Week 17 - Pottery day at long last

Well I have been neglecting pottery a bit so I indulged in a day of it!

These 'mocha' effect tiles have finally come out of the kiln from their bisque firing. Now to figure out what to do with them next...









I glazed a few more of my braid tiles with the fancy brush on glazes...mainly a red, black and white theme...I haven't done any test tiles first, so it is all a bit experimental. I really like how graphic they are - hopefully that element remains after they are fired.





I bought a fab set of letter stamps from Muji at Xmas and used them to make a few test pieces in red clay after I saw something similar in a magazine. They would be glazed in a kind of white glaze that sort of pulls away from the edges so that all the ridges would show through as dark against the white glaze. We might make them en-masse for a KS&W fundraiser.
Quite pleased as they were quick to make and the letter stamps worked a treat!

Week 16 - Monana painting is officially finished!

The Montana painting has spent the last few weeks turned to the wall...I wanted to forget about it a bit and then look at it again with 'fresh' eyes to make sure that it really was finished and I am 100% happy with every party of it!

I am happy to say that it passed the test! Finished!



After my self-congratulating was over :) it was time to get down to some more work, so I did a few more small studies for my next commission. Everything is still in the planning stages, but it is quite nice to play.



Painted using watercolours




Painted using gouache

Week 15 - New project and being inspired

Have begun a new commission for my friend Kimberley - these are the first 2 sketches I have done for her. A few more to do and then we can talk about the project further. The finished piece will be on paper (for ease of shipping). Format will be a long rectangle, pretty large. Birds and trees are a bit of a theme!





Also was very inspired this week by a show I saw in Leeds. By far and away the best sculpture show I have seen in Leeds in the 5yrs I have been living here. It was held in an empty retail unit in one of the city centre shopping malls as part of the 'Art in unusual spaces' programme. The show was called Floppelgangers and it was a showcase of international contemporary art curated in association with the European Exchange Academy. The Floppelganger group comprises something like 17 european artists...maybe that was why it was so good? Bringing in some outside expertise to the somewhat closed Leeds art scene?

Floppelgangers on the floor...


drinks point


Fluffy glowing cloud...it was luminous and beautiful!


in the cube: amazing use of those mirrored ceiling tiles they have in office buildings.




This had a blacklight on it and much of the paint glowed - I couldn't of course capture that with my camera but it was really interesting to look at up close and far away.


This had some kind of sound going with it - sort of like a hum, or maybe it was the lights? I don't think so though - they were LEDS...


In another part of the same shopping complex there were other exhibitions going on - this installation was superb!

Watch the video...strobe light and origami? Who would have thought? Disorienting but in a pleasant way. It reminded me of the bat house at Chester zoo when you knew that bats were flying past and around you, but you just couldn't see them...it was a bit like that?


This is the flash picture that I took of it...

Week 14 - Aha! Success with a glaze!

Apologies for the delay in posting - been struggling with hayfever and have been basically asleep as much as possible because of all the benadryl I am taking...am now doing this posting with only one eye open. No kidding!

Was simply ecstatic this week with these 3 tiles! The colour turned out perfectly and I can't wait to get them up on my bathroom wall! Aren't they cool? Some things that I didn't think would show up did...happy accidents!







A scrap of wallpaper form the bathroom...this is the order I will hang them in.


Also visited a craft-fair in nearby Ilkley to do a bit of research for the Fundraising Team at KS&W. Met some nice people and got some good ideas! It is always inspiring to see what other people are making!





These butterfly collage things were cut from stamps - very cool.
I am thinking I might need one for the bathroom... 'stamp' bugs in the bathroom - I like it!

Week 13.9 - Glazing and new projects

I promised a post from Spain, but the sun shone so nicely while we were there, I could not pull myself out of it! The watercolour set stayed in my suitcase. I have vowed to do a catch-up day this weekend so you will get 2 posts this week to make up for missing one!

First - photos of my braid/mocha tiles that I finished up but forgot to photograph. I let them dry to quickly so they have some cracks and are a bit uneven - but I think it is worthwhile to fire and glaze them and see what happens.







I did a bit of glazing as well - someone has kindly donated some paint-on glazes to KS&W. The range of colours and textures is AMAZING, very different to the glazes we make in-house and they had some very nice greens - so I used these to glaze 3 of the tiles.



This green glaze matches the tone of the bathroom wallpaper perfectly...


this one is kind of an iridescent metallic green - very pretty.


New Project, a commission mixed media piece for a good friend. I have did some small scale sketches based on a few photos she sent me of things she liked. The format is a long rectangle as it is meant to go above the sofa and will be on paper so that I can roll it up and mail it easily.