Starfish

It happens to be Jules Verne's birthday today - he of 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea' fame. I never read the book but I remember watching the film as a kid and being terrified by the scenes where Captain Nemo is battling with the Giant Squid. Eeek!


I don't think Captain Nemo and his crew would have had the same problems if they had encountered one of my sea creatures. No, its not a squid! Its a stacking starfish - much friendlier.

In fact, let's face it, if the crew of the Nautilus had seen starfish like these at twenty thousand leagues under, they were probably on some kind of hallucinogenic substances!

But I am really pleased with these, which came out of the kiln last week, and the design for the starfish gets wackier each time I make a set.

And yesterday I took delivery of a whole range of new glaze colours, so things are going to get a whole lot more weird and wonderful. Now ... should I make a giant squid ... how many tentacles is that? Hmmmm.

What a Pitcher!

I don't normally make many jugs because I find that they are not best suited to showing off a large quiltblock pattern, but just before Christmas I was commissioned to make a large jug as a 60th birthday present for someone's mother-in-law who was a quilter.

My 'instructions' were that it had to be in colours associated with Autumn, have a neutral/cream background, not be 'too busy', and have some sewing/button detail incorporated into the design.

So, a simple patchwork block was hand-painted onto each side of the jug and a run of stitches imprinted into the top and bottom rims.
Greens and Ochres were used to reflect Autumn, and a tiny ceramic button attached to each side at the top.



I rather like the finished piece and may make a few more, but with different patterns and colours. I think it would work really well in blues and yellows. But, more importantly, I received an email earlier this week to say that the 60 year old birthday girl really loved her present and was thrilled that no-one else would have one the same.

Its always great to get positive feedback like that. When work is sold from galleries, you have no idea who has bought it or where they have put it, or who it was for... only that it is out there somewhere.

That's why blogs are so useful, too. Because of the feedback.

And the winner is ....

So ... into youngest son's hat you all went, and the two names he pulled out were . . .

Joan Hunter Dunn, and, The Mad House. Congratulations!

Please email me at cathy.daniel@virgin.net with your address
and I'll get your snowflake off to you tomorrow.

Looking out of the window, we are now getting our second load of snow, as promised. The older two are home from University this weekend so ...

time for pottery to finish and Christmas to start (once their washing's been done!).
In case you're wondering, those little stockings in that picture are for big cheques.

And, yes, that is the weird snowflake youngest son made
- much rarer than any of mine!

So, its feet up by the blazing woodburner in the candle-lit lounge for me ....

and a very Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to all of you!
See you soon.

The Great Snowflake Giveaway

My snowflakes, which started out as just a bit of fun,
have gone down a storm (so to speak!).

So, if you prefer the kind of snowflakes above, to those pictured below ....

... I have two left over from a massive batch I was asked to make, and ....

.... if you leave me a comment before next Thursday 16th December ....

.... I will get youngest son to pick a name out of a hat and send to you just in time for
CHRISTMAS.

(and I promise not to send the one youngest son made which is not only asymmetrical
but now glazed in yellow and green in support of Norwich City Football Club!)

How to make an Impression

If you've looked closely at my ceramics, you will have noticed that I make a lot of impressions into the soft clay to give it texture, interest, pattern. I make these markings using a variety of tools, most of which were not invented for use with clay. They are all just bits and pieces you might find around the house, some of which are are pictured above.


Of course, I do make my own stamps (out of clay) to press into the clay, my most used one being the little six petal flower there.

And I quite like to use stamps from India (below) which were meant for printing onto textiles (as seen last night on Kirsty's Home Made Home).


So, I was so pleased and surprised to receive last weekend this package from eldest child away at University in the frozen north, with a note to say that each little parcel on the home-made advent calendar contained something she had collected, or bought from a charity shop, or whatever, which would be useful as a tool for making indentations into my pots. She is an art student and so has a good eye for such things.

Have to confess, it brought a tear to my old eye, thinking of the thought and effort behind such a gift. And it has made the horribly busy run-up to Christmas all the more do-able now that I have a little parcel to open each day.


Speaking of pre-Christmas busy-ness, I am taking part in a Christmas Art Exhibition next week - setting it up tomorrow. Details below. If you are in the vicinity at all, do give it a look. I do hope this big freeze doesn't put too many people off!

Snowflake fun

I got some snowflake cookie cutters a while ago to make Christmas biscuits, but couldn't wait to use them, so I tried them out on clay. Sometimes, its just nice to mess around a bit and leave the larger, serious pots for later (not too much later though!).


We've had a fair bit of snow here and it all looks really pretty and feels really freezing! I've gone into hibernation mode and am enjoying cosy open fires, hot tea, candlelight, and making Christmassy things like these.

They say no two snowflakes are identical - well mine sure aren't.


A certain 15 year old boy had a go at making one of these too. I said the only thing to bear in mind was that every snowflake is symmetrical - so being a teenager with a mind of his own, he deliberately made one that is anything but. That one is still to be fired and so not shown here.

These are pictured hanging outside on my Rosemary bush, which is still covered in snow today - its going nowhere, it seems.

Am pleased with the way they turned out - only hope I can get all the clay off the cutters in time to make the biscuits in a few weeks!

How to Mend a Broken Heart

These are the latest versions of my hanging heart decorations. They are purposely made in two pieces and then sewn back together again with thread. I like this idea as it is in keeping with the patchwork/textile influences at the root of the work.

If only it was that easy to mend a real broken heart!

I then veered away from the patchwork idea and made a few flowery hearts, using my own handmade stamps to impress the design into the clay. These little bits sell well and are quick and easy to make and fill all those little corners of the kiln so that no space is wasted.

Packing a kiln tightly is an art in itself. Its a bit like a giant game of Jenga or Pick-up-Sticks (do they still make that game?). Anyway, sometimes accidents do happen and the large Christmas angel below suffered a bit of a blow to the head ... which basically decapitated her. So, she didn't get fired and is just sitting there with her head tucked underneath her wing!

I can mend broken hearts but this is quite simply a write-off.

Hey Ho ... some you win, some you lose.

Talking of winning and losing, check out Driftwood's Blog to win a fabulous give-away. I hope I win as I need cheering up after my angel lost her head.