Porcelain Ceramic Jewellery Components

Hello campers, just a quickie post today as I have so much work to photograph and list today.

I did intend making some jewellery for my shop with these porcelain pendants and earring charms but I just don’t have the time so I’m listing them on Etsy today and tomorrow.

I do love the ‘watercolour’ effect on these , some have platinum lustre as well. There are a few more to photograph so I better get to it.

There are some other designs and colours as well.

Oh, I have also added some succulent pots too, ikebana bowls to follow soon 😊

A day trip to Capri

Take a day trip with me to Capri, on various modes of transport.

If my children are reading this I’m sure the music will make you smile 🙂

Amalfi, Positano and Ravello

I am sure the Amalfi road has to be one of the most famous drives in the world, however having noticed that every Italian car seems to have been knocked about, (not surprising when you have seen the driving) we opted for a bus tour and an experienced driver to take us along the narrow winding road with hairpin bends and sheer drops.

I have wanted to go to Positano for a very long time, my mother had a painting which I think was Positano, I loved looking at the ice cream colours of the buildings.

We love mountains and the sea so the Amalfi coast was perfect.

We took a boat trip along the coast, this is where the rich and famous live. The house below belongs to Sophia Loren, there is a chair lift to take her up the cliff if you look closely.

On our way back up the beach in Positano we saw Mr Bill Nighy taking some photos. I didn’t want to interrupt his moment so waited until he walked off to get a photo.

Amalfi was bustling with people. It was hot so we sat on the steps in the shade with a gelato.

Amalfi is famous for handmade paper, I found this beautiful shop but decided to call in on the way back to the bus, but unfortunately I forgot.

There of lots of shops selling colourful majolica ware, lemons feature everywhere.

Then we headed up into the mountains for lunch.

Ravello, known as the music town was much quieter than the coastal villages and towns but it’s not like that when the music festival is on.

The view was rather spectacular too, don’t you think?

Ceramic Wall Art in time for Christmas!

We braved the cold weather earlier this week to have a raku firing. It was cold but bright and most importantly there was little wind, which helps the firing process, but also we managed to stay warm.

I had lots of small fry to fire, about 80 in total. It’s a bit fiddly lifting them in and out of the kiln so I tried some on a bead rack. Unfortunately they didn’t get enough flame in the combustion bucket so I went back to firing them individually.

Next came the mackerel, if you remember last time a lot of these cracked, this time we cooled the kiln down more between firings and went very slowly in heating up and they were fine.

I made a hanging hare as an experiment, I was concerned about the ears and feet breaking but they didn’t.  I felt the hare could be blacker so it was cold painted just to get the dark really dark. I think it worked well, now I have other ideas brewing.

I was asked if I made butterflies so I did 🙂

I used some new glaze combinations on the fat fish, I love these, it’s  going to be hard to part with them but they have gone into my shop. I will be making more of these soon.

And of course I can’t  have a raku firing without making more leaf wall art. I never tire of making these leaves and I love the way each one is unique. There will be another raku day tomorrow then I  will get some leaves and bowls listed. The hare and butterfly have now sold so I will have to get cracking and make some more.

Busy busy 🙂

 

 

 

 

More Raku Ceramics

I’m still adding raku pieces to my Etsy shop, I thought you might like a look too.

I have to say I’m like a kid in a sweet shop when it comes to my raku pieces, I find myself just standing staring at them, I could happily keep them all.

There have been some gorgeous leaves, click on the images to find out more.

This one has some amazing colours. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen a video of this one.

And here’s a selection of my raku bowls and ring dishes.

This one will be difficult to part with, the inside reminds me of a starry sky and the outside looks like a landscape.

I do get to keep some, my cracked pot collection is growing. Every cloud and all that 🙂

Enjoy your day 🙂

Art Elements October Challenge – Petroglyphs

This month’s Art Elements theme challenge is petroglyphs. My mind immediately went back to just a few days ago, to the Banksy ‘petroglyph’ in the British Museum which I had read about. I have to say it put a big smile on my face. I hope you enjoy seeing it too if you haven’t already seen it.

Then I got to thinking about Neolithic and Bronze age rock art in the UK, which is mostly cup and ring art. There are some great images here

I like the idea of making a garden sculpture with cups and rings and little connecting channels so water can flow between them. Maybe just rainwater and over time the ‘rock’ would weather and maybe grow mosses and lichens. But I have little time this month so I need to keep this challenge simple, I don’t want to do what happened last month and run out of time.

A couple of weeks ago I visited a stone circle at Castlerigg, I always take visitors there as it’s such an amazing place and I enjoy their reactions to the site. So I thought I’d look on the internet and see if there were any petroglyphs on the stones. I saw some visible lines in the rock but I didn’t see any obvious carvings, only contemporary graffiti. The University of Durham have done some 3D scanning of one of the stones which shows a vanishing spiral carved in the rock.

Next I had to explore the rock art carvings of Northumberland, the county of my birth. I do remember seeing some when we were out on family picnics. They are all quite simple but I like that, it confirmed my decision to work with cups, rings and connecting channels.

I think I have a plan!

Bear in mind I don’t have a lot of time just now so my original plan of making a water feature for the garden became a plan for another day 🙂

Looking at the petroglyphs on these websites I started thinking of points and adjoining lines, a bit like join the dots. Then I thought about a join the dots shopping trolly, thanks to Banksy; which took my thoughts to the Plough and other constellations, as a child I used to look at the Plough from my bedroom window and always thought it was a pan and not a plough.

I made some balls of clay and pressed them between my palms to make pebbles which I would decorate with petroglyphs of the constellations, and on others I’d carve some rings and press in to make cup marks. Sorry I forgot to take photos.

My pebbles were bisque fired, then tumbled to give them a lovely smooth feel.

Then I connected the dots with china paints and fired again.

I am going to use my pebbles as scent carriers for room and drawer fresheners . Hopefully I can keep those pesky moths out of my woollens. I think lavender oil works well for keeping moths away but I will have to check.

Now I’m heading over to Art Elements to see what everyone has made 🙂

Guest Artists:
Jill Egan: https://kilnfiredart.wordpress.com
Tammy Adams: http://www.paisleylizard.com/blog
Alison Herrington: http://AlisonAdorns.blogspot.com
Alysen: http://chicchixnchampagne.blogspot.com
Sarajo Wentling: https://sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com
Jenny Kyriach: http://anafiassa.blogspot.com
CraftyHope: http://CraftyHope.com
Kathy Lindemer: https://bay-moon-design.blogspot.com

Art Elements Team:
Lesley Watt: http://www.lesleywatt.com
Jenny Davies-Reazor: https://jdaviesreazor.com
Cathy Spivey Mendola: http://cmendola.blogspot.com
Sue Kennedy: http://www.suebeads.blogspot.com
Caroline Dewison: http://www.blueberribeads.co.uk
Laney Mead: https://laney-mead.blogspot.com/
Marsha Neal Minutella: http://blog.marshanealstudio.com
Claire Fabian: https://saraccino.blogspot.com

Out and about in Sorrento

I was planning on posting some new raku pieces today but you know what they say about the best laid plans.

We were in Italy last week, I had planned some work for my return, I got lots of bisque firing done so I could finish the glaze firing when I got home. What I didn’t plan on was catching a virus and feeling rotten, so not much work has been achieved this week.

We had an amazing time so I thought I’d share some photos over the next couple of posts, and hopefully they will be interspersed with some new work posts too.

I have wanted to go to Sorrento since I got my first job at 17 but my friend had to cancel so we didn’t go.

First thing I usually do on holiday is head for the sea. This is Marina Piccolo, just to confuse it’s the larger harbour.

Vesuvius dominates every view along the coastline.

There’s a lot of steps down, but there is a lift too.

Next it was time to explore the streets, once you leave Corso Italia the streets become very narrow, very bustling and vibrant with beautiful small shops offering passers by samples of lemoncello, chocolates and biscuits. There are gorgeous leather shops, and the cake shops can’t be ignored, cannoli and lemon delice were my favourites.

These narrow streets, called ‘The Drains’ were laid out by the Romans.

In the evening everything takes on quite a different look

With lots of al fresco dining.

Intarsia woodwork, such intricate work.

This restaurant is well named, it was certainly a favourite of ours. Owned by the same family since 1868, it’s famous for being the place where cannelloni was invented.

It may not look much from the curb but it’s a rabbit warren inside , and it has the most beautiful garden where you can dine amongst the lemon trees.

Of course we had to try the cannelloni 🙂

I think you could spend at least a week exploring Sorrento, finding new places.

It took us ’til the end of the week to discover Marina Grande, the old (small 🙂 ) fishing harbour where I watched the fishermen unloading a catch.

And whenever I’m at the coast I have to look for inspiration and have a paddle. I will show my inspiration pix in another post later.

Enjoy your Sunday.

My favourite stone circles

I was working on my Art Elements challenge piece last week , which is inspired by petroglyphs. This got me thinking about the stone circles I have visited in different places in the UK.

Let me start with the most famous stone circle Stonehenge,  it is impressive but it’s  not my favourite stone circle. Maybe it’s to do with the location which doesn’t have the wow factor of some other sites I’ve been to.

Avebury is the largest stone circle in the world, it’s older than Stonehenge. We we visited one misty Autumn morning, the place certainly had a spiritual feel. I can’t find my pictures of Avebury but that doesn’t really matter because the circle is so big it encompasses the village and is best viewed from the air, you can see an aerial view and find out more about it here. 

The Callanish stone circle on the Isle of Lewis is probably one of the oldest stone circle in the UK, estimated to be 5,000 years old. It’s my favourite stone circle, it feels intimate, with tall slender stones set in a beautiful location.

This is the view from the circle.

The stone circle with probably the most impressive location is Castlerigg stone circle, it’s surrounded by the fells of the Lake District, which form a natural amphitheatre. Castlerigg is an early Neolithic stone circle.

The stones aren’t large but the location makes up for that. There is a rather unusual feature, a rectangular area marked out within the circle, we can only imagine it’s use.

A video to show the circle in it’s beautiful  setting. Click on the image, then play , if it takes you to my Flickr page.

I have a bit of a thing for stone circles, I’ve found an online list of stone circles, I think Long Meg will be one to visit fairly soon.

New Ikebana Bowls and Succulent Planters

I have ceramic pieces drying all over the studio, they all need to be bisque fired, glazed and fired again before I can get them in my shop.

I have changed my production method slightly, the bowl part is wheel thrown then the top is hand built. It’s easier for me as my wrists prefer throwing to rolling clay.

I made some more of the ever popular ‘Ella’s Doily’ succulent planters which can also be used as as an ikebana bowl. I do love making pieces that have more than one use. It seems to make sense doesn’t it.

Who was Ella? She was a lovely lady who I knew from my childhood and who lived next door to my friend in later life. She must have loved to crochet, she had some lovely doilies and cloths.  I think she would be smiling knowing what they are used for now.I think this new hosta leaf style ikebana bowl come succulent planter is my favourite, each one is unique, as they are all made from different leaves. The leaf only lasts for one imprint just now as they are starting to die back and become fragile. I will have to wait ’til spring to make more. I like the fact my ceramic art is governed by the seasons.

I haven’t tested glazes out on this clay yet,  I’d hate to have these go ‘pear shaped’ in the glazing process so I will have to be patient and test out some glaze colours soon. So now I need to make some ceramic jewellery components in the same clay.

It’s all go!

Making Ceramic Leaf Art

It’s been a busy week,  I have been putting stock together for topping up a gallery as well as making new work, and listing pieces on Etsy. At times I feel I could do with an extra pair of hands but then I tell myself to chill a bit and enjoy the season. I hove this time of year, seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

I have sets of leaves to follow in a couple of weeks, as well as raku bowls, stoneware succulent pots and ikebana vases, more on those later.

I’m making this a short post as I have so much to do, I will leave you with some photos of my new ceramic sycamore leaves. Click my Etsy shop for more information on what’s available.

I love the way the light plays on the glazes

Enjoy a bit of hygge time today, Autumn is a wonderful time of year!