Poettery - a cross between Pottery and Poetry!!

I drive past a charity shop most days, and I drive by very slowly so that I can have a good look at what new things they've put outside, and mostly I have just about avoided driving off the road whilst doing so.  Anyway, one day I spotted these two hefty planks of wood, connected one above the other with rope.  I have not the faintest idea what they could have been used for, (swinging shelves??), but I instantly knew what I would use them for.  So I parted with a fiver and they came home with me.

I made lots of letters to form a quote from a favourite poem along with other objects described in the poem, a crab, a shell, a starfish and a smooth round stone.  Below you see the letters all finished with the other pieces still at the bisque stage.  I shuffled them around on the board til I was happy with the composition, took a photo so that I would remember, and then glazed and fired the rest of the pieces.

I decided to paint the board white as the glazed finish always looks brighter on a white background.  When they popped out of the kiln I stuck them to the board and Hey Presto!  This is what it looks like.
   

Complete with original rope through original holes for hanging on a wall in a seaside home.

And the poem?
     

maggie and milly and molly and may

by E E Cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and
     

milly befriended a stranded star

whose rays five languid fingers were,

and molly was chased by a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles; and
     

may came home with a smooth round stone

as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

It's always ourselves we find in the sea.

And what happened to the other board I bought?  It's another Poettery one which I'll show next time.

Have a lovely weekend.

x Cathy

Tastes Differ and Tastes Change

Sometimes when a piece comes out of the kiln, I look at it and don't quite know why I have reservations about it, but I do.  Over the years, though, I have forced myself to recognise that just because it's not to my own personal taste, does not mean that someone else out there will not think it is just wonderful!  I tell myself that Variety is the Spice of Life .... how boring would it be if we all liked the same thing?

I was thinking of this recently when I did my hearts giveaway and invited participants to commission their own personal heart/chicken with the colours and pattern they particularly liked.   Everyone asked for something different.

The two winners chose different patterns, but interestingly, the same colours.  Tess from Driftwood chose the blue, red and white daisies in the middle, and Heather from Hearts of Hampshire chose the patchwork on the right.  The one on the far left is another recent commission.

Do you sense a theme emerging here?  It does make you wonder how far our personal tastes are influenced by outside events, in view of the patriotic summer we are all having.

Whilst I love all of these choices, my own preferences at the moment are all greens and browns (trust me to buck the trend!).

And of course, tastes vary and tastes also CHANGE.  Mine change all the time.  Which is a good thing, otherwise I would still be dressed how I dressed in the 1970s and that was not a good look!  I look at those photos and wonder what we were thinking!

Well, I am about to set off with the Mr to take this lot and more to Anglesey Abbey.  I hope there is something here to suit most tastes!

No doubt he will force me to eat a large scone with a cuppa whilst we are there - some tastes never change!

Had better rush, so that we can make it back in time for the first football match of the day!!  Yawn!

x Cathy

Busy Busy Busy!

So, here I am doing my weekly blogpost a whole week late.  Shame on me!   I am a disgrace to bloggers everywhere.  I should be hounded out of the Blogosphere!  Are the shades of Blogdom to be thus polluted? (to paraphrase Lady Catherine).

But, you see, that's what you get for going on holiday ..... twice as much to do when you get back and half the time to do it in!  And, to be honest, I couldn't think of anything to blog about, because as you can see, I am just making the same old, same old.  Once I have agreed a certain range of products with a stockist, that's what I have to stick to and that's what I have to keep making .... over .... and .... over.... again!

I am allowed to vary the pattern, but the items have to remain the same. Sometimes, just for a walk on the wild side, I make up a design as I go along, like this one below.

So,as you see, I had nothing new to post about, until ..... Rachel at VirtuoSew Adventures came to my rescue by giving me this little blogging award:

I have to tell you some things about myself that you may not already know and then pass the award on to a few people whose sunny blogs I particularly enjoy for them to do likewise.

So Here Goes!

• I have only been potting for about four or five years and in that short time I have been really lucky.

• I am one of four children; I am married to one of five children; his mother was one of nine children; we have three children.

• My pottery is influenced by textiles but I don't sew and couldn't make a quilt to save my life!

• I love to travel and am currently planning a trip to Italy for September which I am sooooo looking forward to.

• I need a lot of sleep and last night I stupidly stayed up til 2a.m. watching a film I have already seen at least four times!

• I made sausage casserole for tea tonight, which is a winter dish really .... say no more!

There!  How exciting was that! And now,  I nominate the following blogs for a Sunshine Award.

Vintage Reading - for keeping me up to date with what I wish I had time to read!

The White House - for life on the Norfolk Coast

Four Happy Bunnies - for writing about the Norfolk Broads and Norfolk ice-cream.

Textile Treasury - for daring to post a picture of her poorly toe bandaged in rather tasteful floral fabric.

Hearts of Hampshire - for the loveliest header picture in blogland

Mouintain Ash - for showing us wonderfully creative needlework and quilty things and for living in the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales.

(and if all those links work ... it'll be a miracle!).

x Cathy x

In no particular order ...

I shall announce the winners.

No, you did not win a holiday on the island of Crete - that's where I was last week.

Have you noticed that I brought the sunshine back with me.  I thought we all deserved it!

They've had their wettest winter ever out there, so everything is super green and flowery at the moment.

But enough of this.  Let's cut to the chase.  A big thank you to all who entered and left such nice comments but ... who did my baby boy pull out of the hat this time?

It was HEARTS OF HAMPSHIRE, and DRIFTWOOD. 

Congratulations both (if that's the right word!).

Please email me (cathy.daniel@virgin.net) to let me know whether you'd like a hen or a heart, and whether you want an off-the-peg one now, or a made-to-your-own-specifications one in a few weeks time.

x Cathy x

Second Birthday Giveaway

So, in honour of my second blog birthday which is on Thursday, two lucky followers can have one of these above or one of these below.

You can have an off-the-peg one or if you want to wait a few weeks, you can specify your preferred design and colours and I will make one especially for you.

All you have to do is be a follower of my blog and it would of course be really nice if you could mention my Giveaway on your own blog.

More detailed pictures can be seen in my last post but one - scroll down.

Good Luck and I will prevail upon my baby boy to pick a winner out of a hat on Thursday 24th May.  

In the meantime I will leave you with some pictures taken at the various National Trust properties we have been delivering to over the last few weeks, where deliveries and jolly days out have merged into one!

Ickworth House - the Rotunda.

Below-stairs .....  where I always feel more at home, than in the grand rooms above!

Maybe it's because I just love a huge dresser crowded with gorgeous platters, copper pans and jelly moulds.

Wouldn't have like polishing His Lordship's boots, though!  But, then, his 'man' probably did that anyway.

I'd probably have skived off my duties to enjoy the grounds on the estate full of new-born lambs.

And Anglesey Abbey near Cambridge was equally lovely with glorious grounds just made for wandering through on a bright spring day.

We also delivered to Sutton Hoo and Peckover House, both in torrential thunderstorms, so no photos!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Leave a comment if you wish to be entered into the Giveaway.  Will be back in a few weeks to announce the winners.

Cathy

When Things get Personal

When I start feeling a bit like a one-woman factory making these above, (that Block is 'Dove at the Window'), then I'm grateful for an opportunity to mix it up a bit by doing special commissions for people.

Recently I was asked to make a 40th Birthday wall-piece for someone's hubby, and could I please incorporate ....  a Chicken, a Tortoise, a Heart, a Boat, and something in green and yellow denoting Norwich City Football Club.

No sooner said than done (well, ok, three weeks later!) and this is what it turned out like.  They were rather pleased with my efforts, and a few weeks later, when it was 40th Birthday Boy's Granny's 100th Birthday (!!), they asked if I would make something for Gran, incorporating a few of her favourite things ..... A Racehorse and Jockey, Playing Cards, an Apple Pie, Hearts, a Church and a Golden Retriever!

Er ...  OK then.

I don't often talk about the cost of my work in this blog, but I don't mind telling you that I charged £45.00 for each of these, which I think is quite reasonable.  I have looked around at commemorative plates being sold by other potters, and they are way more expensive ...  we're talking over £100 easily!

If I were to make one of these for myself, (which would be rather silly and, let's face it, not much of a surprise!), I suppose my favourite things to be included would be ....  Pottery, Ballroom Dancing (I'm learning!), Hills and Dales, Hearts and Flowers, and a panel depicting a Mummy, Daddy, Girl and two Boys.

What five or six things would be on your commemorative wall plaque?  What are a few of your favourite things ....  Raindrops on Roses, Whiskers on Kittens, Bright Copper Kettles?

Golden Retrievers?

Have a great gloriously sunny long weekend!  I know, I know ...

Cathy

(p.s.   Giveaway coming next week).

Hearts and Hens

Am up to my eyes in hens and hearts of all varieties.

Flowery ones

Patchwork ones

Weird 'twiggy' ones

but little bits like these are a useful way to test out different colour combinations.  I have also been making just as many larger bowls, etc, but as I am running out of shelf space, they immediately get packed away in boxes ready to be shipped off to their customers.

And all kinds of hearts are finding their way into the mix too.

These above are made with Indian textile printing stamps.

and, of course, it will be the big excitement of my second Blog Birthday in a few weeks' time and I am sure one or two of these bits and pieces will need re-homing, so don't stray too far - I feel a Birthday Giveaway looming up!

Next week I will show you some weird and wonderful commissions I've been asked to do.

But for now, have a gloriously warm, sunny, bright, dry weekend everyone! 
Well, OK, but maybe if we all close our eyes really tight and cross our fingers and toes at the same time and wish really hard, it might happen?

Best wishes

Cathy x