Claire Loder

Better than Mine

2012-02-16T10:08:00.003Z

Adam gave me a new sketchbook embossed with this message.
Something to ponder every time the book is opened.....

An evening working at the kitchen table with JT, he making New Year cards.
Me making a cover for the other side of this Better than Mine book...
.....so as to preserve the provocation alongside my own cover!

a packet of Peanut from Donna Wilson!

2012-02-08T15:05:00.001Z

..... a lovely parcel arrived this week.......
After much deliberating between the various creatures
I requested a peanut, {ostensibly} for the small human.
He joins Red Ed and various other of Donna's makings
that live around the house.

the disgruntled cat

2012-02-07T10:48:00.000Z

Muckle is unimpressed by not being able to sleep on

my bump, or sit on my lap so mainly has this face at the moment.

Legs, neck, shoulder are still fair game.

lanky daffs

2012-02-06T09:51:00.003Z

....the cats can't resist a lanky daffodil, finding a
barely breathing daffodil on the kitchen floor is
no isolated incident.

Künstlerisches spielzeug - spielerische Kunst

2012-02-04T17:27:00.004Z

Just received a CD of images from Galerie Handwerk in Munich with images of the show I was part of {trio of heads in the top photo} - great to see the other work there including another artist based in Bath, Edwina Bridgeman {third photo down}

John Wyndham

2012-02-04T16:42:00.000Z

......the 3 books that I'm reading/being read to from...

The Chrysalids is one of my favourite books
I'm a big Wyndham fan, I first read this as a teenager.
The book choice in our house growing up was romance or sci-fi.
I went with sci-fi.

Interesting to read about a post apocalyptic crazy nature mutation world,
whilst simultaneously reading Moss and Mabey's stories of natural England!

tidy buds and not so tidy buds

2012-02-02T08:21:00.000Z

an experiment - starting in the middle, moving outwards, drawing with 2 pencils with both hands at the same time...

arrrrrrr summer

2012-02-01T17:17:00.001Z

...dreaming of summer and car-boots and bare feet.....

being someone's home

2012-01-30T14:39:00.001Z

This is me, JT and someone else....

I'm that someone's home at the moment, not for much longer...
I'm also a radiator which is perfect for winter.
But I'm not such a good climber of hills
or squeezer through spaces
or a lap for a cat.

I'm quite good at sitting and watching and looking out windows.
Time has gone weird - my diary is beautifully empty
Everyone is waiting, it feels like the house is waiting.
In it are mysterious things, small scale things that do and don't belong to us.

Jean Dubuffet

2012-01-30T11:34:00.000Z

This piece has great form and a fascinating visceral gruesomeness {Lucy pointed me toward it after my last post}. Tree of fluids by Jean Dubuffet (From Tate collection).....I feel like I'm looking down from the steering wheel of a steam roller....

shock of the nude

2012-01-27T15:44:00.003Z

This head is just out of the kiln, hence the startled look.
I put him in a dark place to photo and felt compelled to give him a body - he seems somehow more prepossessed with a body.

Heading for Germany

2012-01-27T08:27:00.000Z

This head now lives in Germany - Rosy Grey has just been bought
for a collection at Burghausen on the German Austrian border.
I like that my work gets to go to places that I've never been, it's like placing look-outs in foreign climes.

rugdreaming

2012-01-26T16:39:00.000Z

I'm rug dreaming again... these are off this site, I love the marks - they feel so
d r a w n, and the asymmetry.

These two are on ebay right now - the second one is a folk art rug from 1900.
Great fat path!

Dupress Pictorial Rubber stamps

2012-01-24T09:40:00.002Z

Granny's Attic in Corsham, Wilts is full of other treasure. Takings are recorded in a huge old ledger, there's a stock ledger as well and a great outsized calculator. The place is a delightful mess, brilliant for rummaging. These rubber stamps (Category: Transport & Travel {ignore the rabbits}) by Philograph Publications of North Way, Andover, Hants, England were bought on our 1st visit there.

red coat, blue sky, black galls

2012-01-23T18:31:00.002Z

A beautiful walk up through the woods to a windy Brown's Folly yesterday morning and saw this birch tree laden with galls. {I think this is what they are}. Bright blue sky, deer, an amazing view back towards our side of Bath, the sound of the trees swaying and clacking against each other in the wind, and a coat on fire in the sun.....

Little grey wolf

2012-01-20T15:15:00.001Z

I've been meaning to blog about this little fella for a while.
He's been living with us for several months now.
He's by an artist called Caroline Brown, we bought him at
Caroline's degree show here in Bath, where she is still based making her needle felted creatures.
More of Caroline's work here & here.

It's a sign

2012-01-19T17:23:00.004Z

I'm a stickler for good signage, and am fascinated by tampered with, irrelevant or old, gone wrong signs. This 'information' board was in a lay by on the way to Devon, a confusing advert for a great county.......

This vision of the UK is Caravan Gallery territory

House of Dreams - a new home for Darkling

2012-01-18T12:21:00.003Z

We delivered Darkling {top} to his new home 'The House of Dreams'
in London before Christmas and had such an interesting time talking with
his new guardian Stephen and looking around the madly wonderful
and chaotically ordered museum that Stephen has/is creating......
It's great to sell work and make connections in this way.
Spot the not too distant relative of Darkling and a woolly head that makes
me think of the Burry Man
Here are some photos of our visit and there is also a video >>>
House of Dreams

studio darkness anyone?

2012-01-17T16:12:00.000Z

I'm happy to see that dark walls have been creeping into people's homes, there's lots of internet mention of a move from white.....
{I try with white but most times there are too many colours that seem a better option}
I love my black studio wall - I've just redone it with a small selection of images
to start off the year - this starting over is a much looked forward to ritual.

It would be interesting to see other artists who choose strong colours for their workspaces - anyone?

Dark Walls

A good owl

2012-01-16T19:45:00.000Z

Is it too late to say Happy New Year on day 16 of 2012?!
Happy New Year anyway!

These are images from a great exhibition of children's art at the Corsham Court Gallery, Wiltshire.
The images were so beautifully and simply presented.
{He's the best owl I've seen in a long time!}

2011-12-06T17:10:00.001Z

Things are a bit of a mess on this blog at the moment - I'm in the middle of changing it around but have started with NO PLAN and NO SENSE of what I want. In between I've been designing my Christmas card - with pretty much the same approach!

Johan Tahon - a prayer in plaster

2011-11-24T17:50:00.000Z

New to me is Johan Tahon - here he is talking about his work.
Here's a link to the YouTube clip without the cut off bit!
Tahon has a show in Istanbul at the moment -
'White Seeders' more on his site.

{Thanks to Ruan for putting me onto this - always a thrill
to discover an artist new to me whose work has such an
immediate impact}

a line drawing with clay

2011-11-24T17:18:00.001Z

....another drawing with clay - this time
drawing without looking at the page.
Must do more.....

Heading for Munich

2011-11-24T17:06:00.001Z

These three pieces {Just a thought,
Rosy Grey, Moult} have now left the
country - always a nervous moment!
- they are in Munich at the
Handwerk Gallery for the Artistic Toys
show which starts next week.

spot the vicar

2011-11-24T16:58:00.001Z

On the way back from Shaftesbury a couple of
weekends ago we stopped in a town whose name
I've forgotten to do a whistle stop tour of the
charity shops and found this great mural.

my stuff

2011-11-08T16:23:00.002Z

What a lovely night last night:
It was the the Mantelpiece show opening night.
Lots of stuff and lots of chat about stuff.
{I was also the recipient of a rather special cardigan...more of which later}
Here's some of us mantlers.....
More here

The Mantlepiece

2011-11-01T20:34:00.000Z

Last night was spent playing around with my
mantlepiece objects for this show which goes up
in a few days time in Bath. JT is doing it too and Jo,
in fact lots of interesting artists and designers including
Donna Wilson and Marcus Oakley.

These are some glimpses of what I'll be showing.....

one thing or the other or both

2011-10-11T17:39:00.001+01:00

This could be ideas for new pieces or it could be a white frame,

round 9 drawings, in blue, on a black wall that pleases me to look at.....

Happy Birthday Freddie

2011-09-05T13:44:00.000+01:00

A daily reminder of Freddie, he's been living on my

cooker switch for over ten years, he's a bit grubby

but the stars still sparkle. Happy Birthday Freddie.

£1

2011-08-21T21:07:00.000+01:00

Hereford junk shop £1 picture.

Who is she?

terror terra

2011-07-22T15:12:00.000+01:00

Can't remember the last time I used terracotta, maybe 2003.
I'm doing some experiments.....
The threat of contamination with my white clay is ever present.
On the plus side when your hands are covered you can just draw with it.

Much Love Me - A cascading Hoffmann

2011-07-22T11:25:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of images from Ruan Hoffman's amazing show at Anthropologie in New York -the show is called 'Much love me'.
The lighting, colours and composition give these individual pieces real power - his small and potent messages are like a quiet avalanche!

It finishes next week.......

Ruan's website here

Images courtesy of Anthropologie Gallery Rockefeller Centre New York

enough pausing

2011-06-16T15:21:00.000+01:00

F i n a l l y - some space to think and some uninterrupted time to start some new work, beginning with a new sketchbook {I've gone up a size to A3}. The usual routine has been followed - get the cover right first before starting the book. It's struck me this week that I've returned, in style, to the watercolour sketches I used to do on my degree course - 20 years ago {20!)....this is also the last time I worked in A3 sketchbooks.....i'll try to dig some out........

Fan art faces

2011-06-05T18:04:00.000+01:00

Just found these great faces on silver on the fan

art page of the Flight of the Conchords.

The donkey prefers garbage to gold

2011-06-01T20:29:00.000+01:00

Saw about this show on a couple of
blogs and it's
RIGHT
UP
MY
STREET!
{except it's not*}
- awkward shapes, strange goings on...
and a truism for a title!

The show is by Jockum Nordstrom and
Marcel Dzama, in Sweden* - more here

I'm particularly intrigued to see how they
have collaborated with collage.....

{thanks for the post Mieke}

Martin Parr

2011-06-01T17:51:00.001+01:00

We went to the Holburne Museum last night
to hear Martin Parr talk about his various collections and
memorabilia, always a delight.........

Parr has collections of Maggie Thatcher,
Osama Bin Laden, Barrack Obama and Saddam Hussein
memorabilia. A great postcard collection from the golden
age of pastcards, printed trays, sputnik era objects and
much much more......
All this resulted in a lively debate from the audience - most
notably someone posited a theory that Osama Bin Laden and
Che Guevara are the same person and neither of them are dead.

Martin Parr's website
Martin Parr's blog

more of them

2011-05-23T15:10:00.000+01:00

Ed (my clever web man) has just update my 'them' page
with a collection of {in the main} new and recent heads.
Have a look here.
Most are available and are out at various galleries
which I can point enquirers toward.

a mixed group of birds to the rescue of a crow

2011-05-23T14:43:00.002+01:00

JT did me this bird's eye view sketch to demonstrate an
incident that happened at the bottom of the garden yesterday
{when I popped out - typical!}

A crow perched on a nearby chimney started emitting loud
alarm calls. JT looked up to see a neighbour's cat on the
top of the roof near the crow.
The crow continued to shout for help and in answer a large
group of jackdaws, crows and even a magpie gathered
above the roof. {approx 20}

They then proceeded to dive bomb the cat to scare it away.
Were they all defending a nest?
The whole incident lasted about 2 minutes.

*****

In yesterday's other bird news - on a brief walk just outside Bath
we spotted blue tits going in and out of a hole in the wall
building/tending to a nest (I'm not sure of timings here)
And a chance encounter with a kestrel - we stopped in
a lay-by to watch the swifts, swallows and house martins who
were having a whale of a time over the meadows - at the
very moment a kestrel breezed in - just a few feet away
so we got a great view of his {?} barbed plumage.

Rainbow, Madness, Saxon

2011-05-23T14:24:00.000+01:00

This weekend's car boot treasures

last few days

2011-05-22T22:29:00.000+01:00

It's the last few days of the show in St Ives
this week. Where did May go?
This is the video of it all with my heads
watching the world go by.
New Craftsman Gallery

suitcase becoming a cabinet

2011-05-22T22:07:00.000+01:00

a tiny tiny phone picture is all I have
at the mo - my brother Ben is making
me a cabinet out of an old suitcase I got
at the Walcot Reclamation auction.
So far he's added some old oak shelves,
leather slings and hinges.

The other day I saw a wren in the Barle Valley

2011-05-17T21:16:00.000+01:00

This is called 'The other day
I saw a wren in the Barle Valley' by
Jacqueline' Leighton Boyce. I found her work
when looking for something else......
I'm intrigued by the personal nature of her work
and how immersed she is in her immediate
landscape....and of course the birds!

{we have just been watching the swifts doing
their dusk flybys. Only a small group this year.
From our bathroom window, which is 3 floors up
we can get a great view of them and their
acrobatics - there are moments when they seem
to be flying directly at us}

a couple of hours of collage

2011-05-17T20:28:00.000+01:00

A nice afternoon on Sunday - Jo came round

to cut stuff up and stick stuff down.

Headrest

2011-05-14T22:22:00.000+01:00

This is basically what I have been doing all day
after an eventful and unexpected night out.
Much of Bath seemed to be dressed up in bests
and out for the re-opening of the Holburne Museum
with its fabulous new glass and ceramic extension.
Peter Blake spoke from the balcony, there were trumpets,
some Beatle-ish people were singing in the marquee and
there was good feeling and drinks all round.

the accidental mural

2011-05-11T19:14:00.000+01:00

Back in the studio today and decided to have a
change around and a sort out, then on a whim
I decided to paint all over one of the walls..
..after a few false starts, a bit of rubbing out
and not too long at all this was the result!

Do something

2011-05-10T15:58:00.000+01:00

We've been sorting out the study
at home so it's now time to stop organising
and starting doing.....

Moult

2011-05-09T20:56:00.000+01:00

This piece 'Moult' will be on show
at the Black Swan gallery in Frome,
Somerset from this Friday.

Sunday is cake day

2011-05-09T20:39:00.000+01:00

...and finally Sunday - another lucky in between
the rain in the garden day! With family and
old friends and small people, great to all be together.
The cats left home while we ate cake, drank tea
and wine, wore moustaches (thanks C & A)
and made animal balloons (thanks F & N)

I loved my face on a delicious cake (B & L -
I'll try not to kill the sunflower)
My poem, Mum (very special)
And the reminder of my hairstyles
over the years (M & H - I'm not the only one
on a hair journey it seems).

Special thanks to you Mr T for being master of
ceremonies for wonderful days on end.

Saturday and owls

2011-05-09T20:07:00.000+01:00

It rained for the first time in weeks
on Saturday...more birthday things
with lovely friends all day.

We walked the Bath Skyline
walk in between showers, I forgot
my camera - JT found this owl at the foot
of a small tree near Bathwick Hill.
Cream tea in the garden, then out for
a meal.

{Over Easter a silk scarf curtain I've
been meaning to make for a year has
finally got made!}

Tyntesfield

2011-05-09T18:39:00.003+01:00

.......we spent the day roaming the
gardens at Tyntesfield trying to spot
Champion Trees... like this huge Oriental
Plane. And noseying around the
glasshouses, life doesn't get any better!

forty + the Abbots Bromley horn dance

2011-05-09T18:28:00.000+01:00

I've been away being 40 - it's been brilliant....

It started like this with some wonderful bits and bobs
- a ship in a bottle and a quite brilliant painting of
some Morris dancers from Abbots Bromley performing
the horn dance (I think)

The Making of Us

2011-04-20T19:14:00.002+01:00

{I now have my feet in two camps - blogger and wordpress}

My lovely friend Jo Chambers and I are doing a show in 7 months
(and counting)
And we have set up this blog called THE MAKING OF US to chart
our progress. We have no real idea where we will end up, only
what inspires us now. So a love of drawing, a desire to work
collaboratively, carbooting, scavenging and messing around with
anything we can get our hands on should hopefully make for
some interesting outcomes. {hopefully!?}

{....we haven't quite figured out wordpress so excuse our
bad houskeeping, things have been left out as we don't know
what they are or where they live}

The British Seaside

2011-04-20T18:15:00.000+01:00

A little trip to Weymouth yesterday to collect my
tables from Mrs Pepper. Who'd have thought a
paddle in the warm sea would be possible on 19th April!

more OHP

2011-04-18T21:53:00.000+01:00

...more from the OHP session last week...

I'm fascinated by this way of working,

....will have to do more.

Colour and cats

2011-04-18T21:27:00.002+01:00

Cameron in a dress shocker

2011-04-18T13:44:00.000+01:00

My lovely friend and her daughter
designed this great poster some
months ago for the
Coalition of Resistance.
In Penzance last week we
stumbled upon it on a CND
stand. It's great that it's been
adopted and is taking on a life
of it's own.

OHP = JOY

2011-04-11T22:20:00.000+01:00

a couple of quick images from today's
drawing class using an OHP......such fun!

Show up

2011-04-11T22:05:00.001+01:00

A beautiful few days away in Devon & Cornwall.
By luck and things in the sky we had the
sunniest weekend!

Dad made tables for the show - collected,
painted and packed in the van - {Thanks Dad},
crumble {thanks Mum}, a visit to the allotments
on the hill, finding the bridge big enough to fit
cattle under, blackbirds singing their hearts out
at dusk, mist sitting dramatically in the valley
just outside Winkleigh, driving down tiny
streets {thanks Clare}, so excited to be back
again at the cottage {thanks Lucy}, a circular Zennor
shaped walk, a yet to be identified beetle,
Penzance charity shops and Steckfenster,
St Ives harbour watching, posh fish and chips,
in the garden and all around us: swallows,
goldfinches, dunnocks, sparrows, robin,
an as yet unidentified bird of the warbling variety,
(possibly) great tits, chiff chaff...
the birds being so close and in such stillness that
their wings was all we could hear

anyway.........

The show is all up and my heads look at home

Look Sea

2011-04-05T09:01:00.000+01:00

LOOK SEA - The New Craftsman
***************************
See here for details of the whole
collection on show in St Ives from
Saturday.

head and shoulders

2011-03-30T18:47:00.000+01:00

Gl Holtegaard - The Magic of Clay

2011-03-30T13:11:00.036+01:00

so
now
I
have
to
go
to
Denmark...

below are details off the Gl Holtegaard website - more of which here

---------------------------------

The Magic of Clay -
Ceramics in contemporary art

25 March 2011 - 3 July 2011

What makes clay such a seductive material to today’s artists? In answer to this question The Magic of Clay exhibits the artworks by some of the most significant artists currently working with clay and ceramics; a rich selectionof ideas, influences and attitudes from across the world. From domestic scenes of teapots and finely crafted porcelain to magical worlds of clay landscapes and sweeping ceramic installations - after visiting - never expect to look at a cup and saucer in the same way!

Artists:

Ai Weiwei (CN), Alexander Tovborg (DK),

Alexandra Engelfriet (NL), Clare Twomey (GB),

David Cushway (GB), Grayson Perry (GB),

Hylton Nel (ZA), John Kørner (DK),

Jonathan Meese (DE), Kaspar Bonnén (DK),

Klara Kristalova (SE), Linda Sormin (CA),

and Thea Djordjadze (GE).

-----------------------------------------------

scruffy art and music

2011-03-29T09:24:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was a good day.
More fun with my drawing class getting
them to use carbon paper, sticks, feet,
both hands at once and other methods
to make a mess, noise and
some scruffy drawings, with great results.

{I've decided recently that scruffy is my
natural state and aesthetic, I don't know
how you people who are neat and smart
do it! - it seems like a magic power absent
in me!!}

ANYWAY.....
Here are some of my drawings....

After the class we went straight off to
Bristol to see John Grant - which was
brilliant despite our (very) restricted view
{must book earlier}.
Sea of Bees were supporting - new to me -
I loved Julie's beautifully strange voice,
how good to stumble upon a new thing....

Worry lines

2011-03-28T14:09:00.001+01:00

The show at The New Craftsmen opens
in just over a week and I'm busy painting
plinths etc at the mo.
Here's another piece that I'll be showing
he's called 'worry lines'. He's one of the pieces
I feel is closest to my drawings. I'm
really interested in the idea of using marks
to communicate a state of mind.

hands holding things

2011-03-28T13:59:00.000+01:00

2 unrelated photos (apart from my hand)

The top one is a pair of glasses from a recent

drawing class where I got the class to draw

what they see on a pair of glasses as they

were wearing them - queasiness aside this was

a good experiment and resulted in

some interesting lines

The bottom one is some mystery fluff/hair that

just turned up on our hallway carpet the

other morning, looking a bit like a cat kill.

Maybe our cats think themselves birds and

are nest building.

Help Japan

2011-03-27T10:59:00.002+01:00

Makiko has launched a great fundraiser for Japan,
the 1000 birds project - find out more on her blog
www.makikohastings.blogspot.com

three cats, two giant bubble bags

2011-03-27T10:52:00.000+01:00

We've just been getting the plinths down
from the loft, the giant bubble envelopes
they live in provided too much of a temptation
for two curious cats...

....also found this drawing I did years ago

Ruan Hoffmann

2011-03-25T07:41:00.001Z

Dreaming of seeing this show.......
More of Ruan's brilliant work here

What are you laughing at?

2011-03-24T17:39:00.000Z

I'm a fan of Stephen Bird's work, and still regret not
buying a tiny man of his that we saw in an Edinburgh
gallery several years ago! He's now researching animation
and ceramics - his site is here

Smallish

2011-03-24T17:26:00.000Z

clouding over
stand alone
eye to eye

These three are some smallish pieces that I've
made recently I seem to find it harder and
harder to work small, there's so much to fit in!

Crafts Council handling collection

2011-03-22T16:40:00.000Z

The Crafts Council have just purchased this
small bespectacled piece, In the Frame,
from me for their handling collection.

A weekend in Devon

2011-03-20T09:15:00.000Z

There's always lots to photograph at my mum
and dad's house......

lovely green - Some small old, broken down
heads, which have been living in the garden
for about 5 years.
A cutting board, picking daffodils in the orchard,
building a bonfire, my new 2nd hand shoes
{like my grans}

a bit of booking

2011-03-17T21:41:00.000Z

I've been putting together some more copies of my
book 'Putting my heads together' for the
St Ives show - doing the drawing for each one,
sticking, numbering and wrapping.

It's another fine little day

2011-03-17T08:57:00.000Z

Hello to you if you have found your way over here
from Fine Little Day - and thanks to Elisabeth for
posting my two sad heads Together Alone.

Show dates - New Craftsmen

2011-03-17T08:49:00.000Z

****************************
My heads will be at
The New Craftsmen, St Ives
from 9th April - 28th May 2011.

Watch this space for more details
****************************

The New Craftsman - NEXT SHOW

2011-03-16T17:54:00.000Z

This piece, I'm not ready to be
cheered up, is off to St Ives with me
in 3 weeks for a show at the New
Craftsman Gallery. She'll be part of a large
collection of work that I'll be showing in
the beautifully refurbished gallery alongside
paintings by Emma Jeffryes.
I saw Emma's work years ago when
we accidently went to her private view
so it's ace to be showing with her.

Pigs in Bath

2011-03-16T15:50:00.000Z

Now, every day I can, I make sure I walk

home past the pigs at Camden - It's great to

have pigs in the middle of the city.

I'm hoping for donkeys next - The Circus?

The drawing class

2011-03-15T11:54:00.000Z

My drawings of my class drawing.
I seem to draw all my drawings of people
without looking at the page now. I like
the results so much more.

Last night one of my class brought in a
handful of her husband's tiny ring bound
notes books. They were filled with quick
but delicate studies of people in a sharp
biro, he's barely touched the paper with
the pen - the marks seemed so fine.
He'd captured the fashion of the time
and the character of his subjects - they
were full of humour.

the long day closes

2011-03-13T22:09:00.000Z

A restful weekend here, in stark contrast

to what's going on in other parts of the world.

Here in this sunshiny city the cat and I watch

a beautiful spring day unfold out

of the window and JT comes back with gifts

for me - a mould and a natty little 80s frame with

Michael Ball still living in it! I only left the house for

the garden, well - that and Butterkist.

Tried to watch the long day closes........

Now finishing the day with YouTube music tennis

while we work

The Knife - Pass this on

Czars - Drug

Glasvegas - Daddy's Gone

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights (Can't believe Noel didn't win)

Joy Division - Atmosphere

Adele - Set fire to the rain

Wild beasts - we still got the taste dancin on our tongues

Charlotte Hardy

2011-03-08T08:45:00.000Z

My lovely friend Charlotte will be showing

new work at the Affordable Art Fair in a

couple of days in London.

More of her work here.

Vanish, 9 heads & 2 bodies

2011-03-04T22:06:00.000Z

It's finished!

This is by Ben, a friend who paints

portraits.

Always on the look out for subjects he

asked if he could photograph us in my studio.

I've enjoyed seeing him work on this

over the past few months - he visited the studio

over a year ago to take the photos.

The gradual process gave me time to get used to

the strange sensation of seeing me staring back

at me! I love that he's marked a moment in

time with the work he's used of mine

and a sartorial reference to JT's canoe phase!

More of what Ben does here.

Here it was in progress.

{Apparently it's not a phase and he's not even

sure if it's a canoe}

Ruan Hoffman

2011-03-04T21:34:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago someone
I don't know from the other side
of the world sent me a link for
an artist I'd never seen before
in the shape of Ruan Hoffman.

Thank you that person!

photos from CAL

2011-03-02T21:08:00.000Z

.......some photos of my work from
this weekend at Ceramic
Art London - thanks to everyone
who dropped by the stand!
It was great to see familiar faces
and make new friends.

Fake plastic trees

2011-02-24T08:04:00.000Z

I've made two 'trophy wives' for CAL - an idea

I had ages ago and finally got around to making.

Here's a beautiful project by photographer

Robert Voit. It's not as good as spectacular as

his examples but we'll be driving up the M4

past one of these

Shaun Tan Tim Key and some other fellas

2011-02-23T12:04:00.000Z

One day to go and lots to finish off!

Here are four of the pieces

that I'll be taking up to London

Darkling

Moult

Ear ear

Eye to eye

In between preparing press packs,
wrapping heads etc etc we nipped
over to Bristol last night to the
Arnolfini to see Tim Key doing
his Slutcraker concert. Great set
of scattered objects, anyone needing
to pop out had to walk behind Key
minding the cake the typewriter etc.

Whist there I bought a lovely
Shaun Tan tiny book 'Eric' for my
nephew. Here is Eric:

naming and photographing

2011-02-23T11:37:00.000Z

a habit

2011-02-17T22:33:00.000Z

...while I've got many more pressing things to

do I always seem to find time to start

a new sketchbook!

Here's my routine.....

I'll buy a new one when I'm in the dying pages of

my current. My sketchbook walk down town

to Paperchase and the buying of my usual A4,

plain board cover, cloth spine book always feels

like a reward for something. I take each one

home and cover it (only the front cover)

I've done this one with pages from an old

exercise book that I bought at the flea market -

it was full of equations and drawings of circuits.

....some more drawings without looking

*************************************

My lovely friend Jo has a new etsy site for

her brooches...here it is

A breath of fresh air

2011-02-16T13:16:00.000Z

Firing the last kiln today - I won't see
how it's gone until Friday though,
fingers crossed.
Here's piece I've just finished,
he'll sit drying now for several weeks
until I build up enough to fire again.
I always like to have a head or two
on the go even if I've finished making
for a show......so I can look beyond
the show that's currently taking up all
my headspace!

I sent work off to Byard Art in
Cambridge yesterday for a show which
starts next week
'A Breath of Fresh Air' - more details here.