Kitty's Granada Studio

Back in Granada after the UK Exhibition

2011-10-09T18:35:00.005+02:00

Last of the Kiln

2011-09-19T15:11:00.004+02:00

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Dish

Ivory and Black Lotus Jar

The Oozlum Bird Tile

Kiln is out!

2011-09-08T19:56:00.008+02:00

All Pheromone and Wing, Lavish Moth Vase

Mille-Fleur a Vase of a Thousand Flowers

The Conjurer's Bird of Ulieta with Cats Cradle

The Net Closes

2011-09-02T09:55:00.000+02:00

I have finished the plate at last and added a cats cradle net, the kiln was on last night with the super scary moth pot in so fingers crossed the wings stayed on!

Flying Fish

2011-08-29T18:27:00.002+02:00

I have done a little more on the fish plate today, those little pink ones are taking forever to paint though.

Cream and Black Scraffito Jar

2011-08-27T17:05:00.002+02:00

Another one finished! Well that is all apart from the lid which is not even made yet let alone painted and carved.

This jar is about 15 inches tall and is cream slip over black. I don’t even want to think about the amount of hours I have spent on it or the ensuing emphysema I may develop as a result of all the scraffito work.

Flying Fish

2011-08-23T21:37:00.003+02:00

I have just got to share this one quickly with you all, it is the latest plate which consists of two harlequin fish surrounded by hundreds of tiny fish. Its taking an age to paint!

Finished

2011-08-17T20:05:00.002+02:00

One slight crack on a the corner of a very elevated wing right at the bottom which I think will not be a problem as it doesn't go all the way through. I have got to leave it alone now or I will ruin everything.

Super Scary Moth Vase

2011-08-15T17:46:00.006+02:00

Thanks to the wonders of Cling Film I have been able to work on this pot for an incredible EIGHT months!!! Goodness I didn’t think it was that long. I have been taken away for the workshop quite a lot this year but I am glad to say that I am back at work again. I hope it survives the kiln, I have never had things winging off like this before, it is also an absolute sod to decorate! Cracks are appearing around the wings but I think they will go disapear once I have finished stressing it out with all this wet slip I am applying.

Big Bird #2 Finished

2011-06-30T14:33:00.003+02:00

Three cats cradles, two foxes later, now under a section of an old billard table drying FLAT, I hope.

Big bird #2

2011-06-28T16:58:00.001+02:00

In the processing still, colours will change as that is cobalt I have used where it looks purple now. ALso adding the cats cradles this afternoon.

Cats and Birds

2011-06-14T20:23:00.003+02:00

Better lighting for this photograph, she is quite a bird this one! Too tired to write but I may add something tomorrow.

The Cats Cradle

2011-06-10T18:41:00.005+02:00

The creative road is a very hard one at the moment and I have been pushing myself to get something out of my stream of consciousness which has been all jumbled up like a TV tuned to 20 channels at once. I think it must be a safely setting in my head. If there is a difficult image in there everything gets layered up so that I can only glimpse it for a moment so I can't get an emotional overload.

Eventually though I get to compute it. Sometimes it is like this and the only thread of hope is that IF I can break through the pain barrier the results are usually quite good. For months now I have been staring at blank surfaces waiting and trying to work out what was stopping me from working and what am I actually doing here (this is a big HERE by the way).

Anyway there is a crack now where the light gets in. For several weeks now I have been drawing the phases of the Cats Cradle and reconstructing the patterns of its significance in my memory. ~~Today I intended carving the Cats Cradle onto a plate~~.....the significance of it is achingly vast.

This is what I wrote this morning on Blipfoto after phase 1. See here what is under the paint! First I carved and then as you see I painted over it, the result is above. Not finsihed yet, everything just got way too wet. Talk about over worked - the plate, not me. I feel much better now.

Sorry for the absence!

Jessica Shepherd

2011-05-03T11:05:00.002+02:00

This is the work of my daughter, she is a botanist a botanical illustrator, these grapes are very recently finished and she has had 20 Giclee prints made of them, they are available from my website, two have now sold so the next one available is 3/20.

New Works

2011-04-28T18:43:00.004+02:00

It has been weeks since I posted anything up. A combination of catching a horrid cough which ended up with my having to take antibiotics (still not gone) and a trip back to England. So I haven’t been working and neither has my computer which decided to give up the ghost at roughly the same time. But now I am tooled up again with a lovely new one with 2 screens which is fabulous and now my desk looks and feels like the flight deck of the Star Ship Enterprise.

I am working on two pots at the moment, a commission (not shown) and this one which is big. Here I am putting on the background, a labour of love, but I can hold it in Clingfilm and pick it up and put it down with out a worry that it is going to dry up. I did the lip and neck fist as this is the hardest part to keep damp. I have worked this pattern before on the Dyson vase, to keep the brightness in the colours I have to fill in with the black slip aroubd each flower.

Kiss Me Quick

2011-03-11T18:56:00.003+01:00

I finished this one today; it is for a wedding that is due to take place in Brighton (UK) on the 26th of March! I have gone with the seaside theme of Mr. Whippy and the 99’s. The colours are going to be a bit bright I think. If you see a spelling mistake, tell me now before it's too late.

The Latest from the Workshop

2011-03-03T12:41:00.003+01:00

Five pieces ready for the paint! It is freezing cold here still and my main motivation is to fill the kiln so I can switch it on.

It's not all Pottery

2011-02-26T20:38:00.002+01:00

This is where I live....I have to keep telling myself that this is real! Today has been a beauty of a day with a high of 23 degrees and two swifts (the first of the spring and a day earlier than last year).

Super Scary Moth

2011-02-22T21:20:00.000+01:00

Work in progress here, the moths are even more terrifying with colour. Here I have just sketched on detail; there is a long way to go yet!

Carbon

2011-02-16T10:00:00.003+01:00

I have been creating a carbon footprint the size of a Yeti. Back and forth to England like a yo-yo, hence no workshop pictures, but the super scary moth pot is covered with 3D moths now so more on that piece in the next few days and I am locked down for the next six weeks in the studio.

I saw a couple of my commissioning clients last week and also had a meeting about a new potential commission for a restaurant in Sussex which is very exciting, big job though. Photo above of the hills and the damp earth this morning.

20th Century Decorative British Tiles

2011-01-27T18:25:00.007+01:00

I always forget that my work is in this book. Chris Blanchett took some photographs of some of my fish tiles in 1999, the book is available from Amazon here.

Pie Birds

2011-01-26T12:35:00.003+01:00

I have just put a new pie bird into my on-line shop, £20.00 including p&p to Europe and United Kingdom.
It is too cold in the workshop to get any work done on the big scary vase so it is tightly wrapped in cling film and waiting for a warm front to arrive. We had snow over the weekend!

Super Scary Vase with 3D Moths

2011-01-14T16:53:00.008+01:00

Words can not express just how excited I am about this latest big pot. I have broken all the rules and made it out of the wrong type of clay (there is not a speck of grog in the body) Grog for those uninitiated in the art of ceramic building is a grit/sand addition that gives the clay a better chance of not exploding and is better for fixings (and so no, grog in this case is not whisky, mores the pity).

The moths are in various stages of take-off and I think that this is the frightening element and they are twice life size too. I am using clingfilm to handle the moths through and there is a lot of scoring and slip to fix, I hope they stay on. Maybe a bit more tomorrow if I get the chance to work on it. See earlier post for colour of the moths, the background however will be darker in every sense of the word.

Moth Bowl

2011-01-11T17:03:00.002+01:00

A bit of pure slipware for today, this very small bowl is entirely slip-trailed and jeweled in white under a transparent glaze. The moth is the Mervielle du Jour.

New Vase

2010-12-28T19:40:00.005+01:00

I have just put the lugs on this vase after a slow build over Christmas. Measures around 17 inces tall and all coiled, it is beautifully light because I took my time as there was so much else to be getting on with! Design to follow.

My Daughters Christmas Present

2010-12-24T12:33:00.004+01:00

I couldn't really post this little piece until now or my daughter would have seen it. It is a small lidded pot for her tea leaves, it would also take a glass jar of jam perfectly. I have written an inscription inside the lid. Because of the snow in England she is not going to receive it until the New Year, but here it is Inky!

Happy Christmas

2010-12-22T14:35:00.007+01:00

Happy Christmas from the singing cats of Spain!

Onward into 2011 I go. Everything being equal I will pass through into 2011 without incident and with all the new designs and ideas that I have been working on this year. Over the last few weeks I have been ordering the sequence of how I achieve everything I intend. I have arrived at a time and place where I able to dedicate a year or more to building a significant body of work. I seriously need a curator to direct the collection towards a selling exhibition, but that is a minor issue at the moment. I am carrying on regardless making large scale floor standing ginger jars on the theme of magic and creation, looking at the reflection of desire that stems from magic. I have always been lost to myth, wonder and fairy lore and even as ordinary life carries on I still tend to be picking flowers that promise immortal life and dipping my fingers into dragon blood. It is this other world that I am working to bring to life now through a series of standing jars, wall works and suspended pieces. The birds were the beginning for me, they were a glimpse into that other world.

I still have several every exciting commissions to complete; I will be showing their development here.

Hasta luego!

Kitty

Vivien Westwood goes Fishing

2010-11-24T10:56:00.003+01:00

A new tile from the kiln, this one is for sale on my website, it comes in a solid oak frame with an open back ready for hanging, postage is included for Europe and United Kingdom, but please enquire for other countries.

Back from England

2010-11-22T09:55:00.004+01:00

Small plate of the Oozlum bird in a red room on an egg. This one is going into the shop on my web site very shorty for £200 including postage and packing to Europe and UK but for other destinations please e mail me for a quote.

Pickles and Gigi Jar

2010-11-15T17:16:00.004+01:00

They are out of the kiln! Packing them up now for the journey to England.

Two Cats, the Other Side

2010-11-04T18:46:00.004+01:00

Gigi the cat is on this side. This little minx ran away last week much to its owners worry. All is well now though and she has returned. Swathed in Cling Film this pot is taking forever to complete but I think it is going to worth it in the end.

Jar with Two Cats

2010-11-01T18:33:00.004+01:00

I am back on the two cats. I had to wrap and leave this one for a week so thank goodness for clingfilm it really does just hold the clay in a stable leather hard condition for as long as it is in place. I had hit a wall with the ginger cat, Pickles, and needed to get back to the drawing board on her. She is coming along nicely now, but she needs a lot of layers of slips to get her coat right.

Below is another tile which will go onto my website on-line shop next week. These tiles post and pack so well they really lend themselves to mail order. I am very ice creamed out now though, but the reason is this; I had a commission to make the jar (see last post) and I started a tile to test colours then decided to just go for it on the jar but was left with a Mr Whippy tile so it had to be finished.

My newsletter is still in the out box, I am just waiting for one more bit of work on it before it goes so if you have not signed up and you would like to receive one next week, this is the place to sign.

News Letter

2010-10-23T18:02:00.006+02:00

I now know where all the time goes; its things like accounts and the marketing. This is the first build of my new news letter, please sign up for it here if you are interested in receiving a missive every few months and it could be months before I actually decide on a version I like.

I am trying to keep it really simple, it is just another way of keeping in touch and distributing news. It won't be in Latin by the way, that is designer filler..apparently (eyes roll up to the ceiling, I have to live with this). New addition is a Spanish translation on the home page. Oh, this is news isn't it, I should have saved that bit. Never mind you heard it here first.

I am also working on a video diary which is going to be a hoot, let me tell you all previous attempts have been hilarious. I need to buy some serious editing software before I go any further otherwise the full boring unedited version could be out there at cinema near you, not suitable for a nervous disposition!

Dull in Andalusia today, the first clouds we have seen for weeks and weeks.

The Jar with Two Cats

2010-10-22T14:15:00.003+02:00

Coming along here, you can see the outline of the cat. Colours change and hopefully the cat is going to be ginger. This one is Pickles. The other side will have Gi Gi the black cat.

Crimson Speckled Moth

2010-10-18T10:07:00.002+02:00

A big image for a tiny moth, so click on it for a bigger view. These moths are all over our village here in Granada at the moment, never seen them before and certainly not in these numbers. They come from Africa and are a hot weather moth.

Tile

2010-10-15T19:21:00.005+02:00

Another tile, I am getting some stock ready for my online shop on my website for the Christmas rush. Here she is, that mad bird Vivien in the raw and not finished yet, I am thinking eggs or foliage and wish I had done some paper resist behind her before I began. Dots for Linda Starr!

Gi Gi

2010-10-12T17:03:00.005+02:00

Introducing Cat Gi Gi; my first test tile for this kitten before she goes onto the pot, see her photograph below. I thought she would be the most difficult because she is ebony black but in fact she came together quite easily, whether it will fire as I imagine is another matter or indeed if this portrait actually looks anything like her. I have used a very dark turquoise for the highlights to her fur.

Below is my ticking counter....this is to see just how many actual contact hours I spend on this jar. So far the whole idea has been a bit depressing as I have been in the workshop for two days now and this is all I have to show for contact time! I must do an awful lot of faffing about I think, but in truth I am working on other things at the same time. It is going to be an interesting experiment.

Morning Mist

2010-10-09T10:54:00.001+02:00

Just had to share this one with you all

New Plate

2010-10-08T18:15:00.004+02:00

What the heck! Bird on the egg here and this is the first time I have ever put anything inside a room, so who knows what is going on with my psyche at the moment. Shown here in the raw and still not finished yet, I can see now that I look at the picture I need to get a bit more definition on that egg. It is the same ballet bird as before but now he has been left to mind the clutch (of one!).

Heading Back to England

2010-09-21T13:06:00.009+02:00

I have another show and it is so soon after the last one too. I will be, showing some new work and some old work that didn't sell the first time around. Above the Concord jar, made 2 years ago but not sold (it has to go). Next a small vase covered in roses in full bloom, from 3 years ago, also available. The show is in aid of St Wilfred's Hospice a local charity to Chichester in West Sussex, so the more we sell the more we make for the charity. The one below is huge, made 3 years ago, I call it free fall, I will be delighted if I sell this one. Last one featured here is the Racing Silks jar, from 3 years ago, it has to GO!

New Web Site is LIVE

2010-09-15T13:53:00.002+02:00

My new website is officially launched! Please have a look, I have made my husband greyer than he is already going with the trick on the Studio Pieces page which allows you to view a piece magnified; his company built the site for me. The sales page is new too, there are just a few pieces here at the moment and I would really like to sell other artist and makers work here later. I am also working on a news letter which you can sign up for on the home page.
Feed back welcome!

Little Green Bird gets the Royal Stamp

2010-09-10T11:56:00.009+02:00

Isn't this wonderful? My daughter gave these to me on the day of the preview for the Joze Show. In the United Kingdom you can have these stamps made up by the Royal Mail which I think is a great idea, they are called Smilers. So this little chappie has made it onto a stamp and even better the plate sold on the day too, along with the Ballet Bird below! Also Picked up a super commission for a jar with cats.

Clay and Blogs telling a Story

2010-09-09T12:48:00.005+02:00

Check out the new on line gallery here

I have just arrived back form a 1000 mile ride on the back of the bike! The Joze Show was a great success and thanks to all who managed to make if for the preview.

Other pictures of the journey are on Blipfoto here.

Salamanca Plaza Mayor

2010-08-30T21:39:00.010+02:00

One of the most beautiful squares in Spain is the Baroque style Plaza Mayor and it i certainly one of the most lively and popular places in Salamanca. I could not resist this girl in red on the telephone standing high on the balcony, it made me think of My Castle in Spain and how much Lala would have loved this subject to photograph and so I dedicate it to her latest post on capturing the local personalities.

I arrived in England last night after a very long bike ride.

40 degrees in mid Spain

2010-08-26T18:47:00.002+02:00

We are on the road to Santander in 40 degrees! This is too hot for the bike but we are stopping off a lot and there has been so much to see. Below in the streets in Merida jets of pressurised water are there to keep you cool.

Bird Tiles

2010-08-20T10:16:00.005+02:00

This is one of the latest bird tiles, I am going to be selling these on my new web site in my shop. The site is coming along very nicely, I am driving my husband MAD with trixy requests and facilities that need hours of programming (wife's prerogative I feel).

The planning for the journey is underway, we need Harley D pannier liners for the bike to max out our packing space.The husband telephoned a shop in Escondidio California and left a message on their answer phone that went like this; Hello, I think it must be quite early in the morning there! I see on-line that you sell felt pannier liners, could you let me know if you can FedEx them to me for Monday? (Now this is the bit that I think will have had the mechanics in stitches) he continued, give me a bell, speak to you later; cheerio! He might as well have said toodle pip. He sounds like a matinee actor at the best of times. Anyway they are not coming, 4 weeks for delivery, so it's a Tesco plastic carrier bag, one in each side. How will I ever live it down, and we are staying in 4 star hotels on the way back!

You got to check out this Antonio Banderos chap here on Blipfoto

Bring on the Fish

2010-08-18T10:54:00.003+02:00

Bring on the fish now. One big ray at the top with scrolled feet and three supporting juveniles.

The Kiln is OPEN

2010-08-17T19:05:00.003+02:00

I am not going to bombard you as there isn't a huge amount but this oddity came out this afternoon, at first I wasn't sure about it at all, but it is growing on me. Very female species!

The Kiln is ON

2010-08-16T16:18:00.004+02:00

This is photograph of the lake yesterday, it is still very hot here but down here there was a cooler wind from the waters surface. Pictures soon of the kiln load, I am preparing for the journey back to the future with the work, this time on a motorbike with a chase vehicle carrying the work.

My Daughter

2010-08-12T10:31:00.002+02:00

This is by Jess my daughter, go and have a look at her blog, it is full of botanical illustrations that are wonderful.

New Web Site

2010-08-11T10:04:00.004+02:00

I am getting a new web site! You know the way it goes....marry a plumber and you will be the last person in your neighbourhood to get a new boiler, well I married the web designer! He is pretty good at doing things for family but he is always so very busy.

This is the first page mock up, all the programming is being done now and I am even being allowed to have a contribute option so I can upload images myself. See the sales button????? Very exciting stuff. BTW, the gold did not work on the lid of the large bird jar, so I am abandoning that idea and hoping that lustre does indeed burn out above 900C.

The Last Pot

2010-08-10T19:55:00.003+02:00

I always go right up to the line with work for an exhibition and this is the one that nearly got away. The owl is a bit distorted because of the bow of the jar, on the other side there is N O T H I N G yet! All has to be packed and sent in a week.

New Website

2010-08-08T18:36:00.003+02:00

I am getting a new web site and I have to make some design decisions; how do I show my big studio pieces? I thought something like this with the whole pot and then some detail? I just can't decide. Pot above is from 2006 - how my work has changed, I really liked this vase but it got smashed in the gallery when huge painting fell off the wall and crashed into it. All was not lost though because someone glued all the pieces to gather again and filled every crack with gold leaf, it looked even better and now the gallery keeps it in their lavatory!
Gold lustre is on the lid only tonight in the kiln, that way if it is a disaster then I have time to make another lid!

The BIG One

2010-08-05T16:20:00.002+02:00

I intended to fire this whopper again with gold lustre and fill in all the cream back ground, opinions welcome please on this?

Two new Birds

2010-08-04T10:26:00.004+02:00

Ballet bird; I love him so much, right down to his balloon necklace to aid flight, is that called buoyancy?

Little green bird has no buoyancy problems at all for he is hovering like a Harrier Jump Jet here.

From the Kiln

2010-08-03T20:01:00.006+02:00

All fired and finished. Measuring 16 centimeters across and 7 centimeters high and as it is as light as a feather it will not too expensive to post when it goes into the online shop.

Clay and Blogs:Telling a Story

2010-07-30T14:29:00.006+02:00

This little bowl is for my new online shop. The kiln is on tomorrow and again on Sunday night.The processes for making it have been many.

The bowl is an evolved version of my huge flat rays which are made by slumping clay over a hump. I have thrown this one on the wheel and turned its bottom to make it curved. Then I carved away the rim to begin the look of a tail and a nose. Afterwards I covered the bowl in jet black slip, applying several layers, and then I did the same with the white slip. When they have dried so that I can touch without spoiling I carve the pattern through the white to reveal the black. Two firings will complete the bowl.

The Shop Window returns

2010-07-26T18:42:00.003+02:00

It's shop window time again, regular readers may remember this window, it is one of a pair which I occasionally photograph for your delight.

So here we have very carefully crafted paper-quill bees which I think are probably what this window is all about, however to say that they are the lynch pin of this assorted display is probably going too far. The multi paper card leaning up at the back crops up in almost every window display they do, all I can say is there must be a real demand for rah-rah gingham edging and silk bullion cord in this village. NB The three strips of curling patterned paper are purely there for window dressing purposes.

The theme I think is that of the needle and thread. The clever zip display, the balls of knitting wool and the embroidery haberdashery all sit well with the lace and the needles in packets. But what are those two scraps in the front, they literally look like a couple of leftovers off the gold and silver lame braid roll. It is obviously so expensive they could only snip off a couple of centimeters, it's not like it fades (mores the pity)!

The same restraint is not in evidence with the hosiery addition to the window, we clearly have opened packets on show here; and this is where the window begins to fall apart. In fact all these windows (and I have been snapping them for a while) have some random element to them. In this case it is definitely the half insoles that are the odd ones out here. I wonder if maybe the button cupboard is now off limits to the dresser, but then she would have never been able to follow those strict rules of structure and flow with buttons and the manikin's leg does lend a sense of reality and authority to the window.

The Joze Show 2010

2010-07-20T19:38:00.017+02:00

The ceramic artists showing at The Joze Show this year are all below, each image is a link. It promises to be an astonishing show again this year. Website design by my husbands company Limongrafica.

Kitty Shepherd

Sophie MacCarthy

Morag MacInnes

Sally Everett

Matthew Chanbers

Annabel Munn

The First 3D Bird Makes it Through the Kiln

2010-07-13T12:58:00.005+02:00

Bird in the biscuit stage, lots of copper on her head and breast. Legs are going to be metal and embedded into a block of concrete probably.

Another Jar of Birds

2010-07-06T19:35:00.005+02:00

Here are a few pictures of the jar I am working on right now. It is quite big and it is going to the Joze Show in September. The jar is going to be covered in birds and leaves, there will be three or four big birds like the two above. The in the lower branches there will be smaller birds all very brightly coloured. I have an idea for the background but that is secret for now.

In order to work in what is now a very hot 40 degrees outside I am devoted to my industrial catering size roll of cling film which keeps the pot stable for weeks when applied correctly. Nice and tightly with no air. Inside I pop a damp cloth or two into the pot to help with the humidity.

If you ever want to see what I am doing anywhere else apart form the studio then have a look at BLIPFOTO, the link is on the top right of the page and it is a daily photo blog.

The Birds are Taking Over

2010-06-22T18:55:00.009+02:00

I am working on three things (actually four but I have not shown the fourth in this post) and the birds are definitely taking over. Top owl is a detail of a tile I have been wanting to do, the owl plate went off to New Zealand and I wanted to develop this bird. With this in mind below is a smallish plate with a fantasy bird (you don't say) based on the owl.

The plot gets oh so much thicker with the 3D versions. This is the first one off the bench. Thrown and altered, a prototype for an idea below and clearly not an owl. The modelled birds (not shown) have eyes like nails (because you know the way those pesky birds look at you, it is just like that) and his legs are screws (at the moment, I may find another way).

Little Green Bird

2010-06-10T19:52:00.003+02:00

I am back in the workshop. Looks to me like my work is getting more crowded, more populated and the Garden of Earthly Delights is just around the corner for me I think.

16 days Earlier

2010-06-03T11:54:00.014+02:00

I feel like I have been away from Granada for ever. It was in fact just 16 days but I did pack a whole lot in to this particular leap back to the future. First job was to vote in the UK elections, we got back on Election Day to scoop up our polling cards and rush down to the voting booths.

Second job was to deliver all my work to the gallery. With a day to spare before the preview I immersed myself in telly-vision; an experience intrinsically linked to my kind of time travel and one I really only experience when in this mode. Real time telly keeps me enthralled and with the election too I was boring about it to be honest.

My pots looked different to me in the gallery, they always do, it is like I see them for the first time once the pots and I have been separated. I think they were very difficult to display, I have not shown flat ware before so there was a sort of conflict going on with them and the flat paintings. My jars are much easier to display, that said, a lot sold.

The photographs top and below are of the inaugural preview of Square One Art in Arundel. This is a new gallery venture by Andrea Schulewitz. Top shot was a happy accident and I LOVE it, (very Joy Division) the red sculpture is by Andrea. The opening artists are Neale Howells and Noe Baba and they still have a couple of weeks to run, see it if you can.

Anne Sutton and Neale Howells at Square 1 Art

Quilts 1700 – 2010

I also went to see the quilts exhibition at the V&A too. Quilts 1700 – 2010 is a mesmerising collection of stitches, appliqué and patchwork beds galore. Once I had got over the poor lighting and the cold air jets (reasons explained to me patiently by my museums daughter) I settled down to ravish my eyes on this incredible collection. I did however have to read out several of the explanatory boards to those who hadn’t availed themselves of the audio kit available at the door. I feel my Joyce Grenfell impersonation was better than anything on offer from the headsets quite frankly. And really the gathered gawping needed the stimulation because the dimmed lights and the dormitory of beds was enough to reduce even the most hardened exhibition goer to a stupor and a desire to climb in and tuck up.

Quilt photographs by Caroline Briggs see BBC slide show here

Finally I had my 50th birthday in May and so did my husband. We rented a huge house and had a house party, but more barmy than that we bought each other another Harley Davidson (see last post). Then we made the rash decision to leave the car behind in England and ride back to Spain. Our luggage went on ahead of us and we hit the open road. One word; EPIC! It was and continues to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. Below; loading at Portsmouth with the lorries and a lot of other bikes, the noise was deafening.

Coming Back to Granada

2010-05-14T21:08:00.003+02:00

We are coming back to Granada on this little beauty! The exhibition in Sussex UK is going really well and I have sold loads of plates! Now I am desperately trying to organise excess baggage because we have to get everything into these two panniers and as we were going to drive a car back our expectations have been somewhat quashed. So, local friends we will be car-less for the summer. Bike info: Harley Davidson Road King (stage 1) 96inch or 1584 cc's. Flipping Heck!!!!!!!

Two Small Dishes

2010-05-02T12:42:00.001+02:00

Fresh from the Kiln

2010-05-01T20:14:00.002+02:00

Bikes at the Lake

2010-05-01T14:02:00.002+02:00

Just a little snatch of the Lake and what we get up to there.

The Bird know as Rudolf Nureyev

2010-04-29T18:23:00.004+02:00

This is very last minute but here is the bird know as Rudolf Nureyev fluffing up his pink ballet legs as though they were tights. He strikes a great pose here but then he would do, his stock is that of the long legged waders famed for standing so still. That said, I feel his aplomb is slightly lacking here, captured as he is, in the famous Sauté position, Rudy just about carries it off.
Unfired and late for the kiln he may not make it to England this time!

The Kiln is ON

2010-04-29T10:43:00.003+02:00

This is the one that almost got away, actually there are two of these. 8 inches square black slip on top of white. The kiln is full to the gunnel's so expect more pictures in a few days! By the way - all the birds have four feet in Spain.

Another Bird Finsihed

2010-04-23T14:44:00.004+02:00

All these plates and pots are going to the Zimmer Stewart Gallery in Arundel West Sussex England. They will arrive there for the 6th May and go on to general exhibition form the 8th May for three weeks. The plate above is small at only 22 cm's.

Two more form the kiln

2010-04-22T11:12:00.002+02:00

The Snow Queen Bird

The Bird Known as Lucille Ball

Two more form the kiln

2010-04-21T20:28:00.001+02:00

The Drawings

2010-04-20T17:40:00.007+02:00

I am nearly finished with this little collection. The last pots are still in process and no, I haven’t forgotten the Bird Cage jar, it still needs a lid, and that is why I haven’t finished it yet. But it does have to go in the next firing so I need to get on with it.

This little jar here is only 12 inches tall, I have put all the drawings on it from the bird plates, it is interesting to see how they change when they go into colour and paint mode. No lavish tail feathers here, rather it is all about the beaks. I love they way things develop depending on their execution. Black slip over cream slip; I might put some gold or silver lustre on too.

Introducing the Bird known as Bridget Jones

2010-04-14T19:16:00.003+02:00

Bridget is a bit of a flirty bird. She eats all the wrong sorts of food and tweets the mantras over and over again that she learns by heart from self-help books. She has got a much firmer grip on her nastiest habit and has cut down to only a couple of cigarette butts a day of her favourite brand, the shiny banded St Moritz menthol's. So BJ (as she is known to other finches) does not actually consider she is a serious smoker so therefore in her own beady eyes, definitely not all bad. She does in fact consider herself to be a bit of a catch for any bird, but despite this, she still hasn’t mated for life yet.

Seen here in the raw, unfired and damp.

Vivien Westwood

2010-04-13T14:07:00.001+02:00

There is my Vivien Westwood telling you all about my next exhibition. See you there.

From the Kiln

2010-04-12T19:43:00.004+02:00

I have been potting, but it was quite a challenging week that followed Easter, I lost my telephone line and also the Internet for a few days, I went nearly mad with the lack of radio and resorted to talking to myself in the end. The bird cage pot is in cling film for now, I was too fractious to work on it to be honest. Then to make matters worse I lost all connections with the outside world again on Sunday, I have no idea why, but needless to say I am back on now. We also had a 6.2 earthquake last night, but I felt nothing and most importantly neither did the pots.

In my most lonely moment I rigged up my camera and did a couple of short films in the workshop. Sadly they play back on my camera but not on the download as I need a faster memory card. Ever so funny though, for the UK readers; it's like Delia Smith with slip! I will get a better card and share these with you soon though.

Jess, is you can see this, the long plate top right is for your table. And the swifts are back in the light well so the nest cam will be back!

Samana Santa Granada

2010-04-04T20:20:00.004+02:00

Samana Santa where everybody looks up. A wondrous site indeed, every procession you can think of from the crucifixion to the glass coffin. And every person in Granada was doing the same thing.

The Bird Cage Jar

2010-03-31T10:10:00.003+02:00

I am going to post this one quickly, blogger would not work on Monday when I wanted to post, I think we all had the same problem. So here are the pot with the second colour applied over the paper cut outs. Once all the papers are removed and the pot has dried a little I have painted on four black windows for the birds, these are then scrapped away leaving a boarder. There is a lot of painting and scraping. I had a comment form Amapolablau from Switzerland about the layers of slip, I lost it, so if you can send it again that would be great and I can answer your question.

A New Jar for Four Birds

2010-03-27T18:55:00.004+01:00

This is a coiled leather-hard jar and I am creating a background pattern using paper resist. The shapes are cut out with scissors, it is best to find 70 gram paper if you can, the thinner the better. I cut out many more than I think I am going to need and always use them all, it is very difficult to break off applying them and cut out more.

I have layered about 5 coats of white slip onto the pot and while the last layer is still wet I stick the papers to the surface pushing them down really flat and pasting another layer of the white over the top of them. Once covered, I apply a contrasting coloured slip, several coats. Before it dries I pick off the paper, very satisfying. Tomorrow I will blog the next stage. The book on the side is Matisse, he is always a master when it comes to cutting out paper shapes.

Click here for other pictures of the studio. And here for a view of the house.

From the Kiln

2010-03-27T11:52:00.012+01:00

Hello Dolly

2010-03-19T17:18:00.000+01:00

A more jumped up bird it would be difficult to find. Dolly is so full of her own importance she only sits in trees whose leaves bring out the very best in her lavish plumage. Legendary for her fine blue flash on her head feather, hen Dolly is in fact no more than a loud show girl of a bird. However having on...ce seen the film "Hello Dolly" on Brighton beach she adopted the name of Dolly Levi when she recognised this kindred spirit and took it to her little birdie heart.

The bird who likes to be called Zsa Zsa Gabor

2010-03-17T20:23:00.003+01:00

Unlike the bird known as Vivien Westwood ( see earlier post) this bird is not actually called Zsa Zsa Gabor, she adopted it when she realised her immense beauty to replace the name Maggie Two Eyes. She has convinced her entire entourage that she is in fact from Budapest and that she went to a finishing school in Switzerland thus securing for herself an air of sophistication hitherto unattainable by common birds. However, the real truth of the matter is that her father was a Magpie from Croydon (mother, possibly a Cuckoo) and although she has none of his looks, she does have all of his traits, and lines her nest with mirrored shard's.

Birds of a Feather

2010-03-16T19:45:00.004+01:00

Top one finished for the kiln and the one under that is obviously at the half way stage. They are taking hours to paint but I think I am getting slightly faster.

I walked down to the lake early this morning and saw this hilarious little black pig having a paddle. He has a wife and five piglets, and he is a Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig, I know odd isn't it!

Scorpio Rising

2010-03-13T10:09:00.003+01:00

I have found a new website called Blipfoto which does exactly what it says on the tin. A zero-fuss website that lets anyone join in and publish one photo a day. It allows you to record your life in pictures, improve your photography skills. I started at the beginning of the week, you seem to get L plates to begin with (I am not sure when those go). For me I have found such amazing images looking through all the shots, it is addictive and fun. A very different platform to Blogger. To see the story on the bike click here.

The Bird Known as Vivien Westwood

2010-03-11T19:19:00.006+01:00

The bird known as Vivien Westwood. Vivien is a cutting edge bird that lines her nest with Axminster off cuts and laments. Captured here in striking petrol blue striped socks.
She is going on the front of the invite for my exhibition at the Zimmer Stewart Gallery in Arundel, West Sussex England 8th May for three weeks,

Object of the Month

2010-03-11T14:23:00.003+01:00

This pot seems to have taken on a life all of it's own, here it is back on the Plymouth City Art Gallery web page as....trumpets, fanfares, flag waving...Object of the Blooming Month! Who said Ides, we're not even there yet? There will be no pride here..or falls for that matter. Mars is now over the retrograde patch and this is a very good for getting on, but not for Scorpio and Virgo just yet, you have to wait for the weekend, and then according to Jess, it's rocket time!!!!

Two From the Studio

2010-03-10T19:15:00.004+01:00

A small tea plate below is a prototype for a useable small plate to have my sardines on toast on. And another mad bird at the halfway stage above. I had a very exciting day today as my e mail was read out on Radio 4, UK national radio!

Sierra Nevada

2010-03-09T20:33:00.001+01:00

Tonight the Sierra Nevada looks like a Lemon Meringue Pie in the sky. This the first time I have been able to see it from the house, it has been so grey and rainy.

Paraiso Terrenal

2010-03-07T18:36:00.004+01:00

I have finished the plate above, and then found I had time for a quick walk as it actually stopped raining for a bit this afternoon. Utter devastation in the National Park, the rivers have well and truly smashed their banks and streams have become rivers.
Below is the old method that is used for extracting the resin form the pine trees here and below below is the missing bridge I use to get to the other side! The small terracotta pot is made form local clay.

Apocacalypso

2010-03-06T17:35:00.007+01:00

So here, back in Spain it rains and it rains. The ground is considerably waterlogged and the Pantano is overflowing to the point of jeopardy! No really, the small nearby village of Cacin is at R-E-D alert, in plain English; red, if the dam either, a) breaks or b) overflows. We have entire Cacin families in our village, holed up in the attics of relatives, or adversely we have families who will not even visit their relatives in Cacin for fear of drowning! It is apocalyptic here in the extreme!

Imagine my horror when visiting the Ferreteria to discover that guttering had quadrupled in price since last year! Our neighbour is turned nearly mad with the Chinese water torture that has been the bane of her life since we departed in December, along with a substantial strip of our guttering, although that was incidental and certainly not intentional. I could get little sense out of her, she just kept pointing at the green swathe of colour deposited on our exterior walls from the spilling of so much rain from a broken gutter. The poor woman. However, with a hacksaw and an analytical mind I have been able to divert the water away from the green swath, and in true Heath Robinson style have aimed it out across the roof terrace diagonally to the closest down pipe. I amazed my self with my ingenuity here and feel there could be a future for me in irrigation should times get really hard! By the way the Ferreteria and the Ferretero (hardware dealer) are worth a post all of their own at some point.

Back in the Workshop

2010-03-05T19:01:00.004+01:00

A quick post here as I am off out to have several drinks tonight down the local bar and find out who's done what and to whom, and when. And if the lake is going to break the dam and if so have they evacuated the neighbouring village which will surely be underwater if it does indeed rupture.

I am back in the workshop and I have started on the paradise bird plates. This one here has PARAISO TERRENAL stamped into the rim; Spanish for Garden of Eden. I can’t tell you how good it is to be back on the clay after a 7 week break. Tomorrow my guttering story and how I sent the next door lady round the twist.

Alice's Cheshire Cat in Spain

2010-03-03T20:20:00.007+01:00

I am back in Granada after a very long drive and look who tried to hitch a lift! We stopped at junction 242 on the caratera de Andalucia. This is the junction where Watership Down meets Donnie Darko and bunny rabbits are stuffed, booted and dressed. See an earlier post here. So maybe the cat was trying to make a genuine dash for it before being dressed up as a Cossack or something. Anyway the local rabbits are put in Barbie Doll outfits and then set loose for the shoot (probably not that way round but I can’t help myself) stuffed and sold in cellophane boxes for 60 euros to children who know nothing of the plastic, size 0 look-a-like bimbo’s.

The rain here is colossal, the floods cover vast areas, but the people are sanguine that it will all be for the best. The drought is over!

Below a longing last shot of the crocus outside the shed in Sussex, Bill and Queen Bess (Mr. and Mrs. to those they favour) are very familiar with this clump, it’s where the post lady walks, not sure what they (QB & B) will make of the foreign puss though.

Victoria and Albert Museum

2010-02-27T13:54:00.002+01:00

This is where it all started for me as a 16 year old, and this is where I leave the journey through the V & A Ceramic Halls. These humble pots still have the voice of their creators and that is some test of time. Pieces like these underline my own relationship with clay, and they reinforce all that is good about pot making.
I am preparing for another journey, back to the future, Spain has been very wet for the past two months and I wonder what I will find when I get there. The boot is loaded with Spencroft's SRB8-G clay (ridiculous I know, but the Spanish stuff is just too high in iron for my work) and CTM's stains. There is a storm in Biscay tomorrow spreading northerly into the Channel so it is going to be a rough crossing, all that ballast will be essential me thinks!

Lucie Rie's Studio

2010-02-23T20:57:00.002+01:00

I am still in the V & A Ceramic Halls, and this is Lucie Rie's Studio, lovingly re-assembled behind a glass wall. Lovely to see, but it was a bit clean!

The Gloucester Candlestick

2010-02-19T21:08:00.008+01:00

The ceramic galleries were marvelous but this three foot candlestick is actually what I went to find. You see it is in the book “A Children’s Story” by A S Byatt, I wrote about it a few months ago. The story begins with one of the characters in the West Kensington Museum (now called the Victoria and Albert Museum) drawing this very candlestick. He is an apprentice potter who has run away form the potteries and is living in the museum as a stowaway. He is captivated by this piece and all the faces and creatures and wants to make it in clay, so he draws it. And here it is on display in the Renaissance exhibition. Made between 1104 -13, it was commissioned by Abbot Peter and the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter, now Gloucester Cathedral and was probably for use on an alter. One of the inscriptions calls the candlestick a work of virtue and light and darkness.

And also, for your delight, a couple of close-up photographs of the bosses on a huge crucifix. Tiny enameled owls of no more than three centimeters, they will definitely end up on one of my pots! Have a look at Hannah McAndrews owl plate here, its gorgeous.

Natasha Kerr, a new aquisition at the V&A

2010-02-16T12:09:00.001+01:00

Hanging “At The End Of The Day” 2007 Painted and printed linen.

If I didn’t or couldn’t make ceramics then I would go back to making textile art. This is an absolute beauty of a piece by Natasha Kerr and measures about a meter wide.
Natasha Kerr, born 1968, is a London-based textile artist who is known for her unusual one-off hangings. She transfers family photographs onto antique bed linen, then uses various techniques, including painting, stitching and piecing together of various fabrics, to complete each work.This is the first example of Kerr’s work in the V&A textile collection.

Bernard Palissy at the V & A

2010-02-12T11:24:00.005+01:00

Dish with snake relief, French 1570-90
Bernard Palissy was the most original French potter. His most famous work is decorated with plants and animals cast from life and glazed in vivid colours. Such pieces combine Palissy’s experiments in ceramics with his love of natural history. This is the potter I would most like to meet in history; he would have been an extraordinary potter in his time. For nearly sixteen years Palissy tried to imitate Chinese porcelain, however through a succession of utter failures, he worked with the utmost diligence, without a gleam of hope. This story verges on the tragic. At times he and his family were reduced to the bitterest poverty; he burned his furniture and even, it is said, the floor boards of his house to feed the fires of his kiln. Meanwhile, he endured the reproaches of his wife, who, with her little family clamouring for food, evidently regarded her husband's endeavors as insanity. All these struggles and failures are most faithfully recorded by Palissy in one of the simplest and most interesting pieces of autobiography ever written, expensive and difficult to obtain in an English translation see here.

Polito’s Menagerie. Staffordshire England, about 1830
This is a mantelpiece ornament and shows the entrance to a famous traveling menagerie. Although it is made of inexpensive earthenware, the elaborate moulded and painted decoration would have made it more costly than other pieces. It makes a high point in quality before Staffordshire potters began making cheaper, simpler moulded figures. Lead-glazed earthenware, painted in enamels.

Victoria and Albert Museum

2010-02-11T18:58:00.004+01:00

Three ancient pieces form the Victoria and Albert Museum today. First this beautiful small shallow bowl, the label says Gubbio Italian dish 1520 – 30 Tin glazed earthenware. Obviously hump mounded, you could see the potters hand marks on the back.

Second, a fairly large jar from Southern Italian tomb about 200 BC. This Italio-Greek jar with winged female heads and winged love gods follows a typical Italian shape. Earthenware painted with black and white slips and other pigments.

Third, and my favourate from Iraq, probably Basra 850 - 900
This tiny bowel is reduction fired lustre. Iraqi potters were the first to use lustre on ceramics. Around 850, they adapted the technique for glass making. Lustre wear was practiced through out the Middle East. By about 1150, the main centre was Kashan, in Iran. A treatise written there in 1301 by the potter Abu’l-Qasim contains detailed technical information on how to make lusterwares which he described as “shining like the light of the sun”.

Chihuly in the foyer of the Victoria and Albert Museum

2010-02-10T16:37:00.007+01:00

This chandelier is by Dale Chihuly and it dominates in the entrance hall to the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is the first thing you see when you arrive. I think Chihuly’s baubles (and I use that word with all it's loaded irony) are astonishing, but one chandelier is more than enough as seen here. Inside this work is saccharine and lavish and on the same footing as the luxury items in department stores. Outside however the glass comes to life in a whole new way. In 2005 Chihuly at Kew was a major exhibition for the American artist. It was stunning and this is where these works work. Chihulys glass sculpture speaks to me and informs my botanical ceramic work, I love the struggle and dilemma of the site location and the disastrous impact this has, it happens with all applied arts, they need to find their place, and then they work. See the artists site here.