I’ve had some great shows this year already including Melbourne Creative https://www.creativemelbourne.co.uk/ and Ceramic Wales, met some lovely people and work has found new homes which is always a delight.
Here is a bit of a visual update on this piece shared earlier on this year whist it was steadily drying.
The clay is a combination of Earthstone’s Crank Body with their Porcelain Body Paper Clay which I get from CTM Potter Supplies, who are a terrific team to deal with. Cannot recommend them highly enough. https://www.ctmpotterssupplies.co.uk
My next show, ‘All Fired Up’, is with members of the Midlands Potters Association at Hanbury Hall in Worcestershire https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/worcestershire-herefordshire/hanbury-hall 9-25th August in The Long Gallery. New work to see, come along I will be stewarding all day on the 22nd.
After that Melbourne Arts Trail where I am excited to say that I’ll be exhibiting in the Dower House garden which in itself is an incredibly alluring and peaceful private garden to have the chance to visit.
I thought I’d put some of the sources of my inspiration here with a few notes about what draws me to them as subject matter.
Images: top L to bottom R - Ely Cathedral, Apsley House, Guild Hall Gallery London, Guild Hall Gallery, Ely Cathedral, Carlisle Castle, Sutton Hoo, Framlingham Castle.
I love architecture, carved, decayed and weathered stone/brick - always have. The low relief carved walls I came across in Carlisle Castle https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/jan/30/carlisle-castle-restores-15th-century-carvings-thought-to-be-by-prison-guards and the modled surface panels of the Sutton Hoo Helmet have been a real trigger this year. The Helmet is a series of organised and detailed stories/annotations of Saxon cultural context. The Carlisle works are less orchestrated, more random. (Read the article in the link above.) I enjoyed the careful manner that images were generated they seem to respect the other carver’s work whilst having a language unique to each image - we know so little of what the imagery is about let alone who generated each one. Its a great contrast to the Gothic stonemason’s intricate carved tracery which each of which is as unique as the Carlisle but appears to follow a certain order.
From this seeming random collection of material flow the ideas; some seem to nudge each other whilst others arrive - some simply or as with the recent rebuilt piece after a struggle. I listen to music while I am making and that too, with the rhythms and lyrics has a part in the generating of forms and image patterns.
Architectural, sculpted sources of inspiration are not confined to manmade locations. I love our garden and over many years I have come to more fully appreciate the fascinations of insects. Some of you will know that I do my best to keep bees but this is not my only connection to insect habitats and needs. The Insect Hotels I make have been a part of every show and the patterns and glaze decoration has changed over the years. These are a new design and will be out on show this year.