'Raking all over'

Oh dear - bad pun. It could've been worse but luckily I've been listening to The Who Live at Leeds, which is always good inspiration.  I've been thinking long and hard about what to do with some of the materials that I have that will not cope with a high temperature wood firing, such as the fenland clays from Cambridgeshire and have started the slow process of transferring ideas into 3D forms.

Surprisingly the relentless drizzle of the past 12 months has stopped for quite a prolonged period of time, so I've started preparing for my new kiln. This photo is after quite a lot of work (seriously!), clearing old elder and raking up the ivy that chokes everything round here.

This is how it looks now - pretty much levelled off and ready for post hole digging. I'm going to use steel this time to make the frame (far more sensible), then make a good solid pad to build the kiln on. It's going to be a shortish stumpy train kiln with a Bourry type firebox on the front and a single 69cm width by 69cm length chamber and I'm going to use it for more experimental firings. I intend to fire it alone, for up to 20 hours and will start off with some mid range temperature firings.

Thank you and a fond farewell.

Thanks to all of you who came along to CAL and made it such a fantastic show for me. It was heartening to hear from people who read my blog and enjoy it and came long to see my work in the flesh. It's bittersweet to sell the things that I make. Good to sell and see them going to an appreciative home but a rather sad farewell. Here are images of some of the pieces that I bade a fond farewell to this weekend. This piece from dartmoor, with various granite based glazes on a secondary kaolin and ball clay body.

A disc glazed with a variety of glazes derived from Langdale slate and Eskdale granite from Cumbria.......





 .....and a piece from Martley in the Malvern Hills glazed with a variety of rocks that comprise the Malverns complex.

All packed for Ceramic Art London 2013

Plinths painted, boxes stacked, bubblewrap cut and nervous anticipation. I have a lot of new work, which is fresh out of kilns and just waiting for this weekend. This is a wall mounted panel - Dartmoor Blues. Various granite based glazes on secondary kaolin and layered ball clays. If you are reading this and in the London area from tomorrow to Sunday, please come along. Ceramic Art London 2013

Farewell old Salty

It's STILL cold and it was snowing again today. I've totally forgotten what it feels like to feel warm and not have to go outside wearing every single item of clothing I own. In between getting everything ready for Ceramic Art London and while I am firing my last few things I've been dismantling my salt kiln. I haven't fired it for a long time and, considering the price of gas, it is far too expensive to fire. It's been coming apart much more easily than I thought it might. Only the lower arch bricks are too corroded to be reused. Most of the bricks are these strange 1 inch thick slivers I got cheap when I returned to the UK. My plan is to build another wood kiln - different design + smaller volume - for doing some more experimental firings. I'll need quite a few new bricks but there's a start here. I will use the salted bricks for the flue + back up and the other way round.