Old mold for a pot,
Vase never to be cast.
Waiting on a window sill
To be made?
No your day has gone,
You are part
Never to be one
And whole.
Broken, split
Your clay slip spilt.
When no longer useful
You become an ornament.
Tag: Pottery
Who is he?
There are some windows in Spode covered in various circular prints. This one looks like a photographic negative and appears to be someone famous although I don’t know who.
There are other patterns overlaid. This must have been a particular place for some sort of work within the factory but I’m not sure what?
More Spode photos
One building at spode site has what appear to be transfer prints stuck on the inside of the windows. There is also rippled glass in some windows and I also took a photo of some planters by the Hulton pottery building.
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To be fired?
These three pieces are unfired. I made them a couple of years ago but never got them fired. The coloured one is painted in metallic acrylic paints. I need to hollow them out so that they can go in a kiln. The problem is they are fully dry so it might be difficult to do it. I think I need to dampen them but I don’t want them to dissolve. Made them at Etruria, at the warehouse.
Rose bowl
This is my kind of pottery. The beautiful contrasting colours and patterns really appeal to me. This was in the Gladstone pottery museum last year, in the bathroom display section.
If I had it at home I would use it as a fruit bowl. There seems to be a bird or a parrot in the centre of the bowl. Beautiful piece.
Pinch pot
Sitting at the exhibition yesterday I was starting to get bored. There was some clay available and as I didn’t feel like actually throwing a pot I decided to do a pinch pot instead.
What is a pinch pot? You just hollow out a small lump of clay then pinch it so it gets thinner and thinner walls. I didn’t use any water, so as I stretched and pinched the pot it started to split and crack. I used a broken pencil to make tiny indentations all over the surface, making larger dents around the rim.
It turned into an irregular, ugly little pot. But I might get it fired and glaze it with oxides. I might do more to go with it.
Scenery
This is a papier mache hill I made out of willow withies covered in newspaper and glue. The idea was to depict the last ice age. I painted a couple of wolves in the distance. This was another mystery play a few years ago. Set in the area which then became Penkhull. It was about the way the village evolved and the town surrounding it. I don’t remember much about the play except it had Romans and Celts in it, then victorians and a riot. We seem to riot a lot in the plays!
I wonder what we will be doing next year.
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Middleport
I’ve got lots of images to show you but I’ve run out of space on my plan. I have gradually deleted old photos from posts but my camera takes pictures in megabits not kilobits so it eats memory. I shall probably pay and upgrade because I use a lot of images in this blog. Anyway Middleport pottery is hidden in the backstreets of middleport in Stoke-on-Trent. It is interesting to visit as it not only makes pottery but also sells it and is home to several craft shops which make studio pottery, sell photos and other craft ware.
If you are not doing a tour of the museum entrance is free. We went in the cafe then sat by the canal for a while. There is a boat tour that called at the pottery and we may go on it soon.
There is also Clay college based there where you can learn the craft of throwing pots, and it is the setting for the TV show the great pottery throw down.
Worth a visit.
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Forgotten?
Sandstone is a beautiful stone, soft and porous, it can be carved into fine shapes. But as this gravestone shows it also dissolves, especially in out acid rain environment. In this case the stone has turned black, probably from pollution, as Stoke-on-Trent was a very smoky place, due to the coal fired potteries. And yet the church is clean. I don’t know if it has been cleaned but it has had some restoration.
The lettering on the headstone is almost lost. Its almost as if a layer has peeled off. Gone but not forgotten? It depends on whether the family still exists, and whether they still live in the area.
Other stones in the graveyard are in worse or better condition. Some have been turned into steps, gradually wearing away under foot.
Cherished Chimneys
I finally got into Cherished Chimneys in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. Its an Aladdins cave of Chimney pots. Small, short, long, tall, fluted, straight, curved. Dark, light, terracotta, superb ceramics. The shop restores chimneys for buildings where the original pots have been lost, but also sells to the public who use them as ornamental sculptures and flower pots in their gardens. It’s worth taking a look if you are ever passing.
Mallaband-Brown 