Domestic Goddesses

The Dyson Goddesses

I have had a day of plates, after going mad yesterday and making loads of course I have had to process them all to day and that was a lot of fettling. Here are the Dyson Goddesses getting the colour treatment, I only had a few hours on them so tomorrow should see them finished. Lettering is going to read DOMESTIC GODDESSES.
Verification Vocabulary on the other side seems to have gone crazy, I embedded the stat counter yesterday and was astonished to see over 100 hits last night! Tonight’s word is “Smess” and Jess has posted it.

More Dyson Domestic Bliss

This is definitely the start of something. It was a plate destined for “the hand” but I am missing a vital component for that one, so now it’s the Dyson Queen, my one true, non-living love. Never, in the history of KS pots has Deidre Dyson gone onto a plate before, this is very exciting for me.
Shown here with just the black slip outline, very thinly applied to begin with, the dish is about 10 inches at the widest point.

A shocking amount of rain today and no electric AGAIN for at least an hour! More mud at the bottom of the hill to sweep up, so I am very glad I didn’t do it last week.

Word Verification - The Alternative Newspeak

My daughter Jess and I have come up with a new blog. My sister tells me this is being done already in a British newspaper; The Daily Mail. Yes I am shocked too, but she does genuinely seem to read this newspaper, personally, I have never.
Anyway, this time waster was born out of the word verification us bloggers sometimes are required to copy out when leaving a comment on another blog. Linda Starr sparked it off with a comment she left on my post about the poster and the lost French students. Follow this thread of comments and you get to see the beginnings of this daft idea that Jess picked up and threw to me.
So there it is, if you wish to adjust your sets Verification Vocabulary it is over on the other side. We hope to post a word a day. Please feel free to laugh, groan and comment.

The Kiln and the Domino Game

First phase of the copper ray is finished and in the kiln. Along with the square dish (now you have a visual reference for size). And there is the tea pot that I have been laboriously working on all week complete with crazy flora and one B52 bomber aeroplane which you might be able to see if you click on the image to enlarge.

Below is a very rushed shot of the Saturday domino championships yesterday being held in a garage (where else) whilst that poor stoical woman is set the task of mopping the pavement! They know how to treat their women here; she will have a great steaming pile of damp ironing inside and still have to feed the beasts at sunrise. But this is Spain and all is as it should be, having said that I still haven’t swept last weeks landslide up from the bottom of the hill and as I am the only resident under 70 in the street this tedious task does rather fall to me. Rain again today so I can let it build up a bit more yet.

Square Dish Phoenix

At last here is some work to show you, all in the leather hard stage before firing. The square dish above is something new-ish (this is the phoenix on the set of tiles I did a few months ago). I am trying to produce some plates that are quicker and so therefore cheaper, this little one was three hours from beginning to almost end so for a first one that’s not bad and I think I can cut that time down.

Below is the Mrs. Formby’s commission from the Joze Show, a big copper ray, he is quite large and seen here under wraps while I work on him. So far just the top is done, he gets attention in the afternoons now when the afternoon play is on the radio and I can just sit and scratch away. The weather has retuned to normal here, blue skies, sun and warmth so I have to watch he doesn’t dry too quickly.

In All Good Books Shops

I am working, on the hand still (and other things) but it is all hard labour back stage stuff with nothing interesting to see at all so until I get to the stage where I can photograph the work I thought you would like to see this. It would make a brilliant cover for a novel; the fly leaf could read something like this:

Nicole, precocious and talented is not quite fifteen when an exchange trip goes terribly wrong. Her father a prosperous Parisian banker brings in the police to investigate the incident in the night. As the city shudders with violence and change amid riots the mystery of how five French teenagers disappear in Delft unfolds at a terrifying pace.

I wonder if the English ME did find her YOU again?

What’s your synopsis?

A Very Quick Post

A quick post:- I was reminded of this day above when I saw a friends kitchen books and took a hasty photograph. It was because I was just reading Studio Judith’s latest post on her “Book Tree”; a very tall stack.
This one is not so much a tree as a thicket, but isn’t it a great idea for knives that need to be kept sharp?

The Shadow Of Sirius by W S Merwin

I am reading Merwin's profound book of new poems and they leave me breathless.

My Handiwork

This is very new work in its early stages which I am interleaving with more conventional potting. The hand (mine) will be open – I can say no more yet.

The Dry Martini

I have picked up some new blog people, thanks to Leonard Cohen I think, I should tell you now though it’s not all as gripping as the LC post.
You must be familiar with the saying watching paint dry….well watching clay drying is far more spectacularly tedious, even for a potter, there are limits and there comes a point when enough is enough and solace must be sought elsewhere. The damp clay and the storms that have been a-raging in the valley since Sunday have been enough to drive anyone to drink.

Binge-drinking is a scourge of our society...though strangely it never seems quite so appalling when I'm indulging in a very moderate bout of it myself.
On my return flight back to Spain last week I picked up a bottle of Plymouth gin, I had it in mind that I would recreate the ever so sophisticated cocktail I had on Burgh Island on my honeymoon, the dry Martini.
The result is far from perfect; mix martini and gin (so far so good) a green olive (again sounding good) pour into a tumbler resembling a jam jar(not so good). I have now discovered it is all in the container (and the dress and the place).

For those of you who may also be experiencing a recent weather blip I offer you the following.

Ingredients:
2 half ounce Plymouth gin
Half ounce dry vermouth
Green olive and or lemon peel
Ice!

Leonard Cohen

Yesterday we had some very bad storms here in Granada; they began in the afternoon and washed most of the loose soil and rock down the hill and into the village. Mop up today has been somewhat hampered by further rain and hail but still in true Spanish style the biggest digger in the world was driven out to scrape all the mud away.

Thankfully we did get to the show last night. And oh and what a show. There were shades of the local shop window about it, in so much as the gritted bull ring complete with cloven hoof stamped marks combined with the containment of so many Spaniards gave the event more than a hint of over excited chaos. Several times I saw a swarthy man impersonating a matador for his lady, like they just couldn’t help it. Refreshments were served from the callejón which is the wooden structure that circles the arena and acts as the escape route, everybody seemed to love standing up on tip toes to reach a drink.

The evening was all very social to begin with particularly on the bullring floor and although there were allocated seats nobody seemed to be sitting in them. Groups stood around smoking (yes smoking, everybody smoked) and drinking and talking. Then suddenly without any warning the entire arena was sunk into darkness and complete pandemonium ensued. The band had started to come onto the stage, everyone is desperately trying to locate their seats which have moved, literally as none of them fastened down but with their numbers on the chairs themselves what is to stop you rearranging them! Remember this is Spain.

Well a sort of sitting down eventually happened. Then Leonard came on, a roar goes up and everyone is up, chars folding shut. The first ovation lasts forever. Your man wears a pin stripe suit and a rakish fedora, “it’s been a long time” he says. The first number is Dance with me, it is long and brilliantly arranged and as the sound guys get the feel of this bullring with 3,000 people right the music emerges beautifully.

The entire band was nothing short of flawless, spellbinding, and the venue was extraordinarily intimate. Leonard Cohen held us all in the palm of his hands with his beauty and his disarming humility. This was a true legend doing his magic for each of us, imploringly sensual and deeply spiritual. Everyone was rapt.

Discovering Leonard Cohen for the first time was a life-defining experience, and seeing him for the first time made it all perfect. NB library picture.

Getting into the Right State of Mind for Leonard Cohen

Well, tonight is the big night! I feel like I am readying myself for a meeting with God, I am entering a state of grace here. Last night the great man played Madrid with a 3 hour set. The reviews are fantastic.
These photographs are of a cemetery in Plymouth and were taken by my daughter Jess, I really felt they were right for today, and so obviously did she.

And the final words from Leonard Cohen:

"Like a bird on the wire

Like a drunk in a midnight choir

I have tried in my way to be free"

Press from The Joze Show

This is quite a big image and you will need to click it bigger if you want to read it. The last weekend of the show commences at 2.00pm this afternoon, and at the same time tomorrow. I hear from Josie that it is still the most glorious weather in Sussex, England, you know the sort of thing - apples thudding to the ground, blackberries glinting in all the hedgerows and probably the distant roar of an overhead hot air balloon, I kid you not!

The Children's Book by A S Byatt

I am back in my Spanish studio and have begun reading this book; The Children’s Book by A S Byatt. This latest novel from Byatt promises to be staggeringly detailed and in particular within the world of ceramics. It is full of the most wonderful descriptions of pots from Pallisy to William De Morgan. The story begins in the dry store rooms of the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). A small boy is discovered living in the store; he has run away from Burslem and his life in the Potteries. He try’s to communicate his desire to “make something”. This is misunderstood as wanting to make something of life. He repeats,

“I want to make something….”. his minds eye saw an unformed mass of liquescent mud. He looked around, like a baited bear, and saw the flaming de Morgan lustre bowel on the mantleshelf. He opened his mouth to comment on the glaze and decided against it.

The acknowledgements mention Edmund De Wall who invited Byatt to visit his studio and let her feel the clay on the wheel "(he) allowed me to put my hands into a wavering pot" Byatt says.
Mary Wondrausch is also credited “whose book on slipware – apart from being full of interest – was also full of technical information and delectable vocabulary".

I thoroughly recommend it to all who are interested in pots, potters and stories.

Online Catalogue Joze Show

Chrystaline vase by Peder Wilhelm McCanless
The catalogue is live now, although we are still working on some of the images.

The Joze Show Preview

A few photographs form the preview. Me above and Polly George above that in her amazing outfit. I will try and put up some more words and photographs later but I am fighting for computer use with my husband.
It was a great preview and there weemed to be hundreds of people there.

Taste Sensation

Here it is, still hot from the kiln. Just dashing out of the door now to the airport. More posts when I get to England and I hope pictures of the preview.

Domestic Bliss Donation

I have donated the pot “Domestic Bliss” to Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery to be part of their permanent collection. I am very pleased; it was made just under a year ago. It is the fifth pot I have done on my Dyson which I adore. I have a theory about the machine, that it has this ingenious plan to turn itself into human form.

I began this theory when after visiting people I would see their Dyson standing in the kitchen, or the hall, or the living room; you name it, there it was. Far too big to go into a cupboard, it stalks the home. Like The Third Policeman’s bicycles I wondered if they (the Dysons) were taking on human characteristics by human contact too. My much traveled Dyson in Spain (the utter envy of the village) sits in the inner hall; there is no space big enough for it. When it was in England it was the same and I even considered sewing it a dress at one point.

A few years ago in England "Dyson" stopped sucking, eventually I called the helpline and went through all its serial numbers while lying face down on the carpet next to the machine which was also face down. An engineer was dispatched; I was told I would have to pay a callout fee plus any parts. Well, this guy came, all tooled up and in uniform (it was this that gave me the idea for the dress) and joy of joys he had a little rug upon which to work. Woven into the rug were Dysons, actually knotted in the tuft. He set to work in my living room on hands and knees (it was like mouth to mouth resuscitation) I watched intently and then suddenly the engineer realised that next to him was the biggest pot I have ever made (actually it was made by my apprentice not me at all). Anyway the vase matched his knotted carpet piece exactly. It was a double take moment, he looked, looked again and then again. A funny moment you will agree.

I could not get him to part with his Dyson test carpet, I really tried. However, he didn’t charge for the call out or the new motor or the new cylinder and the machine is as good as new. The pot was over a meter high and I dropped it packing it up to go to Germany for an exhibition! Picture below of the giant pot. Circa 2000.