Biscuit O'Clock

Here's better pictures of Biscuit for you. First the USB thing there next to the cat does not plug into the scar on her side, let me make that quite clear. Second yes she is ginger and yes she does match me.
Here she is starting her pottery appreciation lessons, here she is being introduced to a Paul Young sheep tree.
This is her eating from her Ron Philbeck owl bowl, she chose that one all by herself. She does a lot of eating and a massive amount of sleeping in the sunshine, she's probably exhausted after living rough and feeding four kittens for the last month or two.

Here she is with my other favourite being in the house though I think Paul may be being slightly neglected in favour of the puss at the moment. I commented that she looked really tiny next to Paul, his response was something along the lines of thank heavens else we'd have gotten ourselves the wrong sort of cat, it would end up a bit like this. Do you know that book? It's great to read if you don't know it already.

In amongst being Biscuit obsessed and making sure she's eating and drinking and keeping her scar clean, I've been making, shhh I don't want to say it out loud at this time of year, Christmas decorations. I know! Crazy huh. I've an order for to go to somewhere a bit different. I'll be blogging that one once it all goes live. Keep an eye open for that in November.

We are very lucky.

We are very lucky in Britain, we don't get extremes of anything weather-wise really. We get rain but not generally flooding, we get storms but not really tornadoes or hurricanes, we get sunshine (yes we do come on you can remember it) but not so much that we have country wide droughts we have occasional earth tremors but nothing that does anything other knock a picture slanted or maybe shift a slate off a roof, our volcanoes are all extinct. This was yesterday's storm here, we got some flash flooding and there were roads closed for a little while, it knocked the power out and the phone lines but as I say Britain is fairly safe from these extremes of climate work. I rather like a good thunder and lightening storm to be honest, as long as it's not right over my head. The one we saw in Shelby was pretty spectacular, I enjoyed that one.

To my friends in the USA, especially you all on the Eastern Sea Board, take care and keep safe.

Ooooooo! surprise addition!

Meet Biscuit. Our new accidentalish addition. She's a sweetie, listen to that pneumatic drill of a purr. Off for a cuddle.

Flat wet stuff

I've been getting my slip trailing wrist back into the swing of things this last day or so. Hope you like them.

Not many words for you today. Too tired.

Sorry.
Oh and some finished tiles, these are approximately 6" square, the wet ones are more like 8".

I'm trying to get some of the lose washy slip that I was using lots for the Still Movement exhibition combined with my trailing.

Still unsure how I can translate all that onto pots.

We Stopped!

Only for three days but we did stop, together, for the first time in heaven knows when. Last week I lost the plot and it was time for a bit of R and R. Paul was here and I was here and we had no pressing commitments, well not so pressing as couldn't wait till this week, and we took our tent and headed out west for three days. We camped at Sandhead right next to the beach. We got fab weather. We had a great time. It's been an age since we were together and not at home and not working. We cycled out to the Mull of Galloway to the lighthouse on the edge of the world there, warm and sunny and not too windy.

We popped into Port Logan where we recreated a photo for my mum of me from years ago on the previous embodiments of these rocking springy things in the playground. I find it hard to resist a playground toy play.

We went to Logan Gardens, this is the botanic garden out west and it's full of palms and stuff that you wouldn't at all think it were possible to grow in south west Scotland.

We also went to the Logan Fish Pond which I whole heartedly recommend. It's formed in a Silurian blow hole and was made into a larder in 1788 by the then laird of Logan House. It's brilliant, it's like walking into a little haven, well except for the conger eels that will take your finger off if you are daft enough to put one in the water. The chap that showed us round was full of information and stories and was a great guide.
If you get to go at feeding time that must be great.

We paddled in the sea of course and I couldn't resist a swim, it's just too tempting. It was surprisingly unfreezing too, it wasn't the temperature that takes your breath away when you first submerge. I was pleasantly surprised.

Corr a break. What a wonderful idea. We need to do that again sooner rather than later. Stave off the insanity for a wee while longer. Back to work this week but feeling rather rejuvenated even after such a short trip.

End of summer blues

By the phases of the moon.

It's not officially the end of summer but the dew on the grass in the mornings and the definite nip in the air and that certain smell that you get is certainly doing more than hinting at it. As for the blues well whatever time of year it is they're hear. I have now managed to get control back of my email and am assured that my bank accounts are safe. This week a hmmm, what shall I call them? Swine, we'll go with swine for now but I may well call them something slightly harsher when not writing something for the public domain, hacked into my email addresses, my ebay, my facebook, and if they could get that far then heaven only knows what else they can get at. No my passwords aren't all the same thing and the words are so random that you'd never guess them in a million years so I can only assume that actually you don't need the passwords if you've got a mind for criminal activity. I've been apparently selling tickets and buying guitars too on ebay. It's not put me in a good mood frankly and I probably wasn't the most jolly person in the world to start with this week. The thing that has freaked me the most is the swine sitting in his flat in Tower Hamlets (well that's the address they changed the ebay delivery address to) and emailing me from MY OWN email address! I have spent hours and hours on the phone trying to sort things out and regain control of my life. I know it's sad but a lot of my life is associated with the computer, I don't really like the things but it's a huge part of my communications with my friends and of course my business relies heavily on it. Suddenly it really makes you rethink it. I like what I can access on the computer, I like that I can chat to my friends across the world, I like that I can share my pots and some of my life with you all and that you in return can share with me but now I'm scared of it too. Needless to say I have so many new and complicated passwords that my brain is about to explode into a big gooey terracotta tinged mess. Hmmm, maybe my day dream of living in a cave in the hills isn't such a bad thought after all...

Surprise visitor

Been a funny old day, very unsettled weather, a bit wild, very windy too, makes me a bit jittery and unsettled myself when it's like that. Made for some great skies though.

Yesterday was my first proper day making in I don't like to think how long. I was half way through a board of 12oz jugs when I had a knock at the door and met a German gentleman by the name of Dieter who is a film maker. He told me he is making a film about traditional craftspeople who live as he put it, on the edges of Europe, and he was recommended to visit me by a basket maker friend of mine, Geoff. Could he do some filming now? Well slightly taken aback, I know it's hard to believe but it isn't every day that I get film makers turning up on my doorstep. Just carry on doing what you're doing he said and he'd work around me. So I did and I made another board of jugs and some mugs and slipped some waiting tiles and generally carried on and wittered away as I usually would. We spent a pleasant few hours, had lunch in the sunshine and then he was off on his way. Heaven only knows where that film might end up!

Iron Men and Hatfield Art in Clay

It seems like an age ago now that I packed up the van once again and set of south to yet another show. This time I went via Crosby Beach near Liverpool to meet my good friend Debbie. Deb is a potter that works on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands and is now very unused to beaches where the sea is chilly and there is a breeze that isn't warm. I was at uni with Deb and she doesn't get back to the UK very often and needless to say I don't exactly pass by the Caribbean all too regularly either. Anyway for a long time I've been wanting to visit Anthony Gormley's "Another Place" with his sculptures of iron men but never had the chance so here was my chance.

Here's Deb and her mum befriending number 89. See the difference in attire. Those of us used to British summers happy to be paddling about in shorts and t-shirts, those of the group used to slightly warmer conditions wrapped in fleece jumpers.
I always love seeing Deb again, we sat up late catching up and talking about pots (probably boring Matt her fresh husband to bits with picture after picture of pots and kilns from the both of us).
Then I set off the next day down to Hatfield and to Art in Clay. I've never been at this show before and was pleased to be there. I was opposite Lisa Hammond whose stand is always full of sickeningly lovely pots. Being the muppet that I am I have still barely ever managed to say more than hello to her but I did have a good chat to her last apprentice.

I was next to my friend Clare Wakefield who I went to Germany with last year and with whom it is hard not to spend the majority of the time laughing with.

On my other side was Guy Routledge whose work I used to sell many moons ago when I worked in the craft shop in the Royal Exchange in Manchester so it was great to meet him. I had good neighbours.

The helpers who are about all weekend at Hatfield were fab. When I arrived I was asked whether I was on my own and as I was I was assigned a helper who came and helped me unload all my stuff. Then during the weekend there were a host of helpers who would take over your stand for you while you had a lunch break or if you wanted to watch one of the demos. A huge thank you to all those who helped me at various points over the weekend and also my tinniest mermaid spotting helper too.
Hatfield was a good show for me. There were certainly mixed reports, lots of poor sales for people but I was lucky, and it did my confidence good after a couple of not quite so buoyant ones.
Now I'm home again and sorting out pots to send to The Whitehouse Gallery next week and then to get on with work for the PMA Craft Show in Philadelphia, the shipping date is mid September...

Still Movement

Still Movement - Art in Clay

Today has been spent at Gracefield Art Centre in Dumfries with Phil McMenemy. We have been working for the last long while on a a collaborative exhibition. It is called "Still Movement". We have been excited, terrified, frustrated, thrilled, enthused and now it's time to put it all together and see what it looks like. How utterly mind blowingly scary. At the same time how very exciting. More pictures once it's all together.
Whilst sitting have tea with Paul Young on monday morning this daft birdie flew in, hit the window and fell into a mug. It recovered and flew off later but not before a blue tit appeared flapping in the chamber of the wood burner. I opened the doors to find a soot covered bemused looking baby bird. After that another 4 or 5, I lost count, fell out of the stove. I haven't had it lit for a few months so it seems a nest has been built at the top and the contents of said nest have all just fallen out.

ART IN CLAY AT HATFIELD HOUSE

Tomorrow I'll be off down south to Art in Clay at Hatfield House, come along come along and visit. I've never been before, it's another new thing for me.