Frances Doherty

70...My New Blog

2012-01-10T16:37:00.001Z

This is my last post with Blogger. Although I have not quite finished the new site it is up and running and I will be tweaking it over the next couple of weeks. At the moment it is quite basic but I will be adding more pics to the background and header as I figure out how to do it.

Come over and have a look at:

http://theceramicgardener.com

Let me know what you think...good or bad and see you on the other side!

69...Going over to Wordpress

2012-01-04T17:07:00.000Z

Happy New Year to All!

Apologies for not writing for a couple of weeks, but I have been spending time over the hols trying to set up a new blog in Wordpress. This is not an easy thing to do.

I do like the look of this blog, but I wanted more control over the site and I want to step it up a bit. So, that has meant many frustrating hours on the computer, and in fact I have delayed my return to France so that I can sit in Brighton (where it is easier to keep warm) and plough my way through HTML, CSS and FTP...No, I've no idea either.

Anyway, I have got the basics together, and I am tweaking the rest as I write with the help of the online forums. I am hoping to put the first post up this weekend. So, watch this space!

68...Two Stormy Weeks

2011-12-19T14:59:00.001Z

A dark and stormy day

After the longest, mildest autumn I can remember, winter finally arrived here with a flurry of storms. Actually, flurry is a mild word for the winds that raged through here on and off for two weeks. This photo was taken from my studio at lunchtime one day..it didn't get light. Branches have been falling daily and finally on thursday night we had the biggest storm of all before it all calmed down. The thursday night storm had me up at 4am...closing shutters and checking windows...but we still lost a few panes of glass and some tiles from the roof. I think it sounds worse here because of the large trees all around the house, twigs and branches clatter down onto the roof, and the trees seem to bend down so far you imagine they are going to fall.

Out in the garden the workawayers have continued on despite the rain and here Laila has dug up all the weeds around my veg beds. They are now covered with liner and later we will put a thick layer of wood mulch on top. This will save me loads of work next year...not having to cut the grass around the beds, and less transference of weeks into the beds.

Simon from Sweden has been cutting down small trees and logging them up into large piles which look like lovely wooden installations around the garden. These will season for the next 2-3 years before coming in to feed the Rayburn.
Someone who read a previous blog asked me about the Workawayers....so this is how it works. If you have a project....of any sort, or if you want to go somewhere..anywhere....you write a profile on the Workaway site. You need to be quite specific about the work you want done, or the work you can do, but it can be anything from gardening, building, looking after kids etc etc. If you are a host, you post some photo's too. Then you wait for people to contact you. The deal is they give you 5 hours work a day, 5 days a week, and you give them somewhere to sleep and provide for 3 meals a day. Normally people come for 2-3 weeks..sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the work. So far I have had 3 people here and it has worked out really well. I can't keep on top of the garden by myself and so far the people that have been here have used their own initiative and just got on with things. The great thing is you get time with people to talk about their culture and see the way they do things. We have had Swedish meatballs twice since Simon has been here....and they are lovely. Laila has also been cooking dinner once a week which is such a treat. I've already had several requests for next year...so perhaps my jungle will turn into a lovely garden soon!

67...West Blatchington Primary School's Fabulous Flowers

2011-12-11T13:30:00.003Z

One of the 7 sisters

After a storm which brought down part of the roof at the Newhaven terminal, we sailed out into a glorious morning with not a cloud in the sky. The only signs of the storm was the churned up, sludgy colour of the sea which today seemed less to reflect the colour of the sky and more the bottom of the ocean. The ferry had actually sailed during the night and got in a little late this morning and the doors to the outside decks were still taped up to disallow entry....no doubt they had to stop the smokers from being launched over the side of the boat. A high price for a fag!

I had been back in Brighton this week for the 2nd part of a workshop at West Blatchington Primary Schood. Each child had made a flower out of clay based on research they had done on the flora of South Africa. I have done this workshop before with their teacher Nicola....but she has moved to this school and wanted to repeat the workshop with these children as it had gone so well before.

Today the children were painting their flowers with underglazes and layering bright colours on top of each other.

I think I enjoy this workshop just as much as the kids do. The flowers all survived the biscuit firing so we could just relax and make the flowers gorgeous.......

....with spots and stripes and swirls..lovely!

It is often said that children are losing the knack of concentration....but I find that when they are really engaged in a project, they can keep on going for ages without being distracted. Certainly, these children would have happily painted for twice as long as the time they were actually able to.

This chap on the right turned out to be my partners great nephew, and we didn't even know he was at this school......and what a lovely young man he is. Hi Jason!

66...Centre de formation ceramique and winter arrives

2011-12-05T17:24:00.000Z

Centre de formation Ceramique

This week I attended a meeting at a ceramics centre in Bolbec, Normandy, we were discussing a new potters fair that is being organised for next October. It was very interesting for me as it is the first time I have seen a place like this in France. It looked extremely well organised, clean and tidy...I like that in a ceramics room.

Test tiles

It's always good to take a look around and see how other people organise themselves in their working environoment.

Clay man coming out of wall

There was a lot of students work around and I particulaly liked this man stepping out of the wall. The wall had been made by the students in the Cob method which involves mixing clay with straw etc. I don't know the exact method, but it is the way they built walls in the Norman long houses, and you still see it on a lot of buildings.

There were a lot of different styles of work both traditional and contemporary. I'm not sure how the education system works here with regards to the applied arts but the people here were on a 22 month diploma course and should be able to start up their own business once they have qualified (although starting a business in France is easier said than done..the rules..the paperwork!)

Poppy vases

Back in my own studio I had a good glaze firing with a rush job of vases which will be winging their way up to a London gallery on thursday, just in time for Christmas. Unfortunately, an element also broke in this firing which is rubbish timing at this time of year as the whole lot will have to be replaced now.

Snow scene

It is becoming quite the done thing to go crazy with the garden decorations for Christmas over here, and many houses set up tableau's like this one..it was quite arresting and lit up the whole area. Some small towns around here set up scenes like this in every garden, and people drive through of an evening in a long line of cars. If this were in Britain, there would be someone set up selling mulled wine and hot chestnuts...not quite so entrepenurial the French.

Winter finally arrived today, the temperature fell and soon after the garden turned white with hailstones...still we've had a good run this year and this is the first time it has been properly cold.

65...A beautiful day at sea

2011-11-30T15:08:00.002Z

A lovely morning over the scrap metal pile

A very frustrating weekend spent on the computer. I have decided to go over to the other side and start a new blog in Wordpress, but as with all these techy things, one has to learn the jargon, figure out the 'logic' of the programmers and try to make it ones own. I have got so far but realise I need to spend loads more time on it, so for the present I will continue in blogger whilst I figure it out.
Still, as I left to go back to the studio on monday morning, the sun came out in a spectacular way over the rather unlovely Newhaven......

....and continued in the same vein right across the channel and into Dieppe.

I arrived back at the house at exactly the same time as a new Workawayer from Sweden,

Simon

he is only 19 but has proved very adept in the garden so far and has come up with some good ideas for improvements. He is a trained chippy, so I'm hoping for some new raised beds next week!

Bluebell

In the studio I have had a glaze firing which has kept the studio lovely and warm for a couple of days and has helped to dry out some work which is a rush job for a gallery in London. This piece will be joined by another to make a pair and will be attached to galvanised rod and drilled into timber. I recycle blue glass bottles from Neals Yard for the internal glaze and have yet to find an efficient way of crushing the glass....at the moment I am putting it into a metal bucket and hammering it (with glasses on) so if anyone knows a better way...please let me know.

Teals Tile

Teal, a previous busking workawayer has gone back to the States, but her tile came out of the kiln this week and has joined the tile gallery on my studio wall. Her Death Cap mushroom has come out a treat.

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

64...Art at St Ouen and a busy week

2011-11-20T16:58:00.002Z

Higgeldy Piggeldy Rouen

We jumped on the train and went up to Rouen to stay with some friends we met through Couchsurfing this weekend. I have been to Rouen many times, it is the nearest city to us, but I had never discovered the part of Rouen that our friends took us to. It is full of little streets with medieval houses leaning in and out all over the place...ooh the maintenance!

St Ouen

We visited a huge old Abbey called St Ouen which has had all the furniture removed and is used now for exhibitions and concerts. Indeed Patti Smith played there last night, although we didn't know that until this morning so missed it, but we did hear some gorgeous music being played from up in the organ loft.

Pink and Lilac window above the organ loft

There was a chap standing up in the loft playing a trumpet accompanied by his wife on the organ, and the sound was amazing. This place is HUGE...like the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern so of course the acoustics make sound swell. Lovely.

Tree in snow and clouds

There was also a video exhibition going on. All around the Abbey were large screens with this tree projected on, each one different and each one beautiful. This one had clouds swirling around and snow falling down on it.

Singing Ringing Tree

This one reminded me of the one from the fairy tale,

being silly with the Tree in the sea

...and this one had waves crashing around it. Mesmerising, especially if you waited to see a seagull fly by every now and then.

Lots of thrown cones

With the high pressure we have had this week, the work has been going well in the studio..i.e things are drying out, and I was able to get this commision made.

Large Angel drying out

This was the 2nd one I made, the weather was so damp a couple of weeks ago I couldn't get anywhere with it.

Laila getting no help from Houdini

I still have Laila the workawayer here, and she is going great guns in the garden. After digging over this bit of garden,

She created a new little path with some old red bricks we had lying around,

She has also been busy creating in the studio, and came up with this great green man..well woman.

golden sunshine through the gate

The autumn continues mild and glorious here. The middle of November and we are eating lunch in the garden in T shirts. The sun being so low makes everything golden at the end of the afternoon and gave Henry the chance to take some lovely photos around the garden. Long may it last......

63...Boats Crossing

2011-11-13T18:26:00.000Z

We're all used to stopping at Level crossings and waiting for the train to pass, but as I go to and fro from Brighton to Dieppe I am often stopped by this crossing.....

Level Crossing in Dieppe

as the level crossing comes down the bridge swings around. A few years ago you often saw lads jumping on at the last minute and going around with the bridge....they've put a stop to that now, pity, it looked like fun.

Sometimes the boat coming through is huge and is on its way through to the back port for unloading, in the last few years that seems to be mainly the huge fins and posts for the Aeoliennes or wind turbines...

in the old days it was Bananas, but I suppose they are all flown nowadays.

Sometimes when the tide is high the bridge has to swing for tiny boats too....nightmare if you're late for the ferry!

62...A wet autumnal week and Maire Genevieve Gallois

2011-11-06T17:29:00.000Z

Day one of new sculpture

I've been asked recently to make some larger sculptures so started this week on this one which is exactly the height of my kiln (27 inches). I've had this one in mind for some time but put off starting because of the amount of small pieces that have to be hand rolled to build it up.

Day four

Four days later and it was building up nicely...I covered it lightly to wait out the weekend...but found it collapsed down on itself the next morning...damn! This has happened once or twice before, and usually when the weather is humid as it has been all this week. These sculptures become very heavy because of the amount of clay added to the internal form and you have to get the additions on at just the right time...too dry and the larger pieces have a tendency to fall off...too wet and it collapses. Ah well, that's what prototypes are for I suppose.

Out in the garden Laila has had more success with her creations and has been building hazel structures which will be supports for all my tall flowers next year.

Hazel and Willow forms

This is a bed which contains Hollyhocks, Delphiniums, Alliums, Gladioli and other tall plants. The trouble is it is on a slope, and the plants end up flopping down...so she came up with this. It's an interesting form in its own right and will look good all winter while it's waiting for the flowers to grow.

Near my town is a little village called Petit Appeville. I have passed through it many times, but hadn't discovered these windows until this week when some French friends took me to see them as they knew where the key was hidden to get into the church. The windows were made by a really interesting woman called Maire Genevieve Gallois who was a Benedict nun for most of her life. Until much later on in her life she concentrated mainly on drawings.....

one of the stations of the cross

but people found them unsettling and disturbing and they were not really regarded as art until she was discovered by the art world when she was in her 60's.

Figure with beret

This was also about the time she started on her stained glass. The figures in these windows are really different from the usual that you see. They are charactures of people that she knew, and are funny, strange and often cross looking..especially in the first image I posted here. It seems strange that these amazing windows and drawings are hidden away in this little church with only the locals getting to see them on a regular basis.

Mist in the autumn trees

This has been a very unusual autumn. Three weeks ago we were swimming in the sea, and even now it is incredibly mild. The night temperature has been almost the same as the day and I still don't have the wood burner on in my studio.

This weekend though has been windy and the leaves have all come down with a 'flump',

Mistletoe trees

This has left all the Mistletoe exposed on the trees. People when they first come to Normandie often mistake these for large nests....they seem to particulaly like Poplar and fruit trees. This year there are loads of berries forming whereas last year there were almost none...on ours anyway. I expect someone will say that it's a precusor to a cold winter...but more likely to do with the spring I should think.

November Artichokes

The garden is also confused by the weather. The Artichokes which had started dying back, started up into growth again, and produced a second crop of small heads....which we enjoyed with lemon butter this week. I have also picked a lovely bunch of roses, and the clematis has a couple of large purple flowers out on display.

A silver day at sea

However the most exciting thing of the week for me was on tuesday when I caught the ferry back to France. Alongside the ship was a pod of dolphins jumping from the water, they were exactly the same colour as the sea and sky in the picture above. I was so excited I shouted out, and all the passengers on the boat ran to look...I'm suprised the boat didn't list to the side! I couldn't get my camera out in time...I was too busy watching...so you will just have to imagine them.

61...AAF Hampstead and La nuit blanche

2011-10-31T12:30:00.000Z

Lara arranging stand

Back to Brighton this weekend and had to pop up to the prestigious new Affordable Art Fair on Hampstead Heath as all my small sculptures had sold at the private view and I had to load my trusty trolley up with more and hot foot it up to renew the display.
This fair is a well known international franchise but this was a first one in this location. It looked great, spacious and light with a really well curated collection of artists and galleries. It was busy and buzzy and I spent a happy couple of hours looking around. While I was there, Lara (my agent) sold the last Little Artichoke on the stand, and the lady who had bought it over the phone, came rushing round to pick it up, and bought me a lovely artichoke that she had seen for sale at a local greengrocers, what a lovely thought.

Pheonix installation

This week the clocks went back, and in Brighton to celebrate this fact we have a white night. It is only 3 years old, but is already becoming a hugely popular event, and the streets were packed. I think this started originally in Amiens, France...but has spread to other French and British cities.

Dolly mania

H and I wandered around the streets enjoying all the different shows. Here we saw a couple of funny Dolly Parton trannies belting out her most popular numbers from balconies above the crowd...everyone was dancing. We also popped into the alternative (everything in Brighton is alternative!) village fete where I joined in with some Jive lessons.

Audience at Sallis Benney theatre watching clubbers on West Street

Later we joined an audience at the art college theatre who were watching an experiment run by the noise abatement society with a member from the 80's group The Human League. They were playing ambient music from many speakers situated in West Street in Brighton and filming the results while simultaneously streaming them back to the theatre. There was a body language expert there who was giving us the low down on how people were reacting to the music, and discussing whether it was changing behaviour. West Street is not a place where you would casually wander on a saturday night, it is full of very high spirited, often quite drunk youngsters who are out for a dance, a laugh and maybe a bundle....it has ever been so. So it was funny to watch the reactions to the ambient music all around them, and certainly it all seemed relaxed, clubbers and police, while we were watching. Maybe this idea could spread and calm down saturday nights in city centres?

Open market party

On the way home, we popped into the local fruit and veg market and found a full on party with DJ's and art installations. It was great...really good music and atmosphere...with a typical alt Brighton crowd. Plenty of ghouls and zombies having a bit of a dance.


Knitted bollard cosy

When we finally headed for home, we saw a row of bollards that someone had thoughtfully knitted some cosies for.......

60...Summer tiles and more guests

2011-10-23T17:53:00.000+01:00

Detail from new wallpiece

Autumn is here, the students are all back at Uni and I have time and space in my mind to do some new designing now. I have got several new projects in mind, one line of which is a series of wall pieces. These are not always easy to display and sell, there is not yet a familiarity with hanging ceramic on the wall, nevertheless I like them myself and it makes a change to work on a flatter plane.

Blue Bells drying

I am also working on several commisions. The forms above will be glazed with a crystal white glaze and filled with crushed blue glass. Once attached to steel rods and mounted in wood, they will sparkle in someones garden.

Kieran's tile...guess his profession!

As ususal this summer, all my visitors have made a tile for the collection on my studio wall.

James's tile

I love these little self portraits. This one was James who featured in an earlier blog...he is cycling around for a couple of years raising money for the McMillan fund. Last heard of in Budapest.

Hannah's house

Kiku's witch

Mika's dormotory

The girls who come to visit every summer get better and better with their tiles and now work on little 3d sculptures too. They have to take those home with them of course.

Teal's Death cap tile

Teal our visitor from last week was convinced we had poisoned her with wild mushrooms....however she survived to make her tile.

Teal and Laila hedging

Another Workawayer this week, Laila from welsh Wales who is staying for a while......

Houdini

mainly because of this little fellow who was rescued from a life in a cage in Greece, but who can't go back to Britain until 6 months after his jabs. We are now getting used to having our slippers and gardening gloves retrieved.

59...Mushroom season and help in the garden

2011-10-16T17:46:00.000+01:00

Destroying Angel

This weekend we have been out in the local forest foraging for mushrooms. We took some friends with us and made sure they knew the fatal mushrooms (above) to avoid before looking for edibles. There are 3 main mushrooms to avoid, all part of the same family (Amanita) and called the Death Cap, Destroying Angel and the Citrina. Even eating a small amount can kill you......slowly...over about 6 days, so it's good to know which these are right at the beginning.

Cleaning mushrooms for lunch

It is a little dry at the moment for a really good crop of mushrooms, a few days of rain will bring them all up, but nevertheless, we found a large amount of Trompettes de la morte and a few others to add to the mix.

A couple of weeks ago I joined another website called Workaway, which is a site for people looking to work around the world in exchange for food and accomodation. I always need help in the garden so posted a profile, and this week my first helper arrived,

Teal

This is Teal, she is from New York state and has been working on a farm in Belgium, and is now helping to get my garden into order. She arrived with a guitar and a great singing voice, so there are strains of music drifting in from the bathroom or garden as she works...lovely! Another lady arrives on tuesday...with a little dog she has rescued in Greece so at this rate I will have a show garden in no time. What a great scheme.

Blue seedcase

Three new sculptures out of the kiln in the last couple of weeks,

Green seedcase

These two are destined for the new Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead at the end of the month. If anyone would like to go, please contact me through my website www.francesdoherty.co.uk

Spidery Poppy

This one is one of a new range that are designed to go on the wall. The next one I am going to make will be based on the Echinacea 'Green Jewel'....it has the most gorgeous centre, I'm looking forward to constructing that one, once I've got the long list of sculptures made that are being waited on.

Oh I musn't forget.....Hi to Ryans dad Mike who I've been told reads my blog from across the pond in Americay.....How you doing?!

58...La Linerie and Brighton Museum

2011-10-09T18:03:00.000+01:00

http://lalinerie.monsite.orange.fr/

I was contacted this week by someone who owns a large old flax factory near my town in France. It is a semi derelict building, last used as a working Linerie in the 70's. I have often driven past and been intrigued to see various colourful pieces of art on or in the buildings, and I knew there was some sort of artist collective working there but that was all, so it was good to be asked to go and have a look around it with the view to showing some work there in the future.

Cistern creature

It is an amazing space and lends itself to all sorts of ideas. They have a festival here each May and invite many different artists working in various arenas, performance, music, applied arts, graffiti etc. to exhibit.

Oyster rabbits

The buildings and land were bought just a few years ago by a couple with a vision to make it a cultural centre, a lifelong project if ever I saw one!

View through a frame through an apeture

Many of the artists who have exhibited previously have responded to the space, as it is now or how it was then. Flax is used frequently, or as in the image above the ideas have come from the space itself. So, I will have to get my thinking cap on and see what I can come up with.

Grayson Perry

Back in Brighton for the weekend and wondering around the Laines I decided to pop into our museum for a quick look at the Grayson pot. It's a shame it is no longer on a turning plinth as you can only see one part of it so you don't get the full story...nice to know it's there though.

Domestic violence in Porcelain

What I hadn't realised was that they have a huge ceramic collection there from a collector called Willett. It was presented to Brighton in 1903 and was collected by him because he thought that ceramic figures and vessels told stories of political, social and cultural history through their form and decoration.

There are some really interesting and often quite funny and occasionally sad pieces there. Definitely worth a look.

When we came outside we spotted this fella in Pavilion Gardens....

....dead, drunk or just dead drunk, whichever he looked peaceful!

57...October swimming and a sundowner at Pourville

2011-10-02T19:56:00.000+01:00

What an amazing week we've had! A full blown scorching heatwave to see us into autumn and confusing all the senses.

Looking towards Dieppe

We have been leaving the studio late afternoon and escaping to the beach for a swim. There has been very little breeze and the sea and horizon meld into each other in a fusion of pink and blue. The coast here is very different from just across the channel in Brighton. The cliffs are green and wooded with pretty houses teetering on the edge and the little towns are not over developed. The beaches have concrete runways going into the sea which are used by tractors to pull the fishing boats out of the sea, the catch is then sold on the front.

Golden ferry on way to pick up Henry

As we sat drinking a Kir on the promenade friday evening, we caught sight of the ferry leaving Dieppe on its way back to Newhaven. The sun was so low and as it hit the side making it glow, it appeared to be floating in the sky. Henry came back on this ferry later on in the evening and cycled up through a starry night to arrive here early on saturday morning.

Sundown at Pourville

As the sun sunk down behing the cliff, it turned the sea a series of amazing blues, cereulean, colbalt, aquamarine, petrol. Impossible to capture with a camera. It looked like a painting which you would have believed to be an exageration. The whole of the promenade was stilled....all looking to the west, it was an amazing moment. We popped down again to show it to Henry on saturday and waited to see if it would happen again. It did, and this time we were able to watch it happening as the sky turned from golden to pink. It must be a phenomenon of the time of year, the position of the sun etc.....but who cares...it was just gorgeous.

Chateau d'eau

On the way to the beach we passed this water tower. They are often painted witth fairy tale scenes, but this one being not far from Fecamp, was painted with a lighthouse and a sail boat almost crashing against the rocks. Often they are painted with Rapunzel.....which I suppose you would.

Mist above the river

On the way home we saw the mist lifting above the river. It has an ethereal, almost medieval look about it... as if Arthur might go riding by.

Back in the studio the kiln has been firing every other day, with a mixture of students work, a commision to be finished and some clouds which are destined for a primary school. Lots of glazing to be done next week........

56...The Brighton Art Fair and it's cast of colourful characters

2011-09-25T20:03:00.000+01:00


On my stand

This weekend I've been working at the annual Brighton Art Fair. I always enjoy this show as it is close to home, and run by a friendly team of people who make sure it's a show for both the artists and visitors to enjoy. This year it was particularly well curated and there was a stunning variety of work including lots of 3D as well as 2D work.
I borrowed a large painting from my friend Jane Denman as a backdrop to the stand...and sold it almost straight away!

Spidery Poppy

I had several new pieces of work for sale as well as some old favourites, and took a huge order for 8 sculptures on the first day to go to a sculpture park in Surrey. That'll keep me busy this winter.

Sophie Abbott www.sophieabbott.net

When you work at an art fair for several days you get to know your neighbours really well. This year I was lucky enough to be next to Sophie who after seeing me standing for a day, bought a stool in for me to perch on. It makes such a difference when you are with people who you really get on with...although actually, most of the artists are great to talk to as we all share the same sort of life and have the same worries and experiences to discuss during quiet moments....and usually a warm bottle of wine hidden somewhere in the stand for the late afternoon when you are flagging!

Shyama Ruffell www.shyamaruffell.co.uk

Both Sophie, Shyama and I are part of Four Walls, represented by Lara Bowen who takes our work to the big art fairs in London. Of course when our work is sold through an agent we pay a large amount of commission but that in turn makes it a risk free show for us, and we don't have to stand and sell our work for 3 days which is a killer on the feet and back.

Adrian Turner www.theopengallery.co.uk

This was my other neighbour who coincidentally also lives at the bottom of my road in Brighton, as well as along the road from me in France. He photographs the sea from opposite sides of the channel, and creates large, serene images by some complicated method that I don't understand, but which are very effective. The image he is standing in front of is St Valery en Caux on the Normandy coast.


Alexander Korzer-Robinson

This was one of the most successful artists of the show, he transforms old books into works of art by cutting out all the text, page by page, and leaving the images behind. What is left is a miniture world inside the book. They are georgeous and were flying off the wall. By Sunday there were only a couple left. One day I would love to buy one of these.


Maria Rivens

This artist is my favourite. She make beautiful collages from old books and the pictures nod heavily to the 50's and feature plenty of mushrooms. Some of the images are quite trippy. I have bought a small one of hers and hope to invest in a larger one someday soon.


Alexander Slatter www.alexanderslatter.co.uk

This is Alex, a regular at this show who always has a ready smile, especially when standing at the wrapping table having a sold painting bubblewrapped.


Organisers, Anne Marie Francis, Sarah Young and Jon Tutton

Finally it's the end of the show and the organisers who have been running around keeping everyone happy all weekend get a chance to take the weight off their feet for a moment...and probably contemplate the next show, in only 10 days time in Fulham. www.palaceartfair.co.uk

And that's it for me. Dinner is being cooked and I am going to crawl onto the sofa, put my feet in a bowl of warm, minty water and watch (ahem) a bit of X Factor.

55...A monster mushroom, a disaster and Le Chateau de Vascoeul

2011-09-18T17:23:00.000+01:00

How to stuff a giant puffball

Take one Puffball as big as your head

Cut out the middle and stuff with lovely things

(in this case onions, chestnuts and apricots)

Tie up with string and smother in lashings of butter

Bake until brown......Mmm, Mmm

An infuriating week in the studio. Lots of help from my two students but a disaster of my own making.

Jade and Megan

Being distracted in the studio, I picked up the wrong glaze and spent a day brushing it onto this Bishops Pom Pom before realising right at the end that it was the wrong glaze.

Half done

It took us another half day to wash most of the glaze off again and the rest of the day to replace it with the right one. In the end however, the sculpture did not survive the firing. A couple of the petals pulled away from the side and stuck to each other in the kiln, this happens sometimes, and it is usually my fault as I have probably dried it out too quickly or unevenly. I would like to say I live and learn....but I don't. Ah well, it will look nice in my garden with all the others!

Megan painting cherry red

Happily this Poppy Pepper Pot which is a commision for a new client is coming along nicely. It is being painted cherry red before it goes in for its bisque firing and it will be glazed with a translucent blue glaze which will make the red come alive.

James and his tile

In the middle of the week we were visited by a warmshowers guest (www.warmshowers.com). This is James who had cycled over from Durham and is at the start of a 2 year tour. After leaving us he went east towards Strasbourg where he will pick up a well known cycle path that follows the Danube. Then on through Eastern Europe..Turkey where he will pick up some work on a farm, then onto Iran and China! He is raising funds for charity as he goes and has a blog documenting his travels which we will be following with interest. His budget is £5 a day. He is only 24 and a really nice bloke....we wish him well and a Bon Voyage. www.therideround.com

Pineapple Lily at Chateau de Bosmelet

Over the weekend we had some guests staying with a car so it was nice to be driven around to see some new places. We popped up to the Chateau de Bosmelet where I had an exhibiton last year with the 5Ways Artists from Brighton, and it was nice to see one of my sculptures being displayed in one of the lovely rooms in the chateau. Afterwards, we went onto the Chateau de Vasceoul which has an annual exhibition of an Internationally well known artist. This year it is Corneille.

Madame Citron

Around the grounds are some fabulous sculptures by artists such as Dali, Bracques, Volti and lots more;

Bisexual dragon and children

La Vie en Rose

The weather this weekend has been biblical. We are flooded at the back of the house and discovered two roof leaks......Oh joy.

However we were rewarded with plenty of rainbows...I saw this one when sitting on my kitchen doorstep.

My blog is one year old this week. I have enjoyed writing it over the last year and I'd like to take the chance to say thanks to everyone who has left nice comments and encouraged me to keep on writing it. It's a great way to keep a journal and so I shall move on into year two and hope to take you all with me. Thanks and Merci a tous.

54...Getting ready for the autumn shows

2011-09-09T20:19:00.000+01:00

This is the beginning of a busy autumn period now with 3 big shows on the horizon. I have to be thinking up new designs all the time so that my displays look fresh..and because some people come to most of my shows and want to see new work. Sometimes I have ideas bumping up against each other in my head, usually as I work on something else and other times my mind is a blank and I have to go out with the camera or reluctantly get out the sketch book (I'm a terrible drawer and can only really work well with charcoal). This week I started a new sculpture that I have been turning over in my mind for a month or two.

Like much of my other work this design relies on an understanding of the Fibonnaci sequence. This one was coloured as I went in a two tone of dark and lime green, it will be finished with a translucent blue glaze. I was pleased with the finished form (I'm not always!) and decided to make a collection of these, but playing around with colours.

Starting blue seedcase

So today Megan (my work exp student) and I started on a blue one. The internal form is thrown a couple of days in advance. We have to have a little production line going as each sculpture uses hundreds of little components that have to go up and down in size, so we sit together listening to Radio 4 and get stuck into a day of close work and building up of form.

By lunchtime after an intensive morning we are halfway there,

and by tea time it is assembled. Now it has to sit and dry for several weeks before it can be biscuit fired and glazed. Next week I want to make another one in a third colour, but I haven't decided which just yet.

Trombonchino

Out in the garden my monster squashes are inching their way towards the house. This variety are Trombonchino's and they are becoming a favourite. They can grow up to a metre long, and are both a summer and winter squash. I have been baking them in slices all week with olive oil and rosemary....delish!

53...Channel Hopping

2011-09-04T22:16:00.000+01:00

Lollipop PomPoms

This week has been back and forth across the channel. To France last Tuesday to pick all the veg in the garden and to start on a new commision, back to Brighton Friday night to steward at Firle on Saturday and at the Sussex Prairie Gardens on Sunday and back to France tomorrow, Monday morning, where my studio and a work experience student await.

Bells of Ireland

The Plant and Art Fair at the Prairie Gardens was a great success, even though the heavens opened mid day. There were several thousand visitors most of whom seemed to be staggering around with bags full of grasses or other plants which they had bought from one of the stall holders. When the rain came the barn which had been set up as a covered eating area with straw bales to sit on, was suddenly full of people munching on the lovely home made cakes from the tea rooms.

Pink Tip Angel

I have really enjoyed having my sculptures on show in these gardens, the planting is very special and my forms work well tucked in amongst all the plants. They will still be on show until mid October.

Meanwhile in the French garden the fruit and veg are all ripening early this year. I am already storing apples and pears in the cellar and the garden is full of the sweet perfumed scent of ripening Quinces, it is such a beautiful smell. I am eating beans twice a day, freezing and pickling them. The Squashes are threatening to take over the garden and there are Strawberries every morning for my porridge. It is very satisfying although there is also a slight sense of panic as I try to bottle and store everything as I hate to let anything go to waste.

Giant Puffball

The mushrooms are all coming up early this year too. I have found some Boletus in the garden where I haven't found any before, and these giant puffballs are popping up all over the place. They are edible but huge, and you get fed up eating them pretty quickly. It's a pity these can't be stored......

52...Ealing Riots, a Wedding Cake and a village lost in time

2011-08-29T18:52:00.000+01:00

I came back to Brighton this week to find out that this lovely gallery where I show my work had all it's windows and door smashed during the Ealing riots. It was even captured on video Ealing Riots
However the paintings that were taken by looters were recovered by neighbours and an Asian man who presumably lived locally, stood guard at the door and protected the gallery until the police were able to arrive. I know the gallery owners are trying to find and thank him. Unfortunately my sculptures were in the windows and there has been some damage but happily the gallery is insured. Some buildings near by were burnt out. I'm so glad that didn't happen here as it would have been awful if the lovely work in here had been destroyed.

On a happier note my brother got married this weekend, and we all had tea and cakes at the Grand Hotel in Brighton. It was a lovely wedding and they put a lot of effort in making sure that everyone had a good time.


Calvados cake with sugarpaste teapot, cups and saucers

I offered to make the cake for them as it is what I did for a living years ago and in fact is where I learnt the modeling skills I now employ in my ceramics. However, it has been such a looooong time since I last made such an important cake and I have to say clay is a much easier medium! But we got there in the end with help from my friend Jane who is an artist and painted the lovely roses onto the sugar.

A lovely idea at the wedding was a photo booth in which we all had our mug shots taken and then pasted the photo into a large album as a reminder of the wedding.


Ralph, Jane, Fran, Henry and Roy

Ok, very silly but great fun, and at least the photographer (Roy) got his photo taken.

Little Halland

For the next three weekends I am showing my work in the Lewes Art Wave. I am actually in Firle at Little Talland in The Street. It is a lovely house with 16 artists showing their work, so if you get a chance pop along...it is open 12 -5pm every weekend.

The Street, Firle

Firle itself is a village of horses, dogs and 50's fashion, well at least is was today, the day of the Firle Fete. This is an event which includes sheep racing, rat splatting (?!) and a competition for the dog with the waggliest tail.

Lovely 50's ladies

.....and what a great fashion sense the ladies have here. The lady on the right is Vanessa who runs Kissy Suzuki and whose Open House it is...for a peek at her retro style check this out...www.kissysuzuki.com

Next weekend I will also be showing at the Unusual Plant sale and Art Fair at Sussex Prairie Gardens. I will be there all day Sunday, come and say hello. www.sussexprairies.co.uk

51...Cycling Home. Etretat to Fecamp

2011-08-17T20:09:00.000+01:00

Punctures 2 and 3 of 6

A night in Le Havre at a slightly seedy hotel and a morning of punctures. It was drizzly and as we cycled through a forest at the top of Le Havre, the bike tyres picked up little bits of gravelly flint which stuck to the tyres and worked their way in. The forest was full of cyclists and joggers, some of which managed to do a lap as we did our repairs. We then got lost. The idea had been to cycle out of the top of the forest and on to Fontaine la Mallet, but because of the one way cycling system around the forest, and the repair stops, we lost our sense of direction and went round and round. Finally we found our way out (with a little help from a jogger who we had to follow to ask directions..he couldn't stop) and we finally made it to Fontaine for a very welcome cup of tea and probably the best croissant ever. On then to coffee and another puncture on the way, but then the sky slowly cleared and the sun appeared as we came into Etretat.

These cliffs were being climbed by all and we enjoyed watching their efforts as we sat and ate our lunch on the beach.

Wooden fronted house in Etretat

There are some wonderful buildings around France and still many, many wooden ones. This one had little carved people and animals all over it, all of them different.

La Dame au Chapeau a Benouville

Cycling up out of Etretat we came across this quirky Salon de The and it was one of the best stops that we had had. Service was completely at her own pace, and the tea came in one of a collection of old teapots and lustre ware cups and saucers...more english than an english tea room. We decided to have the local cider, which is nothing like cider in Britain, it is lower in alcohol and more fruity, perfect at lunch or tea time. Unfortunetly we were told that because of the licencing laws we had to have cake with our drinks.....Oh dear, 2 Friands, a Caramel slice and a Pain d'Epice please! Everything was presented wonderfully, little flamingo sticks in the Caramal slice, slices of orange on the Pain d'Epice and a knife with an orange segment for a handle..all delicious! This is the first time I have been tempted back into catering for many a year. She has a great website to check out too at www.ladameauchapeau.com I think I could live here.

Silouhette of the Benedictine Monestry

We followed a cycle trail across country into Fecamp which was perfect until the end when it cruelly took us over the cliffs and down into the town. Again, because of the rubbish signs we ended up on the beach at one point. Who do I write to in France about their signs?...I think someone is having a laugh.
We found a restaurant which had exactly the menu we were looking for...lots of seafood, and some very comfy seats for our weary backsides and smiley, easy service.
Next morning we had the devil in our tails and made our mid morning stop for coffee by 9.30, this meant we had time for a leisurly ride back the rest of the day.

Water Mill at Cany Barville

Hamish discovered this old abandoned mill by the lake at Cany Barville, such a shame it's not still used as it is such a lovely building.

Hamish proudly showing shredded tyre

Finally we parted company at Guerres, Hamish and Mark for the ferry, and H and I for home. Hamish who had been on dire warning not to turn up with a rubbish bike, cycled on this shredded tyre the whole journey and didn't get a puncture until just before getting back on the ferry. Ah Hamish....you gotta love him!

Home grown bounty

Arriving back home was good owing to cycling shorts which were rubbing badly enough to give me a pain in the proverbial, but a bit sad too as there is nothing like setting off each morning and not knowing what you are going to come across as the day goes on. We had the BEST time and are already planning a ride up the Seine to Paris next year, and then a month long ride around France.
Also, waiting for us was a tree full of ripe nectarines, sweet corn, blueberries and more runner beans than you can shake a stick at. Off to the hammock for a couple of days now.

50...Cycling in Calvados. Day 3, Honfleur to Le Havre

2011-08-17T16:59:00.000+01:00

Honfleur

Honfleur is such a georgeous place that we decided to have most of a day here with just a short cycle ride to Le Havre later on. Saturday they have a market here so we were able to stock up on food for the next couple of days when we knew a lot of the shops would be shut (15th Aug is a big bank hol in France and most things are shut on mondays anyway). Mark and Hamish being boat people looked around the Maritime museum and H and I checked out more galleries...I wanted to see which ones were selling ceramics. Honfleur is one of three places which have the most galleries in France and there was a lot of contemporary work around at reassuringly high prices. I found one small shop which was ceramics only but it was the owners work and she told me the french didn't really understand ceramics yet...gosh. I must say most of the sculptural work was bronze, fibre glass or papier mache but there were one or two with ceramic sculpture that I may approach. I usually sell my work in Britain, it is just easier on all sorts of levels, but Honfleur is temptingly close to where I live.

Childrens wooden tiles

We had lunch in a park before setting off for Le Havre, and I discovered these sets of tiles made by local school children. There were 4 sets arranged in colours, these being the green ones. I thought they looked lovely.

Pont de Normandie from Honfleur

From the park we could see across to the Pont de Normandie which we were going to be crossing, and as the weather was closing in we decided to set off.

Going over

It is not a cyclists dream to go over a bridge like this, but we particulaly wanted to see it up close and get a feel of how big it is. It is a beautifully elegant structure, and would have lovely views on a clear day. Luckily the French are great with cyclists, and there is a cycling lane at the side of this and we actually got over quicker that a lot of the cars....and it was free for us (this is a toll road)

After the bridge there is a route for cyclists all the way into Le Havre which takes you across a nature reserve and docks. This was a really interesting route, nothing here is human size. It is difficult to show the scale here, but this ship was immense and was slowly being loaded with huge crates.

Luckily this boat had been cut in two so Hamish won't be able to tow it back to Shoreham!

49...Cycling in Calvados..Day 2, Cabourg-Pont L'Eveque-Honfleur

2011-08-16T21:16:00.000+01:00

Camel by roadside

Up and off early from Cabourg on day 2. On the whole we decided not to do breakfasts at the hotels as they tend to be carb rich and not really the best start to a days cycling. Besides, it is good to look at a map and plan the morning tea stop, breakfast stop, coffee stop, lunch stop and maybe another tea stop before finally stopping for dinner.
Outside our hotel were a Camel, Horse and Llama having breakfast so Mark stopped to have a quick word. There are still loads of small circuses around France and all summer long you can see strange animals grazing the grasslands beside campsides and in seaside towns.

Lunch at Pont L'Eveque

To keep costs down and because it was nicer anyway, we made our own breakfasts and lunches. This is the easiest thing in the world in Normandy where there is always a market every day of the week in a town somewhere near you. We bought ready roasted chickens or tins of mackeral and made sauces for them from creme fraiche and lemons. The artisan bakeries always have Pain au Levain (sourdough) and add to that unpasterised butter with little grains of sea salt and it makes for a fab lunch. Apricots with some more creme fraiche kept our energy levels high.
Riding into Pont L'Eveque we found a great Quincaillerie (hardware shop) with all sorts of things that you have to have for the kitchen or fireplace. Luckily for my overdraught I could only fit one cake tin and a few cutters into the panniers, but the cake tins had to be seen to be believed. I may have to come back here! This is a really lovely town, and the cheese they make isn't bad either.
The church behind us had some unusual abstract stained glass windows:

and loads of gardens and the towns flower beds used wooden poles to make trellis's and supports,

this gave the town a really friendly feel and looked much nicer than the usual bought supports and arches.
By mid afternoon we were literally working our way across country towards Honfleur. Hamish who has an unerring sense of direction, found us a back way out of the town and up through a forest, which involved lifting bikes over gates and cycling along tracks used mainly by tree cutting machinery...quiet though.
The micro climate around this area is very special and as we came into Honfleur,

we saw this Banana tree with an honest to God Banana flower on it!
We found our hotel a little easier this time, and would thouroughly recommend it. It is called the Motel les Bluets, has a really friendly owner and a spa....what more could four saddle sore cyclists need. We sat for an hour in the Hamman before venturing out into the town.

The area we stayed in was just outside Honfleur on a curious sort of industrual estate, but with old factories like the one above. There were timber yards and little bungalows, one step up from mobile homes, with little gardens around them. The cycle into Honfleur was only five minutes, and again down the side of a river.........

and it really is the most spectacular town to come upon.
There are restaurants and art galleries everywhere, and amazingly we found one of the best restaurants any of us had ever eaten in with a menu at 19 euros! I hesitate to give away this secret as the place filled up soon after we had got a table, but I'll tell you anyway, it is L'Auberge du Vieux Clocher. We talked about the meal we had here for days after, and Creme Brulees will always be measured against the one we ate here.

48...Cycling in Calvados. Day 1, Caen to Cabourg

2011-08-16T17:50:00.000+01:00

Hamish, Mark and Henry starting off

We have just arrived back after a cycling tour of Calvados in Bas Normande. Normandy is a huge county compared to the counties in England, and it is divided into two, Haute Normande where I live and Bas Normande which is the other side of Le Havre. Calvados is a part of Bas Normande and is named after a Spanish ship which sunk off the coast here hundreds of years ago.
We have never really explored this part of Normandy and to really get an idea of a place you need to walk or cycle it and come upon unexpected places and people, the sort of thing you might whizz by and miss in a car. So, with a couple of hardy boat people we set out last week.
The prevailing wind here is a south westerly so we decided to catch a train to Caen and cycle with the wind at our back. It's really exciting setting out for somewhere on a train, the journey itself becomes part of the adventure and gets you away somewhere else quickly and, around here, with pretty, changing scenery through green, lush countryside (must be something to do with the rain).

One man, seven animals

When we arrived in Caen we seemed to head naturally towards the Chateau as it is the centre of the town and one can look out all across the surrounding lands from the turrets. The Musee des Beaux Arts is also here. The first thing we saw when we arrived was this amazing set of sculptures by a Chinese artist called Huang Yong Ping. They are half man, half beast and are representational of mythical animals from a book called Shanhai Jing, a book which is more than 2300 years old.

Cock with mans head

These animals are said to presage the coming of floods, wars, epidemics....all the usual fun things, and they are installed on 12 metre high posts.

Serpent man with 9 heads and 9 tails

I thought they were amazing, especially in the location of William the Conquerors castle, where they could be seen from below, above and on the same level.

Monkey with mans head

This one for some reason I found particulaly disturbing. At night they are all lit up and I would have loved to have seen that.....however we were off and cycling out of Caen towards Cabourg.
As we left the town we came across some arresting graffiti over the walls of some derelict houses.

The houses didn't look all that old and it wasn't obvious why they were being pulled down but around the other side we found an explanation of the graffiti:

It turned out to be a fortuative thing that we had stopped because just there was a (badly) marked cycle path to Ouistreham which was the way that we wanted to go, and it went alongside a canal...brillliant!

Mark and Hamish in canal just north of Pegasus bridge

Of course it wasn't long before the lads had jumped in...I left them to it. The area all around here is full of the history of the 2nd WW, and Mark who had had a bit of a pash for this subject when he was but a boy was able to fill us in on the details as we went. The Pegasus bridge was an important strategic point captured at the beginning of the invasion of Normandy, and the name of it was changed from the Benouville bridge to Pegasus after the emblem worn on the shoulders of the British airbourne forces.
We crossed the bridge and cycled on into Cabourg, circuling it 3 times before we could find our hotel (realising that if you ask too many people for directions, you get too many conflicting answers)...and then we were able to have our first meal out and the best Calvados ever which sent me at least to bed with a spinning head.

47...Poppy Poems

2011-08-05T09:08:00.000+01:00

Back in Brighton this week as I have a very important wedding cake to make and I haven't made one for years. The kitchen has been full of fruit mixture soaking in Calvodos and the smell of slow cooking cake, marzipan and sugerpaste. It's what I used to do all the time, but I have to say, clay is easier!
I also came back for a Private View at Sussex Prairie Gardens where several of us are showing our sculptures throughout the summer.

swaying Poppies

I bought back my new Poppy Poems from France. They were inspired by a poem from Francis Thompson called The Poppy. He was a brilliant poet but suffered most of his life from ill health and opium addiction. His poem is beautiful but dark...I really like it.

a line from The Poppy

Inside each Poppy is a line from his poem almost hidden in the glaze. I decided to make these Poppies very simple and stylized, as the Poppy is such an iconic flower, it needs no more than a few lines to describe it.

Pauline from Sussex Gardens put on a lovely PV and it was a great evening. Here are some of the other artists who will be showing their work at the Unusual Plant sale and Art fair which will be held at the beginning of September.
For details please check out www.sussexprairiegardens.co.uk

Meanwhile I am off to a music festival and then off cycling in Calvodos...see you in a week or so.

46...A productive week in the studio

2011-07-27T11:12:00.000+01:00

Megan painting rainbows

Have been full on back in the studio for the last 2 weeks with a couple of students from Brighton Uni.
The autumn shows are looming and as I am finally going to be able to take a couple of weeks off in august, I am trying to get a bit ahead of myself. Luckily one of the students, Jade, has been with me twice before and works as quickly as I do so we have been able to zoom along with the work.

Another Bishops Pom Pom

These are one of my most popular sculptures.....but they can be tedious to make by myself so it has been great having 2 people help me construct this one. Also, everyone who helps forms the petals just a little bit differently from the next which makes each sculpture slightly different too....I like that this happens.

Constructing Dreams of Darkness

Poppies feature heavily in my work...I like them as a subject because they are such an iconic plant. They are probably one of our favourite plants in field and garden, yet they have also many dark associations with both war and the opium trade.

Primula Vialli

I love these flowers! They are tiny little things in real life, but SO vibrant. I had already made some recently....but wasn't entirely happy with the finished result. Then I saw lots of them at Chelsea flower show and realised what I had been getting wrong. These are much better and once glazed will be attached to rods and drilled into wood so that they will be lifted up among the plants in the garden...whereas the real ones are hidden down on the ground.

Painted lady runner beans

Out in the garden all is growing well. I have this georgeous tripod of runner beans with red and white flowers.....it would be worth having even if it didn't produce so many beans. My apricot tree which I have been watching obsessivly for months as the fruits have been growing, has turned out to be a Nectarine....I've been done! Actually, I'm quite happy as it is actually producing fruit that looks like it will ripen soon, but it just goes to show you can't even trust the big nurseries....this one was definetly delivered as an Apricot.

Megan shinning a tree

One of our hedges has turned into a line of trees, and we are slowly cutting them back down. Not always easy as they tend to lean the wrong way. This one when we finally got it cut down, hung itself in the pear tree and we had to cut it away slowly bit by bit. However very usefully our young and agile student Megan was able to climb up the tree in no time and secure a rope.Not sure that was in her job description....but she enjoyed it anyway.
Out in the fields the harvesting is in full swing as the combines work to cut the Lin and the Wheat while it is dry. It has been raining on and off the last couple of weeks....so a couple of days of dry weather has them all springing into action. As you lie in bed at night you can hear the hum of the Combines from all around. It seems to me to be earlier than usual this year, but then the garden is too as we already have our first apples ready to eat.

45...Mayhem in Longueville

2011-07-14T19:48:00.000+01:00

Teaching the next generation

Absolutely no work done this week as godchildren and friends visiting, 20 for dinner on saturday night! However the children LOVE being in the studio, so we had a couple of days making more tiles for the guest tile gallery, and flower bowls for them all to take home.

Hannah..yellow flower with Bumblebee

Kiku designing a ladybird


Kazma

It's great to see how quickly the kids pick up the technical terms and know how, and to see how different their work is each year. They don't agonise about what to put on their tiles as the adults tend to, they just put on as much as they can and colour it in. They will happily spend most of a day in the studio now that they know the magic of the transformation of the mallable white clay into a bright, shiny object.

Mika making a tartan flower

Nobody escapes having to make a tile when they come.........

Ryan aka Clint

even Ryan our couchsurfer who is taking a break from cycling around europe made a tile. These little momento's are better than photo's and it's amazing how much of ones personality can be condensed onto these little squares.
Ryan has been documenting his travels on his blog www.finstowings.blogspot.com

44...A train to Marseilles for a wedding

2011-07-06T21:39:00.000+01:00

Lots of photo's this week as we've been away to the south of France for my nephews wedding. We decided early on to take the train as we're not keen on flying, and anyway train journeys are great. As in Britain, if you buy your tickets early they are cheap, and we were upgraded to 1st class which meant wide, comfortable seats. The journey was 4 1/2 hours from Rouen.

Through Lyon

The best thing about long train journeys is the view from the window, and watching how the countryside changes......

Sunflower field

...and you know you are in the south when the Sunflower fields appear........

....and the hills become mountains.


sur le pont d'Avignon

And then we arrived in Marseilles. This city was a surprise to me, more north African influenced than I had thought. Hot, dirty, busy but I'm glad I've seen it. We spent a few hours here then got another train to St Cyr to stay with the parents of my friend Gabrielle.

They live in a gorgeous place right by the Med, and when we arrived hot and thirsty, we were able to pick lemons right off their tree to make a citron presse....how amazing is that! Then we had grapefruit from another tree for breakfast.
I have never been down this far before and had not realised quite how different and exotic the south can be...I always think of France in terms of Normandy and Paris, so it was great to be able to see the other end of it.


sparkling Med

My first view of the Med and couldn't wait to go for a swim,

and it was cold! The Mistral had been blowing and to be honest I reckon the channel is about the same temperature.....I'm sure it must get warmer.

We went for a walk around to a hidden smugglers bay, and it actually does look green. It is very beautiful, and the water clear, although I'm told the reasons for this are not particularly good.

Of course the planting down here is exotic too, these trees were just outside Marseilles station...I'm not sure what they are although the leaves look familiar.

St Maximum la Baume

After all this fun we were off to the wedding which was across the mountains and up to St Maximum, where allegedly Mary Magdalen ended her days, and indeed they have some/her remains in the basilisque here. It is very Jean de Florette country around here, mountainous and dry, yet green too. I imagine they have a lot of thunderstorms here, and in fact we left in one.


all dressed up for a wedding

Had a scoot round a pottery here, but not really my taste. However the markets great, although so not Normandy...no creme fraiche or butter, but plenty of olives, goats cheese and lavender. Wouldn't swop it though, and rainy as Normandy may be at times, it is lush and rich and the cycling a bit easier than it would be down here. Having said that I would like to come cycling down here so that may be a plan. perhaps from the south back to the north. Well, we saw a lot over just a few days and for that I must say Thanks! to Isabelle and Andre who were so generous with their house and time.

43...Sculpture Trail at Sussex Prairie Gardens

2011-06-26T16:47:00.000+01:00

View from studio window, summer solstice

This week I have had to leave my rose laden garden and pop back to Brighton. Midsummer day arrived and as usual was chilly and overcast, but as if on cue, the summer has arrived again today with a bang and everyone has gone floppy with the dramatic rise in temperature.

The Bishops Pom Pom

Yesterday I set my sculpture trail up at the Sussex Prairie Gardens www.sussexprairies.co.uk.
The planting is amazing and my work look great nestled in amongst the flowers.

Bells of Ireland

The work is going to be on show all summer long until their Unusual Plant and Art Fair in september.

Picardie Poppies

There is also a tea room with a lovely courtyard and the best home made cake, plus the poshest birdboxes this side of Miami! Do pop along and check it out if you get a chance. They are very welcoming, and its a great place to take a picnic and hang out for the afternoon.

These are just some of the extraordinary flowers they have en masse up there.

On Friday I was back at Hoddern primary school. This year we are making ceramic mobiles with a South African theme.

We had made the double sided plants and animals two weeks previously, and this workshop was to paint the colours on and glaze them. They will all be strung from clouds which I shall make from thrown ceramic bowls once I get back into my studio, then they will be hung from the trees in their school garden.

A friend posted this on facebook Saturday night and it had us dancing around our living room. I couldn't resist passing on the link! Watch it full screen with the sound turned up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=C5-ClvcHtK4

42...Blooming June

2011-06-19T19:37:00.000+01:00

Apple Blossom Rose

Back to France this week and the garden was a joy to come back to. I've been away for more than 3 weeks and the garden would normally be a jungle by now, but luckily a local friend, Sebastian, has been looking after it for me.

Pink Pom Pom Rose

The thing about gardens is that it's really difficult to enjoy your own as all you can ever see is the work that needs to be done. However, I find that because I come and go so often, for the first half hour when I arrive back, even if I have only been away for a couple of days, I can view the garden with fresh eyes and just enjoy the changes that have happened especially at this time of the year when it is all growing so quickly.
This got me thinking about my work too. Most artists I know find it difficult to view their work objectively. You can look at it and see all the work that has gone into it....but always with a critical eye. The only time I find that you can see it as others do, is to come upon it unexpectedly..perhaps in a place that you had forgotten about. Then for a few seconds until you realise it is one of yours....you see it just as it is.

Back in the garden, there is now plenty to eat, and these are some of my favourites, Artichokes.

There is also Strawberries, Raspberries and loads of Blackcurrants,

and more cabbages than I know what to do with,

and I'm really excited by my ripening Apricots....I check them out every day but I think there's a way to go yet!

I should really have been back in the studio getting down to it this week too, but I didn't seem able to settle into it. So on days when lethargy sets in I find the only thing to do is clean.....sad but true. So the studio has had a spring clean, and now it feels like a sketchbook open at a new page, and tomorrow I can go in there and start making again.
This little piece above is a commision piece from the Brighton festival. There will be 3 heads on the sculpture when it is finished, but for the moment I am trying to get the colour right for the client, it has to be on the mauve rather than the blue range....tricky but we'll get there.

41...Planning for the summer

2011-06-11T17:51:00.000+01:00

www.forartssake.com

Shortly after leaving Uni my work, which was then domestic earthenware but very playful with Poppies and Daisies, was picked up by this lovely gallery in Ealing, London. For several years they sold my teapots and martini cups, and now they have taken a collection of my sculptures and put them on show in their windows.

Side window at For Arts Sake

There are two sorts of gallery owners, those who charge a high commision and leave your work in a corner of the gallery, and those who take an interest in you as the artist, love the work, and enjoy selling it for you, Brian and Melanie at For Arts Sake fall into the latter category. They have a good range of Originals, Prints and Ceramics in their showroom, so if you find yourself in this part of London why not pay them a visit, or check out their website www.forartssake.com

Later this week I met another lovely person and this was Pauline McBride at Sussex Prairie Gardens.
www.sussexprairie.co.uk

Red Hot Pokers at Sussex Prairie Gardens

In a few short years she has created, along with her husband Paul, the most spectacular Prairie gardens near Henfield in Sussex. I went along with Si Uwins, who makes wood sculptures with a similar theme to mine, to have a walk around the gardens,

and to plan a sculpture trail for this summer.

Augusta Glastifolia

There are already some sculptures up there,

A colourful flock of sheep

and there are some great places to sit and enjoy the view,

The gardens are framed by the South Downs and are just a perfect place to while away a summer day.
I will be setting up my sculptures in a couple of weeks time, and will post some more pictures then.

www.forartssake.com
www.sussexprairie.co.uk
www.siuwins.co.uk

40...Poppies in Portobello

2011-06-05T16:54:00.000+01:00

On a trip to see friends and godchildren in Portobello nr Edinburgh this week and we went to a hidden gem of a garden called Dr Neils. It is hidden away at the foot of Arthur's seat, is free to enter, and amazingly has a glazed shed with kettle, books, childrens activities and armchairs so that you can make yourself a cuppa, sit down and enjoy the view. Not even a donation asked for...how brilliant is that! It is also the home of curling (as in the sport) as the large loch and goose sanctuary here often freezes in the winter.

Wandering around we saw these lovely Poppies, and it doesn't matter how many times I represent Poppies in my work, I still find them incredibly exciting and always want to find a new way of showing their drama and general gorgeousness. These ones gave me an idea for a new sculpture straight away.

Mika and Kiku spent a happy hour making lovely pictures with all the bits and bobs in the shed especially for the kids.

and then made me a lovely daisy chain....I wonder how many hundreds/thousands of years children have been doing this?

Going out for a drink in the evening and the sun still hadn't set gone 9.30pm. The hot evening had the Portobello beach, all sand and situated by the Firth of Forth, packed with people enjoying a bottle of wine and a crate (or three!) of beer. Strangely for me the sun sets on the left up here, whereas in Brighton it sets on the right, so I always feel a bit back to front.

39...The best bits of Chelsea

2011-05-28T22:17:00.000+01:00

Our daily changing living picture

Well it's come to an end and all we have to do now is break down the stand. It has been an incredibly interesting experience, and the next couple of months will show us how successful it has been. We have talked to literally hundreds of people and hopefully it will translate into some sales for us. There have been some ups and downs to the week and now we need to sleep for a couple of days at least. Today the Tourism minister from Malyasia asked us to go and set up an exhibition there...so you never know that could be an exciting opportunity....but yesterday someone tripped onto the stand and took a couple of sculptures down with them. Luckily they weren't badly hurt..not so the sculptures.

Here is a selection of my favourite plants and gardens from the show:

Brimstone yellow butterfly Aqualegia

Candlearbre primula

close up of a pitcher plant

2 hanging pitcher plants

the smell from this stand was like bathing in strawberries

radish heaven

stunning Primula Vialli

The two pictures below are of my favourite garden... the Sky Shades garden. It is how I would like my garden in France....once I've got rid of the brambles!

a very British affair

The Bunny Guiness garden

Beautiful planting in the Laurent Perrier garden

The Literary garden

The brilliant Postcard from Wales

such a lovely colour scheme


The South Africa Garden

and then finally at four o'clock the announcement comes for the sell off, and it's a bun fight! Within minutes people are staggering under the weight of plants bigger than them,

Delphiniums in flight

Finding her way to the bus stop

Up at the crack of 6 o'clock tomorrow to drive back up to London to dismantle, then I'm off to Edinburgh for a few days to not think about anything to do with work. See you all next week!

p.s...........just got back from break down, here is a pic of what the pavilion looked like this morning at 7.30 am

38...A rainy day at Chelsea

2011-05-26T22:02:00.001+01:00

Today we experienced all sorts of weather, all at once. Sunshine, thunderstorms, hailstones and heavy rain. Hundreds of people were modelling these lovely poncho's given out at the entrance gate. Entrancing I'm sure you'll agree.

The walkways are packed, until it rains, then as one the crowds charge for the pavilion.

And on the National Trust stand opposite us, the staff cower in their shed.

Shona however on the stand next door, found ways to keep us amused with her balls of twine. What can I say...the days are long!

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

37...Day 2 and 3 at Chelsea

2011-05-25T20:41:00.000+01:00

It is incredible the amount of people that come through in a day. Chelsea sell 157,000 tickets for the week, and this year they sold out in 16 days. This is when we realise we could have done with a bigger stand, and if we do it again we shall certainly have to go up a size, but in the meantime we work with what we have. Its the bags that are a problem....especially for my work!
We have talked to hundreds of people and it's good to be getting our work seen by a larger audience...but we're certainly being put through our paces, and we have to keep going with the aid of the odd glass of Pimms secreted in our cupboard.

Dermuid Gavins flying garden

This seems to be the garden of the show. It has been based on Avatar I think, and Dermuid is to be seen around on his garden a lot of the time...at one point in a leather shirt. Working it for the ladies.
My favourite garden so far is the Sky Shades garden.It is a wild garden with little paths running through, and reminds me of my garden in France minus the nettles and brambles. I can't get near enough to get a good pic of it yet but I'm working on it.

one from a collection of flowery jockeys jackets

It is the Pavilion however which keeps drawing me back, I spot something new every time I go in there, and there is more room to see.

I adore these Mecanopsis, and this year they have a new purply blue one....stunning!

I also spotted these fab seed pods, and have got my name on the top one for the saturday sell off. I'm getting new ideas for sculpture forms all the time.

Chelsea ladies

Meanwhile the fashion parade continues, and these ladies fluttered by this afternoon, twittering and cheeping like a flock of exotic birds.

........and this was the best hair accessory of the day!

36...Press day at Chelsea

2011-05-24T20:57:00.000+01:00

Stand ready at last!

After much tweaking we are finally ready for the start of the show. The first day is press day and consequently quiet for us. This does mean though that we get the chance to nip around and see everything fresh and glorious.
There are camermen everywhere and you suddenly see groups forming around various gardens or people. At one point this morning, there was shouting and carrying on in the marquee, and I thought a fight was breaking out. But it was photographers trying to get a pic of Helen Mirren! The noise level was incredible as they were shouting 'to the left' or 'to the right'....blimey, imagine living with that.

Rachel de Thame

Meanwhile there were plenty of other slebs to see who weren't in the middle of a bun fight,

Alan Titchmarsh of course

Joe Swift who is everywhere

The Royal party wandered around in the evening, and we saw the Queen go by. Camilla visited the stand opposite. Of course some of the most interesting people are not necessarily the slebs.

This georgeous couple were strolling around all day...and kept on smiling.

And this striking dancer was striking poses in the Bunny Guiness garden.

This jockey looked almost good enough to eat.

What you may not know about Chelsea

Everyone coughs and sneezes because of the enormous amount of pollen from the Plane trees.

Green Paraqeets fly shrieking all around.

The gardens are much smaller and difficult to see than it appears on the telly.

By this morning we had scaffolding keeping our eyes open,and by this evening we needed support tights, but, it's good to finally be here and chatting to people about our work.

35...Set up day at Chelsea Flower Show

2011-05-20T22:48:00.001+01:00

An exhausting day setting up at Chelsea, but exciting too. Getting into the Chelsea grounds and around to our stand was like a military operation, involving circling around in Battersea park before crawling around the show grounds at 5mph. I am sharing a stand with Shayama Ruffell and Lara Bowen, who is also my agent. They are both artists who paint floral and botanical themes in bold colours. Our work perfectly compliments each other.

The stands are judged by a voluntary panel once they are set up, so we've spent a long time designing what is in fact a very small space for the 3 of us...so it had to have impact and clarity. We decided to keep the walls white but with a central panel of Citrine.

Citrine central panel

Inside the frame on the wall, we are having a changing arrangment of plants in a collection of bottles and glasses..we may add some fruit and veg too.

It takes ages to get the show hung, especially when we all started out tired to begin with, but we've done this often enough now to be able to stay in good humour with each other and just problem solve as we go along.

Lara measuring up

Gradually it all starts to come together,

Globe Thistles and Shammys paintings

and things are manoeuvred to compliment each other.

Everyone here, including us are wearing fluoro vests...it is a sea of yellow, and everywhere there is the smell of Lilies and bark mulch.

Peering inside the Pavilion there so many exciting displays going up and I am already in lust with many plants.

Around the grounds everyone is getting on with setting up the gardens. This looks like a Japanese based design, and a team of young Japanese men were taking turns to break up these rocks (not terribly successfully at the time I was there, but I think it got better)
It all seemed surprisingly calm although busy, and I can't wait until Monday when all the debris will be cleared away, and the gardens will be on full show.

www.shyamaruffell.co.uk
www.larabowen.co.uk

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

34...Prizes at our Open House

2011-05-15T20:50:00.000+01:00

A very busy 2nd weekend at our Open House, chatting to lots of people and getting great feedback on all the work in the house. That's the good thing about this, there is more time to really discuss work with interested people.

Last week we had a small video made showcasing the work and ideas of three of us from the house, if you would like to check it out here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otQJy2kKhmw
Please feel free to comment..but be kind!

Every year in order to build up a good emailing list, we run a prize draw each day that we open, with a chance to win a prize from one of the exhibiting artists.

Cherryl with Beechmast

Janice with Scabious

Carol with Rabbit Ears Lavender

This year so far these 3 lovely ladies have won one of my mini sculptures. With another 2 weeks to go, if you haven't been to see us yet, why not pop along and have a go at winning a prize?

Setting up for the Chelsea Flower show will start at the end of this week, and my next blog will be from there. I am hoping to write a short daily blog from the show as I am so excited about being there, who knows, might even get to feature some slebs.....

33...Phew..The Brighton Festival commences!

2011-05-09T19:47:00.000+01:00

Blue Angel at the Preston Park Tavern

Well after all the preparations, cleaning, re decorating and hiding general clutter, the house was finally ready to open on saturday morning. I had commited to 4 venues in the festival this year before I knew I had got into Chelsea flower show so I have had to be super organised, and luckily have had much help from my best mate Jane.

She is showing her new dancing pictures............

..................as well as her ever popular botanical ones. This particular picture is a metre long, so summery, and I shall miss it when it leaves my wall.

Showing downstairs with me is Ralph Hinton who has produced the most beautiful wall hangings, designed as part costumes, inspired by poetry and plays. There is even one inspired by the Marquis de Sade!

Ring o Roses vase

Continuing on what seems to be a floral theme this year, I have made some vases that do all the arranging for you. Just pop in some blooms and hey presto, a centre piece.

I cycled back to France this morning with a rather thick head.......seven private views this weekend including my own last night. But the seedlings have to be attended to. The trouble is the sparkling wine.......I'm just a girl who can't say no.

Jane Denman and Lucy Parker

Me, Kev Doherty and Philip Dunn

3 degenerates on the sofa

and 3 more lurking outside

Great weekend though, and if you haven't been to see us yet, do come along on one of the next 3 weekends. We are No 16 in the Fiveways artists trail. Oh and by the way, if you particulaly like ceramics, I would highly recommend The Ceramic House showing in Stanmer Villas....a brilliant installation by Kay Aplin and ceramicist friends.

32...Geting ready and a sneak preview

2011-05-03T08:39:00.000+01:00

This week in Brighton there will be literally hundreds of houses frantically working towards opening their doors to the public on saturday morning. This means that on top of finishing off paintings, final firings, polishing jewellery, mounting prints and all the other things that must be done to get the work ready....the houses have to be spring cleaned too. This is a blessing and a curse. It does mean however that once it is all done you can live in what is effectively a show home for a month. I always think to myself that this is how I am going to keep it for the rest of the year...this resolution lasts for up to two days after the end of the festival.


Grinding rods

In my house, as probably in many of the others, preparations are well under way and the house is a tip! I have chainsawed all my wood, and ground all my rods, but am still busy assembling and delivering my sculptures to the various venues around town. One of my artists has hung all her work and is ready (thank you Jane) the others like me are still finishing their work.

One of my artists, Ralph Hinton, is making some beautiful pieces to go on the wall. He is inspired by poetry, Shakespeare and costume and has sent me a sneak preview of some of the work he has created.

Come along and have a look at his and my work along with:

Jane Denman (website address on the right)
Kissy Suzuki www.kissysuzuki.com
Julie Tucker Willams www.julietuckerwilliams.co.uk

We are house No. 16 on the Fiveways Artists Trail www.fivewaysartists.com

See you there!

31...Almost there and Spooky Bears

2011-04-25T21:03:00.000+01:00

Side view of new lime green pom pom

May is now almost upon me, and I haven't time to make another thing....I'm completely potted out. However, I am now finishing off and glazing all the work, and the kiln is on all the time...even (eek!) during the day when it is not cheap electricity. I have lost a couple of things along the way...mainly because the weather has been so extrodinarily hot that one or two bits dried out too quickly. I only have time now for 2 more glaze firings before I have to pack everything up and bring it over to Brighton. The set up for the Open Houses is next weekend, and then I have to finish off all the work for the Chelsea Flower Show.

Still, it hasn't been all work this weekend. My friend Chris who is also a ceramicist ( http://www.chrismurphy-ceramics.com/) has been over here for a few days to help me out with glazing etc, and on friday we drove over to Veules les Roses for the day.

This is a lovely town on the coast with the smallest river in France...just 1100 metres. It is famous for its watercress which you can see growing here.

Just before you come into the town, there is this house with two life size bears outside.

Chris being a bear himself couldn't resist checking them out. This house also has mosiac over all the planters outside, and all around the front door,

What a lovely, cosy looking cottage, you think to yourself......but then you notice,

Spooky bear

this bear has got REAL teeth! I kid you not.

Needing some excercise and making the most of the georgeous weather, H and I headed off for a cycle ride on sunday. It is bliss cycling around here, the roads are so quiet, and the french drivers so courteous to cyclists.

The views are.....interesting

Le Quesnay

and the houses splendid. Actually, I lived and worked in this Chateau a long time ago when I was but a young girl.

collecting Chicken of the woods

and on the way home, we found this great profusion of funghi which is delicious cooked in butter...dinner sorted!

30...Round and about in Longueville

2011-04-17T21:51:00.000+01:00

This weekend I have been showing my work at a small exhibiton in the village. The private view was on friday night, and is a different affair from a PV at home. For a start no one gets a drink until some speeches have been made. This entails all the artists standing together, usually with the mayor or similar dignintary starting off proceedings, and then all the artists in turn talking about their work. It can take quite a while...and not even a glass of wine to hand! Although asked, I managed to avoid having to speak this time...what a terrifying thought, speaking french to a group of people I don't know. Still, it was all good fun, and I got to meet lots more locals who have seen me cycling around for years but didn't really know what I got up to.

Looking through Quince blossom to my studio

I heard them say on GQT last week that the blossom has been particulaly splendid this year and I have to agree. I can't remember a time when the spring looked so good as this year, perhaps partly because it was a long cold winter...or it seemed like that because of the early snow in november, but whatever, it does seem like a really lovely spring.

Hazel window in hedge

My friend Hamish comes out once or twice a year and sorts my hedges for me. Not being a person to to do anything conventionally, he makes little windows in the hedges to frame certain aspects of the house or garden.

Orchard in front garden

Many houses in France lay their front gardens to vegetables or fruit...I love this idea, and this is one of my favourites. It is on the route I cycle from Dieppe, and I think it looks just georgeous.

looking south down the Scie

looking north up the Scie

On the way to our house you have to pass over a little river. It is kept really tidy and clean down there, as most of rural Normandy seems to be, and is a great place for a picnic in the summer.

Hamish's houseboat

Last week I had a 'Warmshowers' cyclist staying with me in France. He is an American, touring through France and Britain on his bike. He came back to Brighton with me and I took him down to see my mates on the houseboats in Shoreham....well, you can't come all the way from Americay just to see the usual tourist sites eh?. At the moment I think he is wild camping somewhere in rural Wales, eating cold oatmeal and fish from cans. Hope you're keeping warm Ryan?!

http://finstowings.blogspot.com/

29...Hoddern Primary School Sculpture Garden

2011-04-08T18:27:00.001+01:00

Today I officially opened the lovely sculpture garden (mentioned in the last blog) that has been created at Hoddern primary school. This has been a great project, and the garden is fantastic with living willow structures, a large sculpture created especially for the school by Anvil Ironworks, and these flowers made by the children.

We had a proper ceremony and cut a ribbon, making it a real event for the children. I think they really enjoyed it and hopefully it will inspire some of them to continue to enjoy making in the future.

This was only able to happen because of their enthusiastic teacher Nicola, and a head teacher with a progressive outlook.

It was great to see them happy and proud of their work. Well done all!!

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

28...Ceramics and Education

2011-04-03T16:20:00.000+01:00

Ceramics have been with us for thousands of years. As soon as the first person picked up a lump of clay and realised how pliable it was, it has been shaped and made into myriad forms. It is more versatile than any other medium....and the longest surviving.

But the real magic of clay is the alchemy that happens when something is put into the kiln. It transforms from a handful of mud to an object that can be used daily or a beautiful piece of art.

In Britain we had a wonderful period when studio pottery thrived, through the 50's to the 90's, but since then ceramics in schools, colleges and Uni's has suffered from budget cuts and whole ceramic departments have vanished. So, last year it was great to be asked to do a workshop in a local primary school.
The art teacher of these children is a lovely, enthusiastic lady called Nicola. They have a small kiln in a cupboard at their school, and she was keen for the children to experience making and firing something themselves. The project focus was South African flowers and I had coincidentally been to SA just a couple of months before, so I had plenty of photos to show. The idea was for the children to design a flower, and then I would come in and help them make their design. All the flowers would then be put on metal rods, and displayed in the new garden created in the school grounds. The workshops were hectic....the time alloted for art even at primary level is low, and we had 3 hours for 50 children to make a flower each. However, mad as it was, we managed it and the children were really excited, especially on the 2nd workshop where they were able to paint bright colours onto their flowers. We had just about 100% success rate on the flowers...amazingly, and poor Nicola has spent most of the winter glueing all 50 flowers onto metal rods. Anyway, next friday I will be officially opening the garden and I can't wait to see all the flowers together.

Further on down the line I have been corresponding with a lad from Northern Ireland called Colm who has been researching organic form in clay. This is obviously a school with a healthy ceramics department as he has produced a lovely piece of work based on the juxtupositon of a chestnut and a morel (wild mushroom)

A gold star Colm!

By the time you get to University the choice of degree courses that offer ceramics specifically is now confined to england and wales...scotland has lost all of theirs...and even then it is more likely that you will have to choose a 3D course and specialise in ceramics. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as you will get a more rounded education, but it does mean that tutor hours for throwing are exceedingly low, and it is a skill hard won, especially if you are trying to teach yourself. In my opinion it is definitly one of those 10,000 hours skills. So, this is why I offer places to work exerience students, it's great to be able to move them on really quickly after a few weeks of one to one tutition.....and if I'm lucky I get a lovely student like Jade to help me with my own work.

During the time that she was here she made some lovely bowls,

and after practicing her round forms,

made a couple of great teapots!

This week I had a new little sculpture finished...it's based on a chestnut rose hip. I'll be showing these with my other new sculptures in my Open House in May. http://www.fivewaysartists.com/

Chestnut Rose Hip

In the garden things are hotting up. I planted loads of seeds this weekend..most of the veg that will get me through to autumn. Already in the raised beds are cabbage, lettuce, strawberries and beetroot bought as plugs from the market. All my gardening knowledge is gleaned from books, Gardeners World and endless conversations with my buddy Jane. It's hard sometimes to know quite where to start with it all, especially when you're trying to keep a hectare in some sort of order...but when something you have read about works out well, it's so exciting! A couple of weeks ago I had a couple of Rhubarb leaves poking through, and an old chimney pot sitting around, so I thought I would have a go at forcing the Rhubarb. I popped the pot on top and put a lid with a large flint on top (saw Monty doing that) and lo and behold, literally a week later the Rhubarb had filled the pot and pushed the lid off,

The structure in the background is our pallet palace

Last autumn I invested in what seemed like a huge order of bulbs...in this space of course they didn't go very far, but I've been excited all winter in anticipation of them coming up.

And here is one of them looking just like a pair of pink frilly knickers!

27...Working....working and carnage in the kitchen

2011-03-28T21:20:00.000+01:00

With so many shows coming up, work in the studio is full on at the moment, there is hardly time for anything else. Last week I sold a large sculpture that I had earmarked for the Chelsea Flower show, so I had to squeeze in time to make another.....luckily with Jade my student here I was able to do this.

putting last petal in

Ceramics is a slow old business. The sculpture above will take weeks to dry out as the moisture in the middle and underneath takes a long time to come out and can't be rushed. This means that the studio is full of drying out sculptures covered in plastic and we have to be careful how we move around as they are so delicate at this stage.

One of the things about living in the country is the continual battle against the wildlife trying to get into the house. Last week it was this little fellow,

carnage in the kitchen

he got into my mouseproof cupboard in the middle of the night...found his way along a pipe under the insulation. Then he gnawed through several boxes and packets before eating his way into a bag of walnuts, taking them out one by one and piling them up in a corner. Of course he hadn't figured out how he was going to get them back along the pipe. This went on for hours...but I couldn't do a thing about it as I am terrified of them...don't even like looking at them (they run up your trouser legs or go for your eyes!) Anyway Jade caught him the next day and got rid of him in the woods...now we have to re proof the cupboard and the traps are set in case he sends his mates along.

I couldn't resist another picture of the woods. At this time of the year everything is manageable in the garden and I can just look around and enjoy it. However all the trees are covered in their green fuzz of buds about to burst open and soon the bushcutter will have to come out for the first time. But for this moment I can just bask in the sun and the view.

26...Shrines and Beautiful Normandie

2011-03-20T18:35:00.000Z

Mary in a box

Although a secular country now, many if not all french villages and towns have these shrines built during the time they were a proudly Catholic country. Some are rather interesting designs...........

Pink Jesus

The one in our village has just been painted and he has become very salmon pink!

Suddenly, sunny days here have bought a lovely warmth and the countyside all around us is blooming.

Cherry Blossom

Apricot Blossom

In my garden every day brings new suprises.

Wood anenomes, Celandines and Daffs

The whole of our woods are a carpet of these flowers...I forget every year how georgeous it is.

St Germain d'Etables

Over the hill and not far away is a wonderful viewing point where you can sit and look up and down the valley. On the other side of these hills is the Avenue Vert where you can cycle from Dieppe to Paris. We last did this cycle with friends in June a couple of years ago, and in parts it was like cycling through a little paradise.

Jade my work experience student is back for another two weeks, so tomorrow it's back into the studio for a full on week of potting and gardening.

25...Pond cleaning and keeping warm

2011-03-11T17:55:00.000Z

The weather has been glorious this week, although freezing at night the days have been so sunny and bright that coffee and lunch have been outside every day, and I almost have a march tan on my face. It feels like the growing season has started too. In France everyone grows their own veg, and because of this there is a huge trade in plug plants at every market you visit. So for all the usual veg, lettuce, brassicas, tomatoes, strawberries, etc., you just buy 12 or 24 little plants and pop them straight in, Easy peasy and sold just at the time you need to grow them. This leaves more time for growing on seeds of more unusual varieties.


Somewhere in here is a pond

The improving weather has spurred me on to cleaning out the ponds. A bit late perhaps in the season, but I couldn't face it when it was colder. Anyway, there was no frog spawn yet so I went for it. This pond was more sludge than water, and by the end of the afternoon, so was I. Hundreds of grumpy newts headed for the hills and at the bottom was the hugest yellowest frog I've ever seen. It'll all look lovely again in a week or two.

In the studio work continues at a pace. This week I've thrown these two large 'Angels'. One of them will be a blueish colour, and the other I'm still thinking about.

I'm keeping myself warm in the evening by crocheting a blanket.

This is an ongoing project. Winter time I sit in the evenings listening to the plays on R4 (french telly doesn't do it for me) and knitting lovely jumpers. There is always wool left over, so at the end of winter I crochet some more stripes onto the bedspread...it keeps my knees warm too!

24...Does art transcend language?

2011-03-05T20:49:00.000Z

I have been living in France on and off for 30 years, and trying to learn the language for most of that time...very slowly. I have a very poor knowledge of grammer (70's schooling) and a reasonable vocabulary can only get you so far without a sound understanding of grammer to back it up. This means that making friends over here is also a slow business, especially in a small town where people can be anxious about engaging you in conversation because of the effort needed to keep the conversation going. Last year however, I organised an mixed exhibiton of Brighton artists and we showed at a Chateau in the next town. This got some local publicity and all of a sudden people were able to identify me as an artist. As far as they were concerned, this probably explained a lot! But it has meant that people are now more chatty...they know what they can talk about and next month I have been asked to show my work in the local Expositon d'Art at the Salle des Fetes, which means the chance of meeting more like minded people.
One of the local artists that I met through doing the exhibition at the Chateau de Bosmelet is a lovely lady called Gabrielle. She is a painter, and teaches art in Dieppe. She also organises many of the local exhibitions. She does that difficult thing of trying to work, look after a family and make paintings...I never know how people can do all three..what a juggling act.

Anyway, here are a couple of her paintings,

Le Fichu Rouge

La Bonne Mere

She also nipped over to my studio yesterday and drew me while I was constructing a sculpture

It's my hair she wants in the painting really!

Meanwhiled the action in the studio is hotting up. I'm still keeping to my daily list of things that have to be done before I can stop for the day.

This week I had a glaze firing out

and a bisq firing in. Sometimes packing the kiln with my spiky things can be fraught, they are not always easy to fit in and can end up perched on wobbly shelves.

Next weekend I will showing with Four Walls at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea. http://www.affordableartfair.com/
http://www.four-walls.co.uk/

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

2011-02-26T21:43:00.001Z

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

2011-02-20T18:51:00.000Z

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

2011-02-13T18:39:00.001Z

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

2011-02-06T19:32:00.000Z

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!

19...A week in January

2011-01-27T17:53:00.000Z

The valley obscured by clouds

Well, as you can see the January view from my studio window shows how wet it has been this month. And yet, the locals around here still instist on telling me how much it rains in england..cheek!

Anyway, I have been constructing Thistles this week. Once I have the internal shape thrown and turned I have to model the component parts and allow them to dry just a bit. Then each one has to be placed onto the body and arranged so that it falls naturally away from its ajoining fellow...you need fairy fingers for this.

Once the top is finished, the first set of leaves can be attached. This is the most important row as it sets the pattern for all the proceeding rows, it sets the size too.

At some point on day 2 or 3 the last leaf is attached and the sculpture gets put to one side to dry for several weeks...it is very weather dependent, high or low pressure makes a lot of difference to how long it takes before it can be biscuit fired.

Hannah's snowman

Some potters have little kiln gods or lucky charms which sit on their kilns to ensure a successful firing but I have a little snowman made by my goddaughter. His arm has fallen off on one side but I love him anyway.

18...Green shoots of recovery?

2011-01-22T11:25:00.000Z

According to the radio this week, it is 'officially' the most miserable week of the year, culminating in blue monday. For me however, last week was worse, I felt sad and grey all week, and very clumsy in the studio, my mood matched the weather. This week though has been better. The sun has shone all week, and although it is cold and frosty it lifts the spirits.

Walking around the acreage, I found the first snowdrops coming into flower. Within a couple of weeks there

will be banks of these all round the garden.

And a little Viola was raising its face to the sun. The days are also noticably pulling out now too....so definitaly better than last week.

Work has gone well in the studio too this week, and I have even managed to get a little ahead of my list.
This is down to the sun shining which means I can get the work out onto the window ledge, and drying off ready for the next stage.

By the end of next week these will be turned into Thistles....well, at least two of them will. One of them somersaulted off the window and into the pear tree..whoops!

I have also been working on the squirting cucumbers....very fiddly.

The headlines in our village this week was that we have reached our 1000th inhabitant. This is big news around here. There has been a huge programme of new house building, and the fields around the edge of our little town have been mushrooming new houses. They are mainly starter homes (although bigger than a starter home would be considered in England), and their architecture is a bit unimaginative. The aim is to increase the size of the town to 1500 inhabitants. The economy here is fragile, Dieppe and Rouen are the nearest places of work and the little shops in the village come and go. We have two hairdressers and two beauty salons which have replaced the bank and the insurance company. I can't imagine where all their customers come from.

17...Artichokes and Lollipop Pom Poms

2011-01-13T17:19:00.000Z

Scarecrow guarding an empty garden

What a week. Gales most days, grey and rainy. The thing about living in the middle of such a large garden is that you always notice the weather. The house rattles and bangs at night and after such a long christmas holiday, getting up to the studio before 9am has been a struggle. The garden sits waiting for the new season to start but meantime I still have leeks and Calva Nero in the beds to provide fresh veg.

Back in the studio I realise that as usual all the spring shows are looming and I won't have nearly enough time to make everything that I would like. So, to get myself going I make a batch of little Artichokes,

started with six and broke two. Then spent the rest of the week making Lollipop Pom Poms which means hollowing out dozens of little clay balls.

Then attaching each one, one by one onto the thrown internal form. Thank goodness for the dulcet tones of Radio 4 or I think I would go insane. However it's going to take a whole box of tissues to get through the Archers this week.

Next show up is the Affordable Art Fair in March which is held at Battersea where I shall be showing with Four Walls gallery.

www.four-walls.co.uk

www.affordableartfair.com

16...A cold dip and into the New Year

2011-01-05T16:24:00.000Z

A slightly delayed start to the year as I set off for Newhaven this morning in a beautiful dawn, but found the ferry had been canceled. It is time for the annual service and refit, and the boats were being changed this morning. So, an unexpected day on my hands which I filled by experimenting with my new iwork package and watching youtube photoshop tutorials. Ah well its work of a sort.

Anyway, I've had a lovely Christmas, frugal and quiet, and all the better for it. My friends and I made our presents for each other this year and as a result the gifts were lovely.

On Christmas morning there is a tradition in Brighton of taking a dip in the sea. This year it was a lovely sunny day with a calm sea and the beach was full of people, most of whom were not going in. The bathers all run in together at 11am, and a couple of minutes before, round the corner of the groyne, came a line of Santa's paddling on boards.

Santa's on the horizon

Anyway, when the time comes we all run in together,

scream, and run out again.

The council must have been worried this year as they had notices advising people to be extra careful and not to stay in too long. The water temperature which would normally be around 7-12 degrees at this time of year was 3.4 degrees. But, it is great fun and strangely you feel very warm when you come out.

So, into the New Year and I have a few things in the pipline which means I need to really focus now and get a good body of work built up. Over the holidays I have been playing around with a new Poppy idea, dying and threading monofilament into a Poppyhead sculpture.

Happy New Year all!

15...Christmas in France

2010-12-17T15:08:00.000Z

Village butcher

There is a tradition around Normandy (and probably around the rest of france too) to have your window painted seasonally, the artist always signing in the corner. In our village the windows are decorated by a lady who drives around in her handpainted van. After a while as you see the different windows around the region you can start to recognise the various styles of the artists.

The local restaurant

The Deli

The other businesses decorate their premises with sprigs of pine, bows and Santas.

Sometimes lots and lots of Santas..like an army of burglars scaling the building in full daylight!

This is a fashion which seems to have grown over the last ten years or so, I don't remember it being such a big thing before that. It's all very merry though.

Sunset over Dieppe

This week has been very cold, today as I left to go back to Brighton for Christmas the rain had been falling with a tinkling sound, and hitting the ground as ice, turning my brick courtyard into a skating rink. However as I cycled through Dieppe to the ferry the sun was setting over the town and bathing it in the most beautiful golden light.

Happy Christmas Everyone!!

14...A Glazing week

2010-12-10T16:19:00.000Z

Back to a very chilly house this week..but my water still running. Often in the winter when it gets very cold, I have to wait until the afternoon for the water to start flowing. Still, I've got a glaze firing to look forward to later in the week once I have all the work glazed.

Most potters will dip, pour or spray their glazes which is a quick way of giving a good covering, but because of the many different colours and types of glazes I use I am unable to employ these methods and have to brush all mine on by hand which can be a laborious job.

When they are this size they are reasonably easy to glaze as I can turn them upsidedown and make sure that I have every surface covered, I have many different size brushes which can get into every nook and cranny. But, when they are large pieces it is me that has to get upsidedown to do the glazing, and I will often have to sit on the floor painting the sculpture above me...tough work on my shoulders.

This morning (friday) was kiln opening morning. It is always very exciting when there is a new firing to open...this never seems to change, and it is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. This morning was no exception, and neither were the results. There was the usual mix of pieces well glazed, some disappointing experiments and a new glaze which should have been alright at this temperature, but wasn't. Still, all is not lost as they can be re fired.

One of the good things about being a potter is that whenever you need some new mugs, you can just make them! This morning we had our tea in new mugs still hot from the kiln...and the tea was lovely.

13...A new home for a sculpture

2010-12-01T13:41:00.000Z

Globe Thistles in situ

Last weekend one of my sculptures was bought as a surprise birthday present for a lovely Brighton lady. We went to set it up for her on sunday and discovered a beautiful roof terrace hidden right in the middle of Brighton. To get up to the terrace, we drove the car into a lift which took us to a secret car park...amazing.

Snow from kitchen window

This morning we woke to a light covering of snow, and since then it has continued snowing and the world is becoming quieter and quieter. I actually really like the snow, especially as it is such a rarity in Brighton, but I see on the Dieppe webcam that there is also a lot of snow over there, so I'm not looking forward to the cycle back!

12...A week in November

2010-11-27T13:52:00.000Z

November view from studio with snow

Rushed headlong into winter this week and had the first snowfall of the year, alternating with hailstones. Am keeping two woodburners going at any one time which means keeping on top of the kindling, sawing and chopping. I go to bed with 2 hot water bottles, then in the morning I force myself out of bed, run up to the studio to light the fire there, back to the kitchen to relight the Rayburn, then back to bed for a cuppa while it is all warming up. Then a big bowl of porridge to keep me warm. By the time I go back up to the studio, the smoke has cleared and it is warming up nicely.

Nearly full kiln

Managed to fill a kiln this week with some new ideas. There are a couple of galleries waiting for work and they want if before christmas, but ceramics are a slow old business and difficult to rush. The beauty of firing the kiln in the winter is being able to sit in a toasty warm studio the next day in a teashirt...its like being in a warm bath.


Divernet....Salon du Thé

Back to Brighton for the weekend to see the Open Houses in Firle. Two of the artists who are showing there will be in my Open House next may, follow this link for a peek....(http://www.kissysuzuki.com/page9.htm). Because the weather was so horrible, I took the train to Dieppe instead of cycling, and went to my favourite teashop there.


Macaroons and other wondrous cakes

The teashop part is upstairs. You choose a cake downstairs (always a Florentine for me), then go upstairs for a Lapsang and to watch the world go by. If you ever go to Dieppe this Patissiere is a must. The cakes are flights of fancy, and unlike most french cakes, are not hiding a custard middle!

11...Being put back together

2010-11-16T15:51:00.000Z

Throwing and turning clay into large sculptures is a very physical business, and the strange position that one adopts when sitting at the wheel can lead to lots of problems with posture and muscles. Carpel Tunnel is also a very common problem with potters and is something that I have been plagued with for a while. So, this weekend I went off with my partner to Fistral Bay near Newquay for a weekend of yoga, massage and general realigning of my skeleton.

View from Hotel window

To my shame I have never been down to Cornwall before, and we couldn't have asked for a better view of it than from our bedroom window.


Surfers at sunrise

This whole area seems to be surfer city. They were in the water from sun up to sun down...this pic was taken at 6.45 am and there were already three in the surf. This being mid november, I can't imagine what it is like in summer.

Add caption

This rainbow hung across the bay most of the weekend even when it was sunny and there was barely a cloud in the sky. Anyway, after much yoga, swimming, massage and sitting around in steam rooms, I shall be back to my studio tomorrow, trying not to to twist myself up into knots again.

10...Rosehips and Purple skies

2010-11-09T16:53:00.000Z

Evening sky from studio

This week in Normandie, as in most of Britain, we have been cowering under the autumnal onslaught of rain and gales. One evening earlier in the week there was a brief respite around sundown and the sky was washed with purple and golden clouds.....lovely. Rather than listen to the weather news I tune into the shipping forecast and see what is going to be happening in Dover/White, it is somehow easier to listen to, and retain the information...and terribly romantic.

Starting a Rosehip

At this time of year there are always lots of big, fat, juicy rosehips around. Another year I might be tempted to make some rosehip syrup (although it looks like a fiddle), but I am still up to my elbows in apples and quince. So, I decided to use them as inspiration for a new sculpture. This one is based on a sweet chestnut rose and I still haven't quite decided on how to glaze it although I'm thinking that a lime green and reddish glaze might work quite well.

Rig at Newhaven

Coming back last week I noticed this rig which has suddenly popped up in Newhaven harbour. Anyone know what its for?

9...Squirting cucumbers and some new ideas

2010-11-04T12:09:00.000Z

Gravel pits at St Germain

I've just come back from a weekend in Brighton. Much as I love living over here in rural Normandie, it only works for me because I can get back to Brighton frequently for a dose of city culture and to catch up with friends (and Strictly!). This weekend we dipped into the White Night festivities and enjoyed the bloodfest of vampires and zombies that was the city centre on saturday night.
On the way to the ferry I cycled down to the Avenue Vert, a great cycle track which will eventually link Paris to London. On the way there I went past this series of beautiful lakes which when I first came here were just gravel pits. Now they are filled with fish and during the season there are fishermen dotted all around patiently waiting for the Trout to bite.

Charolais cows

This white bull and his harem are on my route too. These are the cows that you will normally see around Normandie, you can tell by the lovely whiteness of them that you just have to give them a little squeeze for the creme fraiche to come right out!

Squirting cucumbers

I'm always keeping my eyes open for inspiration, and I found these curious specimens in the lovely Mrs Moles flower emporium. On looking them up I found them to be squirting cucumbers which build up pressure on the plant until they pop themselves off their stalk. They look spiky but are soft to handle.

A few ideas

Back in the studio I have been sketching out a few ideas, now I need to play around and decide on size and colour.

8...An October week with giant puffballs

2010-10-27T20:27:00.000+01:00

October view from studio window

A first frost this week but the garden is still very green. It doesn't look like it is going to be a particulaly colourful autumn this year. I would normally spend most of the day in the studio, but there is so much produce in the garden this year that I am having to spend the afternoons bottling and stirring jams. The garden also needs clearing and mulching.

Hamish shovelling free compost

Luckily in France, there is usually a huge pile of free compost at the local tip. This particular pile was steaming hot and smelling like a ripe fruit cake (sort of). We filled every sack we could find and the garden is slowly going to bed under a blanket of this lovely black stuff.

Sean with giant puffballs

The garden is also producing more than just fruit and veg. We have found nine of these so far this year, and they don't keep. I could fry up a meal for the whole village!

Poppy centre, pom poms and cornflowers

In the studio I have made a start on a few new things. The poppy centre will be filled with black monofilament once is has been glazed fired. But mainly I am thinking and designing.

Sloe vodka, Quince jelly, Contignac and Membrillo

In the kitchen the preserving goes on, albeit slowly as I can't get the membrillo to set. Only another two crates of quince to go. For the moment though, I just need to clear up as every surface, even the wall clock, seem to be covered in sticky jam!