Minton exhibition

Posted on April 5, 2019April 5, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bret Shah, Ceramics, Hans van Lemmen, Minton tiles, Penkhull, Pottery, Pressed tiles, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Stoke-upon-Trent, Tile press, TilesLeave a comment

Tonight we went to the opening of an exhibition based on Minton tiles.. This is being held at the Winkhill Mill at Swan Street in Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent.

Bret Shah and Hans Van Lemmen on have produced a book of patterns based on designs by Minton tiles. Also in the exhibition are examples of tiles. There are 3d printed tiles where the different patterns are built up as layers. You can wear glasses that obscure your vision so you see as if you are visually impaired The 3d tiles give you an idea of the shapes used on the flat tiles. There is also a chance to see tile presses where dry clay dust is used to produce blank clay tiles. However the mill is also looking ar producing encaustic patterns on the tiles.

Later we visited St Thomas’s Church at Penkhull. The floor of the church is covered in minton tiles in the area by the altar.

Fluffy clouds

Posted on September 24, 2018September 24, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Ceramics, Creatives, Life, Spode, Spode site, WorkLeave a comment

Fluffy clouds, mares tails and con trails at Spode today. I loved the way the sky was crossed and patterned with clouds. The sun was quite low and now we have moved into autumn it took on that crisp shimmer when the heat of summer has all but been extinguished from the sky. The warmth seems to wash out of the blue and it becomes a deeper hue.

Round about the skeletal remains of parts of the spode site sit like dinosaur ribs, shed of flesh and skin, one gaunt necklike chimney sits upright looking out over the landscape of rust and broken bricks.

All this hides the beating pulse of creativity, artists, ceramacists and other makers populate the various untidy buildings. Glass and clay, paint and photography, laser cutting and architecture. All of them dwell under the fluffy white clouds, mares tails and con trails.

Next weekend we are having an OPEN studio. On the 6th and 7th of October.

Admission is free from 11am to 4pm. You are welcome to come into the studios which are open to the public. There will be much to see including a new exhibition of people’s work on the theme of transition. We are at the Spode site, Elanora Street, Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent. The way in will be signposted.

Tiles

Posted on September 23, 2018September 23, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ceramics, Gladstone, Minton, pots, Pottery, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Tiles6 Comments

Tiles at Gladstone yesterday.

I think they are by Minton which was a Pottery that went out of business a few years ago when a lot of Pottery manufacture went abroad because it was cheaper.

I know lots of people admire these tiles and they are often found in hallways in old victorian houses in this area. Our local church, St Thomas’s has tiles by Minton. The factory was based in Stoke-upon-trent, which is one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent.

Many of the people in the town were laid off from factories in Stoke, including Spode. Only a few places still make Pottery now, including Emma Bridgewater, Portmerion, Moorland Pottery, Moorcroft and I think Wedgwood…. There is also a tile manufacturer called Johnson’s tiles. But nothing really compares to the beauty of Minton.

Raku and sawdust..

Posted on September 22, 2018September 22, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ceramics, Firing, Gladstone, Longton, Pottery, Raku, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent5 Comments

While we were at Gladstone today we saw a couple of interesting ceramic techniques. The first was by a lady called Tez. She was firing some raku Pottery. She had some pots in a metal bin with a gas jet heating it at the base. I didn’t find out what temperature she was firing at, but she said it takes about 40 minutes for a firing plus the work on the pots afterwards. Once they had been fired the pots were taken out of the bin and put in another one to rapidly cool causing crazing in the glaze. The lady put lots of beech shavings on top of the pots so that it smothered the fire. We were told that the wood sucks the oxygen out of the air around the pots and is a reduction reaction causing the copper in the glazes to shine through in a wonderful sheen.

The other technique we saw was more subtle. This time another potter put her pots in a box of burned sawdust ash. The pot was then covered in fresh sawdust mixed with white spirit. She sprinkled some of the burnt ashes on the pot to mask some areas then set light to the sawdust. As it burned it gave a mottled effect on the pot. It looked like it was being aged.

Finally there was some traditional stone ware pottery for sale. Fired in an ordinary kiln but also lovely to look at

2017

Posted on September 19, 2018September 19, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ceramics, Fushia, Gardens, Photography, Photos, Pictures, Plants, Pottery2 Comments

IMG_20180919_231653_485 — Ceramic head made in 1980s

IMG_20180919_231734_236 — Bridge at Biddulph Grange

IMG_20180919_231558_555 — Phone error…….

These photos were all taken in September 2017,

Starting with a ceramic head I made in the 1980s at a pottery class. It has lasted through many years and many plants. This year its just planted up with lobelia, but the fuschia that was in it in 2017 was spectacular.

The second photo is part of a Chinese bridge at Biddulph Grange gardens. A wonderful garden owned by the National Trust at Biddulph, North Staffordshire. The garden is split into different areas including one based on Egyptian architecture, a Swiss cottage, an ancient grotto, and the Chinese pagoda garden. It’s a fascinating and beautiful place to visit.

One of the odd things they have there is in picture number three. This is an upturned tree root that is covered in moss, there is a whole section of them lining the steps down to the grotto, the trees must have been huge before they were hewn.

The fourth photo is a phone error. Probably because I had too many images on my phone, so two photos of daliahs are grouped with the hedges of the daliah walk at Biddulph. The picture is totally random, and the colours just happened.

So, I hope you like these.

So, now I can Tag….

Posted on April 9, 2018April 9, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Ceramics, Colours, Digital art, Drawing, Painting, Photographs, Pottery, Tags3 Comments

How do I find Tags on other people’s posts…?

You know it was inevitable, once you know how to do something you realise you need more information. So many questions. 20180409_180812

You find out how to paint then you try new mediums….like jam or jelly…….

Or find something interesting and take a photo of it… IMG_20180401_115802

So ……I can go to my Tags, and see the piece I have published…but where are other Tags using that or those words? I don’t think I’m the only person who has used Art or Digital Art as Tags…

I have a very varied interest in Art and I want to find other like minded people , who flit like a butterfly from style or medium to different creations.

Is there a page …like the Reader page, where I can find similar posts through the bloggers tags.

So…If you know how … please help xx

Big painting!

Posted on February 16, 2018April 11, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Art, Ceramics, Design, Painting, Pottery, Spode, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Finally finished,

these pictures run from todays picture of the finished painting, backwards to the original start. Its about A1 in size.More done, including more shadow.

May change the curve at the top, its too much. Needs flattening.And so it continues….

This has had more detail added to the pot, and I have worked on the background more. This is the third picture. The green one was the second and the one with the red background was the first.

Continue reading “Big painting!” →

Etruria Artists are opening up again tonight

Posted on February 1, 2018April 11, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Ceramics, Design, Etruria Industrial museum, Industrial art, Painting, Pottery, Sketching, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Now that we are through the worst if the winter weather (hopefully) Etruria Artists are opening up the warehouse at Etruria Locks in Stoke on Trent again.

Situated in an old warehouse on the Trent and Mersey canal in Stoke on Trent, it is near to the Etruria Industrial museum, which sits on the junction of the Canal with the Caldon branch of it.

The sessions run from 7 to 9 pm on a Thursday evening and should run regularly except when people are on holiday. Situated along the canal towpath from the museum. Walk past the forge and a few yards further on the warehouse stands next to the summit lock (lock 40). It can be quite dark along the path so its an idea to bring a torch. The warehouse should be lit up when you arrive. Come on in.

The idea is that you can come in and get into doing art. There us a pottery wheel and you can throw pots or hand build ceramics. There is usually paper and paints and pencils available with people from the group happy to help you create your own work.

A small charge of £5 a session is made to cover costs. So why not come along and enjoy a stress busting session at the warehouse?

EDIT: we are not meeting this week, 12.4.18 …but should be opening next week again….

Work completed

Posted on January 16, 2018April 11, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Art, Ceramics, Design, Drawing, Flowers, Painting, Pottery, TeapotLeave a comment

I’ve finished this painting. I am keen to reflect the industry of Stoke-on-Trent and its cultural heritage, so there may be more in the pipeline. It is now at the cafe at Spode in Stoke on Trent.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Ceramics