Life and Love

Life and Love - what's it all about?  Don't ask me.
I'm not about to go all philosophical on you!  
I don't really think that I think Life's a Beach though.

And as for Love - well that's always a work in progress
as far as I can gather.

So whilst I'm mulling it all over I'll stick with the words
of Dorothy Parker - who always had something apt to 
say about most things :

Oh, Life is a glorious cycle of song

A medley of extemporania

And Love is a thing that can never go wrong

And I am Marie of Romania.

Now, just off to look up 'extemporania' in the dictionary

and .... who was Marie of Romania, anyway?

You see, I'm none the wiser really! 

x Cathy

The National Trust

Bit late with this post, as have been running around in a flap as a result of some good news I got last week. A nice gentleman from the National Trust rang me up out of the blue to ask if they could stock my work in their shops in the East of England - all 12 of them!!


So when I finally stopped skipping around the house in a whirl of excitement, I met with National Trust chap at Blickling Hall to discuss it and left samples of my work with him to show his NT colleagues in London at a meeting in March. He thinks they will agree with him that my ceramics would fit well in their gift shops.

If it gets the go ahead, I shall be VERY busy, but VERY, VERY happy! He took some of these above and also the blue 'Winter Tree' piece that you all liked from last time - the one below is the green version.

And of course, he took one of my signature quilt-block bowls .....


and these stacking starfish which came out of the kiln a few weeks ago.


So I have turned what I laughingly used to refer to as my studio into a very SERIOUS studio. It now has lots of space, lots of shelving, lots of light and some new equipment. I even have my eye on a larger kiln, (second-hand of course), and frankly I can't wait to 'get stuck in'.

Even if they say no, I am so flattered that they sought me out and asked me in the first place!
But keep your fingers crossed for me! I'll let you know what happens ....

Best wishes

Cathy x

Iced Fingers

No, not Iced Fingers as in those sickly finger-shaped buns with tons of icing on top! I wish!

I'm on about iced fingers dangling from my frozen hands when I'd finished packing this lot above and more into my kiln in the garage where the temperature inside was minus seven, yesterday!

Today, when I went to take it all out of the kiln, I had to pick my way through this white stuff that had landed overnight.
The kiln is behind that door, across that snow.

It's precision stuff, packing a kiln with glazed pots. For the uninitiated amongst you - if two pieces touch each other, they will bond together and be pretty much ruined. It takes time and dexterity - a dexterity which is nigh impossible with numb, aching, freezing fingers. And it can't possibly be done with gloves on.


But, I was lucky, and though I squished everything onto these shelves as tightly as possible, nothing fused together.
I'll show you some of this stuff in more detail at a future date, but for now .....

I am so pleased with these two large bowls. They're part of the new direction work I was talking of at the beginning of the year where I am concentrating more on complex borders, than the inner design.


This border pattern was not toooooo bad to glaze - a tad time-consuming but worth it.


But I have to say that five minutes into hand-painting the glaze onto this one below, I began to wonder why I had done this to myself!


But I'd started, so I finished ..... sometime later!


And what happened to the icey fingers? Well, great fun was had, placing them on the warm flesh of various family members, before I eventually placed then on top of the aga to thaw out.

Well, you have to have a laugh, don't you? Reminds me of someone who used to stir his hot tea with a teaspoon and then touch the back of your hand with it - just his little joke!

Are you a practical joker or do you hate them?

Bye for now.

x Cathy