News

Old Fashioned Tea Roses wall piece

A new range is launched.

Old Fashioned Tea Roses is my new range which I am showing for the first time at Pyramid Gallery in York and at ARTEXNY the charity exhibition at Castle Howard.

Take a look at the gallery pages where you will see the wall pieces and bowls, with full blooms of roses made from hundreds of wafer thin layers of black or white clay. Vases are to follow, and I’m working on an exciting range of jewellery

After too much lazing around eating chocolate, consuming far too much lovely food and wine it’s always great to get back into the swing of work after Christmas. This year was no exception and I’ve been busy establishing a new range of work started in 2007.

Way back in the summer of last year I spent some time working in the garden at Sledmere House as part of East Riding Artists “Artist in the Garden” project. It was hot and sunny and I spent a delightful day sketching plants and carving sample porcelain tiles. When I got back to the studio I worked on the tiles, testing out textures and playing with lines until gradually the new Echinacea range evolved.

The range features the fantastic Echinacea plants that were growing very vigorously in the walled garden - tall scupltural forms full of life and attitude. I have thrown full round bowls and skinny vases in porcelain then pinched the rims whilst still soft from the wheel to create a deckled edge. At leatherhard stage the outsides are then carved with the echinacea forms and smothered with black slip. Once it has dried the slip is scraped back to leave a delicate inlaid line. The pots are glazed with my usual satin white glaze and highlights on the petals picked out with shiny glaze and oxide - which fluxes in the kiln to a softly bleeding turquoise. The result id delicate yet with a strong form which I hope reflects the character of the plants.

I’ve also developed the test tiles into Wall Pieces. The small and medium sizes feature the Echinacea flowerheads in a clump just as they were in the garden with prominent domed seed heads clustered in stamens. Others are composite pictures of two or three tiles together in a frame. Please check them out on the website - the gallery has several images of this range.

The floral theme seems to be very popular for the start of 2008. I’ve already sent out a consignment which is currently showing in the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists’ exhibition entitled “Botanica”, and another batch will go to Beverley Art Gallery for the exhibition opening in Feb showcasing a selection of all the Art in the Garden work. Later on in April, the Echinacea bowls and vases and perhaps wall pieces too, will be on show at Leeds Craft Centre and Design Gallery, where the showcase exhibition “Flora and Fauna” will be held.

It seems that flowers are hot for Spring 2008 - long may it continue!