23...Painting Poppies and Georges Braque's windows

This has been a very floral week. I am making a sculpture based on the three iconic french flowers, the Poppies, Marguerites and Cornflowers. These three flowers which represent the blue, white and red of the french tricolour are seen on packaging everywhere in France, especially on the bags that breads and patisseries come in.

The detail for these flowers is too fine to be modeled, so I use a piping bag and some finely sieved slip.

 These ceramic flowers are part of a tradition in France to decorate the graves and you will find them in all cemeteries. There must be different studios around the country that make these flowers, as you can see that there are quite different styles in the modeling and painting.

Some are rather garish, but others are quite beautiful.
These particular flowers are in the graveyard at Varengville, just along the coast from Dieppe. It's a place I often take visitors to as the church is perched upon a cliff overlooking the sea and the port of Dieppe. It is also where Georges Braque is buried, and the church here houses the most lovely windows that he designed.

The church itself is often dark inside which contrasts spectacularly with the glow that comes through these windows, especially the red ones. There is a large window at one end that depicts Jacobs ladder, but one that I always find curious is this sketchy window in black and white.

              
Back at the house, this has been a particularly grey and mizzly week. Wet air, wet ground and wet washing. But then on Thursday, at the end of another damp day, the sky suddenly cleared and the most gorgeous sunset bloomed and helped to lift my heart.

Find me now over at http://theceramicgardener.com

22...The boyz come to visit



Attaching last piece

With the Brighton Festival and Chelsea flower show looming I've been working like a demon in the studio with my lovely work experience student who has been brilliant. She sadly went home at the end of the week, but is coming back in a month by which time I shall probably not be going to bed with the worry of getting enough work made!

This weekend the boyz came to stay for a birthday weekend. As always we got them up in the studio making their visitor tile for the studio tile gallery. It was two hours of total concentration and the quietest part of the weekend!

I really like this funny bowl of pasta.



Bowl of spaghetti with meatballs



Drying and waiting for glaze



These tiles will really come alive when they are glazed.

In the garden we have had our first primroses of the spring

 and the first daffydowndilly.....soon our woods will be a carpet of yellow as the Celandines join these two to herald the spring.

Meanwhile we still have banks and banks of the creamiest little snowdrops which for the second year running will be out in full bloom with the daffodils.





21...Sunshine, Jade and a big green pom pom

Jade modelling clay

This week I have been joined by Jade who is doing a degree in 3D design at Brighton Uni. She has come over for a couple of weeks work experience and to learn how to throw. I have one or two students a year and generally speaking it is a good experience for us both. I get to talk to someone else rather than just myself (or shouting at the radio) and if I am lucky they have enough skills to be able to help me move on with my work a little quicker than usual. They get to hone their skills and learn about the reality of working for yourself. They also get one to one throwing tuition which is something that is no longer provided on a general design course...mould making and slip casting has become popular as it initially gets quicker results. Luckily for me as I am in the middle of what needs to be an extremely productive time, Jade has turned out to be a whizz in the studio, tidy and quick to learn.

So, we have been constructing this Giant green pom pom which is a commision piece. The internal shape was thrown last week and dried slightly over the weekend (otherwise it can collapse with the weight of the additional clay).

This is day two and the end is in sight.

The very last petal! Now the whole thing will be wrapped up and left to dry for weeks.

This week the sun came out and we have been eating our lunch outside. I don't think you ever enjoy the sun more than the first time you can sit out in it after the winter....certainly it made us very happy.

 Louis and his tractor

Also this week Louis from the vallage came up to cut down a few of our trees. We have many self seeded ash and wild cherry in our woods, and there is too much competion for space. Consequently the trees all grow straight up and do not have many lateral branches...hopeless if you want to hang a swing! So once a year Louis comes up and fells a few. He chops them into managable size logs, leaves us half and takes half as payment....a perfect system. This year we have a lovely Hornbeam which we want to give space to, so he has been clearing all the small trees around it. Note....no goggles, no chaps, no helmet, nothing.

Find me now over at http://theceramicgardener.com

20...Cardoons, Chelsea and hectic weather

I came back to Dieppe on monday to find the temperature had plummeted here to -3. There was no wind however and in fact was one of those days where the countryside had fallen silent...no breeze, no birds singing, just a white silence. Smoke was coming up from the cottage chimneys in a completely vertical plume and the only sound on the cycle home was the noise of my tyres on the road.

The big news for me this week was hearing that I had been succesful in my application to show at Chelsea Flower show this year....I am so excited. It does focus the mind however as it is in May when I am already in several other venues during the Brighton Festival including my own Open House, so back in the studio I have been working like a demon.

Cardoon

This week I have been making large Cardoons. They are a variation on the Thistles I was making last week, although I think there is something regal about these.

I had a good biscuit kiln firing....which also gave me a toasty warm studio all day on thursday..delicious!

Also on thursday the gales blew in, although with these the temperature went up. By friday the shipping forecast was giving a severe storm force 9......

Ferry manouevering in a gale

...just in time for Jade my new work experience student to arrive. Quel temps!