Hope he'll like them !

God do I hate packing! I should be at it right now because I'm off to Germany tomorrow for my dad's 93rd birthday. He lives in a home - which I'm quite cut up about - so I want to take him something to cheer him up especially for when he feels lonely.

So I've made him a plate for a sandwich, a bowl for fruit and a mug for a comforting tea - with two reserves for when visitors call.

As the colour-scheme (what colour scheme!) in the home is blandblandbland, I've used strong colours that will hopefully appeal to his manly taste. Fingers crossed he'll like them!

Better get on with the dreaded p......

why the silence?

Oh, I do feel bad, guys, for my prolonged silence! Not that I didn't think of you, my blog and the need to feed it like a hungry beast.

So why the silence?
Weeellll ... firstly there was a lovely Christmas with my family and kids, it stretched out because they stayed well into January. Then there was a little rest period to recover from all that exertion. After that I knuckled down to build my new website. After toiling with iWeb, followed by Dreamweaver, I eventually used the Weebly tool. Do recommend it, it really is great. Alongside that, I had to get at least a tiny grip on Photoshop. Bought a thick manual and got depressed trying to use it. In the end, opted for the try-it-can-only-go-wrong method and am gradually making a little headway.

I also invested in a new lightbox plus lighting ... more about that later ... and right now I'm hastily making some pieces for my dad's 93rd birthday.

I often wished there were two of me, so I could do twice as much. That's the trouble with having a head full of ideas!

Take a look at my website if you like ...

nose to the grindstone

That's what it felt like the other week when I took part in an intensive throwing course 

to refine my throwing skills.

Learning to throw (in pottery language that’s working at the wheel) is a bit like learning to drive, teaching hand and feet to carry out separate yet coordinated movements which – with regards to pottery – combine to make a lump of clay behave itself so it can be transformed into whatever shape is intended.

So I took myself off to Oxfordshire to meet up with eight other enthusiasts - or should I say foolhardies -  for 5 days of endurance training with Richard Phethean, a ceramics graduate of Camberwell School of Arts and Fellow of the UK Craft Potters Association.

Jug by Richard Phethean

It’s amazing what 5 days of hard graft under the watchful eye of a master will do for you. We worked from 9-7 every day on what seemed about every shape under the sun – cylinders, mugs, jugs, bowls, plates, pots with lids, even teapots (one of the trickier things to get right).

It was hard work but at the same time absolutely exhilarating. Back at my digs at night I was still firing on all cylinders ;) until the early hours reading and watching videos to consolidate what I’d learnt.

My car boot (I confess I drive a small-booted Mini) full of the fruits of my labour, I returned home a friend richer and ...  a better potter. Another job well done :)))

teddy's new friend

I've had him for as long as I can remember. When I was little, I stuck him in the bathtub though his straw-stuffed belly didn't thank me for it. He was my mascot at uni. In my first little red Renault 4 he proudly had the backseat all to himself. And when I moved to the UK, he came along to become as ex-pat just like myself. Now he sits on the office window cill watching me with his big brown eyes ... Teddy's been with me through thick and thin and has the scars to prove it. 

So you've got the message! I've a soft spot for teddy bears and when a little while ago a fellow crafter was raffling one of her creations, I entered the draw and couldn't believe when I won Maisie and was delighted when Sue, her maker, came to visit to deliver her and stay for an inspiring chat that made the afternoon fly by. 

While I'm fond of teddies, they are Sue's all-consuming passion. She designs them and makes them ... every little detail of them. Being hand-made, they all have their very own distinctive personality. Sue's award-winning creations sell all over the world. Looking at the lovely teds featured on her Teddybuys-Blog, I was more than a little impressed!

So now my vintage Teddy and his friends Steiff-Ted, Roller-Dog and Donkey have Maisie as their new companion. She's really rather special, beautifully made with a sweet little face, deep dark eyes, a cute nose, soft body and fully working joints. 

THANKS SO MUCH, SUE!

Maisie will be well looked after.

master-class

Watching people work can send you to sleep ... bore you to death ...

or it can quite simply be mesmerising.

I got a dose of the latter a few days ago when I attended a Potter's Master Day where a well known potter dropped in for an eagerly awaited master-class.

If - like me - you hadn't heard of Svend Bayer before, he's actually quite a celebrity in pottery circles known for boldly decorated domestic ware and VERY large garden pots.

Born in 1946 in Uganda to Danish parents, Svend studied at Exeter Uni before working at well-known potteries and travelling in the Far East, Asia and the USA. He now lives and works in Devon UK. 

Svend gets VERY excited about building huge woodfiring kilns - one of his kilns turns to ash 5 tons of wood in a single firing - yet is modest about his own talents, the fact that he's renowned and respected, has exhibited widely and been described as one of the most outstanding throwers of our time.

So there he was - the reluctant Master - with his mobile potter's wheel and some hefty lumps of clay ready to show what throwing big pots is all about. Thanks to my friend Louise making sure we got to the venue early, I secured a front row seat and got my nice new camera out ...

And here's my pictorial record of a master at work and an impressive pot in the making ...

Click for slideshow.  

And boy was that thing HEAVY !!!