, I'm still having to remember to be a bit careful but this week I have been pugging clay again and getting on with the huge list of pots that need making. It feels good to be making again properly though if a bit frantically. If I owe you pots then they are on their way I promise, please bear with me. The Christmas exhibitions are bearing down quickly too, how on earth is it suddenly October? The weather outside is definitely October weather though and no doubt about that.

Here are just a few of the pots I have been working on this week. The oval dishes are going to be heading down to Devon to the Cider Press Centre by the end of the month.

The plans for the workshop move are coming along, I'm not going to be in though until the joiner has been and done a bit of work for us. So that's good as it gives me the chance to get back on top of my making before the upheaval and big migration next door.

Some tiny little dishes ordered by an Italian restaurant down in Chorley. They are small and like tiny little pancheons, very simple just a white slipped inside, no decoration on these wee ones. There are also twenty lasagne dishes which are of the same style but with a small trailed decoration in the centre. This isn't something I have ever done before, the restaurant new exactly what they wanted in terms of an exact size to fit a certain amount of food into and not look too big or too small and in terms of knowing that they wanted them to be exactly just red clay with a honey inside. I don't often work within such narrow boundaries but it's great for practising the throwing skills.

A couple of new pieces fresh from the kiln. I took quite a few new pots down to the Geffrye with me and I had taken photos of them but then they were on the other computer which then blew up at the weekend taking with it all my random bits and pieces. Most of my things I do have copied onto this computer but there is some that I don't which is annoying and frustrating and makes me realise why Paul is forever telling me to back things up.

Tomorrow I will be spending the day down at the Scout campsite where the Scout Fellowship - oops sorry name change recently we are now the very catchy titled Scout Active Support, hmmmm, anyway where we are hosting a Charity Challenge day. We have invited teams of none Scout members to bring a team along to take part in numerous challenges and possibly win the prize of £200 for their chosen charity and this plate too. I'm hoping that the weather will be somewhat kinder to us tomorrow. Paul is cycling in the Hardrock Challenge tomorrow too along with some friends of his and so for them I hope the weather is kinder too. Good luck to all in both events.

The second of the dragon jugs, this one I think will be off to join it's sister jug over in the States next week.

Right I believe that for the time being that is all I have to report. No doubt I have forgotten something or someone though. OK out into the wilds we go for a bracing walk.