Edges.
See that line around your soul?
It holds you in
holds your heart
city of pottery,
towns of clay,
each kiln and bottle oven,
part of your blood supply.
Heart of Clay.
My Stoke.
Edged with gold,
signed underneath your body
giving the city soul.
Category: Uncategorized
Just doodling
What to do when you are watching TV and you want to draw? Wait for the ad break and draw something quickly.
I’m watching something called the Great Pottery Throw down where twelve potters compete each week to make the best ceramics. This week the challenge is to make a six piece coffee set with a caffitierre, two expresso cups and saucers and a toast rack. Really enjoying watching people design, make and fire pots. Watching clay dry and drawing… Fun!
Playing
You don’t know what you will get when you play with photos. This was the result after playing with this photo. 
And also playing with the brightness and hues in it….
I like it.
Just a photo of a reflection in a window.
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Curled up cat
He’s sitting on my chair,
lying on my bed,
eating my food,
drinking my milk.
He’s taking the mickey,
having a laugh,
being very cheeky,
making me wait.
He knows I won’t move him,
won’t pick him up,
put his paws on the floor,
put him out of the door.
He’s a very lucky kitty,
sleeping on my chair,
he should be here..
and I should be there!
Waiting for the mechanic
Our car needs the rocker head gasket replacing because its starting to weep. That means oil is starting to seep out of the top of the engine. It’s not serious but it needs fixing. The rocker head gasket is right at the top of the engine and sits above the spark plugs. Its where the top is bolted on to the body of the engine block. Not to be confused with the head gasket which is a bit further down.
Apparently its quite a simple job, and as long as the oil is only seeping out slowly its not too bad, but on the other hand it does need fixing.
When I rang up the garage I go to they said bring the cat in this afternoon. So we went down and waited, but no one is there. Its a bit worrying because our mechanic has not been well and he is a friend, so that’s even more worrying. I tried ringing but there was no answer. I guess all I can do is try again tomorrow.
Winter Haiku
I wrote this for the 64 million artists January challenge on Facebook. (I think that’s what it’s called). Each day a different artistic challenge. I’ve only done a few of them, but it’s interesting to dip into.
” Just keeping warm now, It is hard to do for you……….. Little bird in snow.”
🐦
I’m not sure if I’ve got the syllabul count right. Is hard one or two syllabuls?
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Cat sketch
I do like sketching in biro, you can get a good strong line, but by varying the pressure on the pen its good for shading. I have also found that by spraying the biro with hairspray you can sometimes get the ink to blur and bleed. If you are using black or blue biro you get interesting colours flowing from the lines. I guess it depends on the chemicals in both the pen and the hairspray. It might not always work. I have also used hairspray as a fixative for astel and charcoal drawings.
Did you know you can use milk sprayed onto charcoal or pastel as a fixative too? I found an old perfume bottle with an atomiser and used that to spray drawings. They might end up smelling a bit cheesy but it works. You just have to remember to wash out the bottle and spray after use.
Change
Does anyone else have a partner that keeps his change in plastic boxes or tea cups? I came in tonight and yet another receptacle was filled with change (and a bit of satsuma skin). The trouble is he doesn’t like spending change so it builds up.
Some people fill large bottles with copper coins. I think they then donate them to charities. I don’t know what to do about this money except spend it! One of the irritating things about living with people is that we all have our own way of doing things, and sometimes you have to have a bit of give and take.
Blue and yellow.
I love the colours in this photo which I took at the British Ceramics Biennial held in Stoke-on-Trent last year.
I like the triangular patterning on the body of the pot, and the shape of is neck. I think the blue glaze is painted by hand. I love it. The yellow table surface is a brilliant contrast, making the pot stand out well against it. These primary colours are a lovely combination.
Rain due
It’s not rained for a while, but the air pressure is dropping. The sky went yellow grey before the sun set. Weather is interesting here. We don’t get long spells of sun or rain, it fluctuates depending on the jet stream.
As you can see by the photo the pressure had dropped very low (the current pressure isn’t as low as this). I’m trying not to add new photos as my memory on WordPress is going down.
The rain is falling now, I can hear cars splashing through the puddles outside. I can hear it thrumming on the roof of the kitchen extension. It might turn to snow.
