Of big pots, road trips and memberships

It has been a busy week or so for me between visits to York, Derby, Uppingham and UCLAN.  I already wrote about my visit to York previously.  I went to Derby to try a discus pottery wheel unfortunately I haven't sold the wheel I don't want any more otherwise I would have bought the wheel then and there, for such a small light wheel they are amazingly powerful and are perfect when I attend other places, it means I don't have to lug around  the Shimpo unless we are taking more than one.

We went to Uppingham to see the Nic Collins show that was recommended by Andrew Douglas, it really was amazing, the pots look so much better in the flesh and feel so smooth despite all the lumps and bumps.  It was something very different to the highly polished work you see at ceramic fairs, and is just something that isn't possible as a student at UCLAN.  I would have bought  a piece of Nic's work but I just didn't quite have enough money for the piece I wanted.

The Goldmark Gallery was amazing, especially with all the work in the basement, it was like a treasure trove, and of course there were many pots that caught my eye but there was one I especially liked even in the half light, so I bought it after trying to leave half a dozen times without it.

I went to UCLAN again because the technician Geoff is doing me yet another favour, they have been so good to me since I left.

Yesterday I also mixed up a fresh bucket of glaze ready to get on top again once I get some bisque firing done this next week.  I have storage jars and cookie jars covering the studio, so then are going to be fired up glazed and then stored as there isn't much room for them to be on display.

This is the 25 inch bottle vase from last week, it has now been moved so then it can be fired once it is dry enough.  My kilns aren't big enough for these big pots, so I am borrowing kiln space for these but I would like to construct some sort of kiln in the back garden to at least bisque them.  I don't have much money, and I was wondering if it is possible to biscuit them in a home-made raku kiln.

This pot I threw on Monday while waiting for a friend to turn up, I got a call saying he wasn't coming till after six, so I closed it up as quickly as I could, I walked home to fill a kiln and I fired it as soon as it was full.

These are Goldmark Gallery ceramics catalogues, I recommend them to anyone who is studying right now, they aren't a bad price and are full of amazing images, especially the Nic Collins one it is totally amazing.  After seeing the catalogues and the Goldmark's website my website tech guy looked at me and said we need to rebuild the website for the pottery and I totally agree we need something a little more stylish, that when galleries look at they are impressed.

This is the Mike Dodd pot that I bought, it is a Basalt Black glaze, I love how the glaze breaks apart across the details, I also love the speckles across the pot but I didn't see them for the first time until this morning when I took this shot as I had always seen it in the half light.  It is now sat on my bookcase until I find a better place.

I joined the CPA a few weeks ago and my membership came through the other day and is sat on my desk now.

Yesterday after being so busy I took the pottery back to the primary school I visited.  After the school I played on the village green with my little boy and his cousin.  There were also ducklings which the boys wanted to chase and feed.  This one duck had all those ducklings plus another three that were just out of shot.

Today I painted our kitchen ready for some shelving to go up to store pottery on while waiting to be fired.  My granddad is coming to help me put up some that was previously in my sisters house, which means the kitchen table should be freed up from being my major storage area.

I also want to work on getting into some galleries, rather than trying to do all the sales myself.  I just need to work out where I am going to get some images printed to create a gallery pack and rebuild the website to something a little more stylish.

Children Throwing Pottery

A few days ago my little boy came in and had his third tutoring session on the wheel, has usually won't let me help him at all but this day he did and  really enjoyed himself.  He is 3 year old soon and he likes making pots like daddy, though he asked me the other day why I hadn't made a pot dinosaur and I told him to ask his mummy as she is the one that makes the animals.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,  we are taking both weekends off and of course Christmas Eve, which is my busiest baking day of the year.  It has been a busy few weeks and I am gradually getting into the swing of things, but we have a long way to go.

We have a lot more activities in the New Year, we have a Kids and Clay club starting to get local children interested in Pottery.  There are still lots of Pottery Lessons Available, and if you come and visit us we can teach you to make an animal or throw your own personal breakfast bowl and mug.

Our big mugs have been popular so another batch of those have been thrown as well as a smaller mug that is made with the same style in mind.

 Our new shop sign over one of our two arches and on the pictures below you can see how the shop now looks inside.  With the cold weather things don't dry very fast in the shop and rarely become bone dry so they tend to dry out on my kitchen table at home for a day before being fired.  The walls are still quite bare but we promised some space to a young photographer who is interested in selling some of his photographs, large ones of course.  We also have some clocks etc that we are going to put up on the wall, I'm just doing a few more glaze tests.

Pottery Lessons - the results

These are the results of three individuals I gave some tuition to, on the left is Jordan who has been on the wheel with us before back when we were students but he is a very nervous thrower and I think he did very well even though he was scared of the clay.

In the Middle is Catherine and on the right is Ben,they are my younger brother and sister but they had never been on the pottery wheel before.

I think all three did really well, and if you are in the North West of England and want a new hobby or a just to make a bowl and a mug, we can teach you on any one of our three wheels, we can do it individually or a family group.

Working had to get ready for the weekend

 So Friday 12th November we took over the Lease of Unit 9 of the Marsh Mill Craft Village, and received the keys to the door.  Marsh Mill is located in Thornton Cleveleys which you go through to get to Fleetwood from the Motorway, it is North of Blackpool and St. Annes and I have lived around here since I was quite young and is only a stones throw from the beach.  Marsh Mill was built in 1794 and is the only really major landmark here in Thornton apart from the long closed down Train Station, if you need a train you have to go up to Poulton Le Fylde.  Enough of a history lesson, we have a lot of hard work over the next few days are it is the Marsh Mill Christmas light switch on and we want to appear to be open by then.

When we first moved to Thornton in the early 90s I remember these sails turning around but last time I went in they said that cap couldn't turn around and they were waiting for a part, that was over 2 years ago I keep hoping to see it working again.

This is the outside of the shop, we are getting a sign made but at the moment our sign says we are "Marsh Mill Needlecraft" to our left we are getting 4D Photography Studios, it has been interesting seeing their false walls go up.  to our other side is a tattoo parlour, there is also a craft shop, wool shop, music shop, teashop, nails, hair, printing, pub and a restaurant

We pulled up the carpet and have sealed the concrete, we just need to get all the furniture in, I got a sideboard from a local e-store that refurbish furniture Apple Dumpling Antiques, I took delivery of it this morning and it is really nice.

There is a nice little nook and it is in here that I am going to put my big potters wheel so then I can throw and can always have sunlight, not like at Preston University.

We have 3 potters wheel at the moment and we are going to be offering throwing and hand building classes as well as selling our own work, and accepting commissions.

More pictures once we are set up in the next few days.

Dates for the Callender

Sunday 21st November - Pottery Demonstrations 3-4pm, free

Saturday 28th November - Decorate a Christmas Bauble, 1.99 per item, from 10am

Saturday 4th December - Taster classes £10 per person, from 10am