Fables and Legends

I love pottery and I love poetry so it was probably inevitable that one day I would combine the two. I am so old that I come from a time where your schooldays were spent learning great chunks of verse by heart. So now, when I can no longer remember what I went into the next room for, I can still recite poems I learned as a ten year old!

'Rats!
They fought the dogs, and kill'd the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,'

That was my favourite line as a kid - in the tradition of the best fairy tales, the imagery in Browning's 'Pied Piper' is wonderfully graphic and gruesome.

'Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,'

And of course, every good fable has to have a moral to it and this is no exception; See what can happen to people who do not keep their promises!

I may be the only potter to decorate their pots with images of rats - but what fun I had doing these.



And so I moved on to an Arthurian Legend next.

The Lady of the Lake.

It's not an accurate depiction, and I have learnt a lesson here about doing better research next time, but I'm pleased with it nonetheless.

The patchwork pieces are still on-going, but I'm hoping these new pieces will find favour somewhere, as I need to 'mix it up a bit' in order to keep things fresh and challenging.

What are your favourite childhood stories? Maybe I'll put them on a pot!

Hope you like!

x Cathy x

New Year, New Direction

Happy New Year everyone if it's not too late to say that!
It seems like you have all done half a dozen blog posts whilst I have been having a laptop-free break!


The new direction I am taking this year pottery-wise is to concentrate more on the border around the design, than the central pattern itself. In other words, the borders will be more intricate and the central design will be quite simple. This block above is called 'Windmill', but the border is all mine own.


As this series of bowls has developed, I have focussed more and more on the borders, as they play such a pivotal part in 'setting off' the piece as a whole.
The block above is called 'Nelson's Victory', which should go down well in these parts, as old Horatio was a Norfolk boy!


I made these two just before Christmas. I have just done two more with really complex patterns around the border. They're waiting to be fired at the moment, but am pleased with the way each piece moves the whole process on a bit further.

So - did anyone make any New Year's Resolutions?
I did, but it's not going too well so far!

I resolved to be MORE SELFISH! In a good way!

In other words, I plan to do more things for myself and less things for other people who, when I last looked, had not lost the use of their limbs. They know who they are!
As I say, I haven't made a good start, but am persevering and becoming a tad unpopular in certain quarters!

Now I'm off to catch up with all your news. Looking forward to sharing 2012 with you all!

Cathy x