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

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

Giveaway Winners and Christmas Angels

So, it's the last day of November (can't believe it's come round so quickly!) and as promised, here are the Snowflake Giveaway winners' names drawn out of the new hat (not yet worn!).


Thankyou to all who entered and to all those who are new followers - it was a lovely way to make new friends. The winners are a nice mix of old and new bloggy friends. If you could all drop me a line with your postal address, I'll get your snowflakes and other bits and bobs sent off as soon as possible. Email: cathy.daniel@virgin.net.
Hope you like!



So, now that excitement is over, what other Christmassy things have been happening round here? Well, I've been making lots of angels and lots and lots of little angelic slippers with hearts on them, as you can see here.


These angels seem to sell well each Christmas. They are all unique, handmade and individually glazed and look great all sitting in a row on the mantlepiece.



Personally I think they are a bit, well, quirky - but maybe that's their appeal.

They each have their own, slightly odd, facial expression - a mixture of surprise and total bewilderment - which is pretty much how I look in the run up to Christmas!

Bye for Now

x Cathy x

Christmas Giveaway - Come and Get It !

Now,
as promised,
here is the giveaway!

THREE ceramic snowflakes to be won (one each!) by just leaving me a comment here. No hoops to jump through - just be a follower of my humble blog!

Obviously, if you want to spread the word and it fits in with a post you're doing, that'd be great, but no worries either way.

Winner will be picked out of my new winter hat in three weeks' time on last day of November, in good time for posting to you for Christmas.

For more details and pictures of these, see previous post below.

Good Luck one and all!

Bye for now

Cathy