Torquil Pottery Workshop

I had a great day on Saturday taking part in a ceramics workshop at Torquil Pottery in Henley in Arden. I had booked the course as a Christmas present to myself. I thought working with clay would make a nice change from hard metal surfaces! I was most interested in the work of Jayne Lucas (who I stock in the studio). She uses something called paper clay which is basically a paper pulp mixed with a powder clay, then mixed with water. The paper obviously burns off during firing. The mixture gives great flexibility to the material.

The first piece I made was a 2D bird plaque inspired by Lisa Larson. I used some of my etched metal pieces to create patterns in the paper clay surface.

Then I surprised myself by doing some 3D vessels! With these pieces I have embossed the patterns into the paper clay surface before rolling the piece up to form a cylinder. I then 'squashed' it to make more of an oval shape & attached a base.

So these are being left to dry for a week & then next Saturday we will decorate the pieces with glazes! I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished results....

Indian Inspirations

This time last year we were on our Indian Adventure! Hard to believe it was 12 months ago... I'm remembering the lovely warm weather as I look out onto the snowy scene here (again!!). Anyway I've had a little rummage through some of the goodies we bought back....

I love the colours & textures - not sure what I'll do with the 'jewels' yet but they are beautiful.

I'll certainly be watching Slumdog Millionaire this evening as part of C4 Indian Winter feature!

Cornish inspiration again.....

Got back from another lovely visit to Cornwall on Friday night. Once again took loads of photos but considering how many times we've been I notice different things every time! These are a small selection of some of my favourites at the moment................

Love Birds

Just put these latest pictures up in the studio.....
The deep box canvas is approx 20cm x 20cm with an applied textured surface...the little birds & cats are copper & brass... just a little experiment!

Flea Market Finds....

Some of my flea market finds on Monday...brilliant event at Three Counties Showground in Malvern.