Simona - December

December

I left you in November with me packing a glaze firing kiln, then we unpacked the kiln and prepared the studio for our "Opening Studio"
So a lot of cleaning and rearranging before the show started...

 Enjoy it as we did....                                                                                                                                                         

A sight of Tythegston Pottery's range, designed by Joanna Howells

A view of the show

Joanna Howells' work

Me with my production. In the past months as helping Joanna in her studio, I have started to develop my own range. I have adapted some of Joanna's glazed to my own pieces and it all worked well. I was very pleased with my results and selling. 

January will be a new year,  where I would like to focus on the development of my own glazes. As well as developing few more pottery ideas.

As the show finished, we rearranged the studio back for working. Finishing off few pieces before leaving and spend Christmas with my family in Italy.

Working on serving dishes made out of the mould made in November.

          

  

December

December was action packed! We were working on a huge order for Seasalt as well as a couple of smaller orders and our studio exhibition. This meant a few long days, mainly preparing for our show.
Luckily it all came together and the opening was a success.

Earlier tests proved very useful and some different techniques were use for some larger pieces.

 The Ying Ching glaze worked well on my porcelain pieces, which were included in the exhibition. They seemed to work well alongside the standard ware.

Our celadon glaze also highlighted my carving nicely.
 We had to do lots of firings to get all of the work through, as
some of the pieces were huge. The show included platters, moon jars, tea pots etc.

We also had small cups, which were used to serve the mulled wine, then people could make a small donation to take them home.

The images below show the exhibition just before the opening night.
The pieces were finished on time as well as all of the orders to send out.
Then I went back home to Lancashire to celebrate christmas with my family.

 

November

In December we are putting on an exhibition of work studio work including one off large pieces, new pieces which may become part of the range, our standard ware and also some pieces made by John Bedding. During November we have started planning what we will be making for this exhibition and also making test pieces, then eventually moving on to making some pieces. So it has been an exciting month in the studio.

I have been working with porcelain and I have had a chance to do some of my carving, which has been simplified for a more standard range. I threw the pieces on the kick wheel in the old studio, which I really enjoyed.

John Bedding was in the old studio at the same time, throwing some large pieces for the show, so it was great to get some advice from him and to watch him work.
My mugs and bud vases will hopefully be a part of the exhibition, which is great to be a part of the final show.





Alongside the exhibition we are working towards some big orders, so there has been a lot of work produced this month and a lot of firings have taken place. It will be great to see it all come together for the opening on the 12th December.



I have also been working on some platters for my own work and I have done a couple of oxidation firings.
I am trying some new geometric designs with the platters, which has been successful, I just need to make sure I get the glazes right now. I am firing a test this week to try and decide which glaze will work best.

The carving took a long time, but hopefully that will get faster.



Earlier in the month we went on a trip to Somerset to see John Leach and his studio. It was such a nice location with a studio and shop. He was doing a firing at the time, so it was great to see his huge kiln in action.
John gave us throwing demo for some plates he has been developing and he had prepared some pictures to show us the wood chopping process for a firing.

http://www.johnleachpottery.co.uk/

After Somerset we then went to Bath to see the Sea Salt store where they have started selling our pots. They had a nice display and the tiles looked great in the floor.  

We also visited Nic Collins' on the way there and Peter Hayes in
Bath. It was a busy and interesting trip.

Simona - October and November

October

Time to prepare for two exhibitions.. not much time to take photos...

I have done a lot of pugging after the workshop and preparing clay for some throwing.

Some of the throwing that I have done in October

 some firing before going to Oxford Ceramics Fair.

Joanna and I with Joanna's work....

Then off to Made by Hand, Cardiff presenting Tythegston Pottery work, designed by Joanna Howells.

November 

After unpacking the Berlingo, back in the pottery with lots of making and preparing for our Christmas sale...
Pottery is not just throwing so a bit of mould making for some hand making.....

preparing for mould making

preparing plaster  



                              



                                             mixing plaster

 Before pouring plaster




              after plaster poured





Time to prepare some glazes and

sieving a glaze

Well, I have been talking a lot about pugging, so here I am...

I have mentioned firing frequently and here I am when packing the kiln.....

Simona - June to September

Here, I am back on the blog... Not sure where the time has gone... I'll try to sum up my pottery experiences  since my last appearance in May. A few things have changed.

In the summer I moved in South Wales to work with Joanna Howells. This has been a great opportunity for me. Before going to Joanna I had a very fun time at Rufford helping the Adopt a Potter stand with the Tombola.
While in Rufford I met Margaret Gardiner who invited me to visit her studio and assist her with firing, just before Art in Action...

Margaret putting salt into the kiln

 

Me putting salt into the kiln

Firing ended - Fast cooling

-

Enjoying a magic moment and the silent of the night.  The action did not stop here, the morning became young and we carried on with other magic tricks...

 As I had a great fun at Rufford, I was off to Art in Action helping with  the Adopt a Potter stand on the Tombola!! Another great time raising funding for Adopt a Potter... Thank you for all the people that have made their contribution by buying a Tombola ticket.  I would also like to Thank all the potters who have donated their pieces for the Tombola. It was another successful time...
WITH GRATITUDE  for making our (apprentices) dream coming true....

After my days in Art in Action I moved to Wales to do my next six months with Joanna Howells. Joanna works with porcelain and stoneware

Please see Joanna website


www.joannahowells.co.uk/


Joanna has lots of experience with glazes (other magic potion going on) and above all Joanna likes to throw large pieces...

Joanna "all'opera"...

Helping with the "opera"

August

It was a very interesting month, adjusting to a new studio and planning for future projects... It was very exciting!!! What a lovely summer..

View from the pottery.....

 

Inside the pottery.....

Practising handles

Learning faceting

Finishing a small jug

September

I was practising those little cream jugs and faceting, then few firing going on while starting to work on my own projects.
Lots of glazes to mix. Very interesting to know, a little bit more about the chemistry behind it. I experienced first hand how an ingredient can change the end result. We had a few problems with a new "Feldspar", essential element for one of Joanna's glaze.. Well, problem resolved, when finally after endless phone calls to potter suppliers, Joanna has found the "right" Feldspar. A small sample was sent and tested with magnificent result!!! Ppphhhffff......

It was also, time to give a good clean to the studio and preparing for a workshop on throwing big pots....So, lots of pugging and more to do.



 Throwing Large Pots Workshop

Joanna demonstrating

                                    My first 5 Kilos


Workshops are also an opportunity to taste some of this lovely food served on  Joanna's beautiful pots.

The fruits of the workshop....

October

This month had been another busy one, filling orders for SeaSalt and other galleries.
At the start of the month a new apprentice arrived, from California. Drake Bialecki, so production has increased even more. We have 7 team members now, all throwing the standard ware.

I have had a chance to try out some different shapes, including tiny milk jugs, small jugs, medium and small bowls.

The tiny milk jugs/pourers are very fiddly to throw, but I got in to a rhythm and enjoyed those forms.
The small jug was also tricky because you can't fit your hand inside the form, so the bottom has to be right before you bring the clay up for the neck. They will then have a pulled handle.


This month we have also had Jeff Oestrich,a former apprentice at the Leach and now a potter in Minnesota, working in the old studio. It has been great hearing old stories about the Leach and learning all about his techniques and processes.

I have focused on my own work alongside the studio ware. I completed my first firing, which mostly consisted of glaze tests. It was quite successful, I now have 3 more glazes which I will be using in my next firing. I also spent a few days making tea pots, which was a challenge.
I chose 3 that I was happy with to keep and this one was the one I chose not to keep! I decided to cut it open and have a look at the thickness. I thought it looked really interesting, seeing a different perspective. I will post pictures of the successful teapots when they are finished!