Middleport

Posted on October 6, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged barrels, Boats, Bottle ovens, Canals, Cauldon canal, Chair, Choir, eras, Memories, Middleport pottery, Seat, Singing, Trent and mersey canalLeave a comment

This weekend I went to Middleport pottery to sing with a choir to accompany a play called “Boats, Barrels and Bottle ovens”.

We sang seven songs. From different years over the time when the Trent and Mersey canal and the Caldon canal that is an offshoot of it were built by Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley. Each era was represented by the cast acting out scenes, first by the side of the Dane, a working narrow boat, then inside a bottle oven to represent the Harecastle tunnel in Kidsgrove. A scene at a boat club in the 1960’s where they discussed reopening the cauldron canal that was full of rubbish and weeds at that time and finally we sang in a scene from the 1980s and then up to date.

I’m not fit or well and this was challenging with freezing cold, wet and windy weather, uneven cobbles and slippery surfaces. I can only thank the people who placed chairs for me so I could sit down in safety when I needed to. Without them I could never have done it. X

Variations

Posted on November 15, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on watercolour, Art, Bottle ovens, Collage, Drawing, incollage, Painting, Photodirector, Sketching2 Comments

Using photodirector to alter my painting that I completed today. Photodirector can change the texture and shapes of my paintbrush strokes, adding uniformity and chaos at the same time, while I learn what I like, and which editing tool to use. I gave the original painting away. But at least I have a good photo…

Repairs

Posted on November 15, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on watercolour paper, Art, bottle kilns, Bottle ovens, Fine Art, Painting, Prompt, Repairs, Sketching2 Comments

#bandofsketchers prompt a couple of weeks ago was repairs. I painted some bottle kilns today, there are fewer and fewer of them in the potteries and a lot of them are listed buildings and in need of repairs to stop then falling down…

Clematis and Canal roses

Posted on September 27, 2023September 27, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, Memories, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Bottle ovens, Canal, Canal roses, Clematis, Five years ago, Life, Painting, Pottery, Stoke-on trent4 Comments

Every so often I paint one of the iconic bottle ovens from Stoke-on-Trent. These were where pottery was originally fired with coal fires. The city would be covered by a pall of thick smoke, morning noon and night.

They sometimes had metal bands wrapped round them to strengthen them, and the old bricks can shine like gold when there is a lovely sunrise or set. Arthur Berry, famous artist of Stoke-on-Trent used to speak about the beauty of the potteries towns. He painted and drew abstracted views of the six towns. He’s known as the potteries Lowry.

This painting is of a derelict oven, I’ve painted clematis growing up it, rewinding the ancient landscape. The blue area represents the local canals, it’s shape mirrors the bottle oven. The flowers in it represent the abstract canal roses that are found adorning canal barges throughout Britain.

Uphill walk

Posted on March 10, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bottle ovens, dilapidated, Downhill, Hill, looking down, Potbank, Stoke, Tired, trip, Uphill, View, WalkingLeave a comment

Today I walked into Stoke by walking Uphill, (and then downhill again).. I’m a bit unsteady on my feet. It sounds strange but because I shake and my arm goes stiff and my foot clenches a bit I feel very nervous of tripping and falling. I look down more than up, watching my feet instead of looking at the view. But I need exercise. I cannot just sit on my chair and wait to become completely dilapidated like these old bottle ovens. My arm and hand hurt holding the phone while I type. But I won’t stop. Life, it gets to you sometimes! But I can walk Uphill!

Three hours sleep

Posted on December 7, 2021December 13, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Bottle ovens, Dawn, Insomnia, Night, Painting, Poem, Poetry, Sleeping, Time, TiredLeave a comment

Go to bed

Lie down

Stay awake

Close your eyes

Calm your thoughts

Calm them again

Think of something else

Reinvent the wheel

Remember another problem

Count sheep….

Count goats

Daylight

Dawn…

Sleep….

Wake up after three hours

Repeat…..

Painted!

Posted on December 4, 2021 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, bottle kilns, Bottle ovens, Craft fair, Fine Art, Night, Paintings, Sky, Stars, StylisedLeave a comment

My paintings from yesterday. The small ones have ribbons attached so they can hang from a Christmas tree.

Close up of one of the larger ones. Two bottle kilns side by side, at night, a frosty gleam on them and a patchy, cloudy sky with stars peeping through. The shape of the wisp of smoke mimics the curve of the moon. I used acrylics and glitter glue to give the frosty effect. The smallest canvases are about 1 x 1.5 inches. The bigger ones are around 6x 4.5 and 4.5 inches. They are on display at the Waiting room gallery, I’m pleased to say they are there with other works that I have done for the next week.

Painting scenery

Posted on September 3, 2020September 3, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Bottle ovens, Emulsion, Flat scenery, Hardboard, Life, Penkhull, Penkhull mystery play, Picture, Random, Scenery, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-TrentLeave a comment

I just chose a random photo from my gallery. It’s a scenery flat for the mystery plays a few years ago. When you are painting on a board eight foot by four foot you don’t need a lot of detail. But I love these iconic bottle ovens, so of course I decided to paint every brick. Plus it means I can give a bit of perspective rather than leaving it flat looking. I also hate when I see scenery and the perspective is wrong. I have seen some that are really weird. It’s distracting (for me anyway). I can spend more time on looking at scenery than at a performance.

A lot of scenery I’ve done for the Mystery plays was painted very quickly. When we have prepared and rehearsed for them the time we can have to use the hall we work in is limited so that we don’t have to spend too much money.

I don’t know what will happen next year? Will there be another one? I don’t know. For me by next summer it could be a real boost to have it on again.

Something less traditional

Posted on October 13, 2019October 13, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Bottle ovens, Design, Landscape, Negative image, Painting, Pottery, Winter kilns, Work in progressLeave a comment

After the intricacies of the previous painting I decuded late last night to start this, based on photo that I’d worked on to turn it negative. It’s also got an interesting effect of light and dark on things like the chain link fence and round the edges of the bottle ovens.

I don’t paint bottle ovens very often, they are iconic round here, but there are an overwhelming number of ainting of them. Everyone has their own style and thoughts about them, this is me trying to put on a different spin if you see what I mean. The finished work will be called Winter kilns.

Today at Gladstone

Posted on September 22, 2018September 22, 2018 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Bottle ovens, Drawing, Gladstone Pottery, Kilns, Longton, Sketching, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Urban sketchers Stoke on trent6 Comments

I’m in a group called urban sketchers. Today we braved the wind and cold and went out to draw and sketch there. I got quite chilly and damp but it was worth it. There were about 8 or 9 of us there.

There is so much to see at the Gladstone Pottery museum. Plus there is a nice little shop with Pottery for sale and a good friendly cafe upstairs.

Sited in Longton, Stoke on Trent, the Gladstone Pottery museum shows you the history of ceramics. There is a flushed with success section about toilets and a display of ceramic flower making, pot throwing, an old engine house, a doctors house and surgery. A selection of historical tiles and much more.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Bottle ovens