Myself

Posted on April 14, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Books, brush, Canvas, Cat, Drawing, I, Illustration, Pencil, Poppies, Pottery, self portrait, Sketching, Willow pattern, xrayLeave a comment

I was looking for this drawing because there was a prompt on one of the Art groups I’m on that asked people to post #thisisme. I looked and looked for this and could not find it, and yet its on my WordPress media gallery! It was originally drawn for a college project ‘I’. As you can see it includes a self portrait, a canvas and pencil and brush, some poppies, an x-ray, books, an old pottery, a cat and finally the willow pattern on a plate. Each thing means something to me. It was drawn in 2020 so I have changed slightly since then. No bits have dropped off but I’m not as well as I was. Life eh? Gets to us all….

Need to take better photos…

Posted on March 21, 2023March 21, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Fine Art, Jug, Painting, Pottery, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Teapot, Willow pattern2 Comments

Three pottery paintings I did a few years ago. The one of the jug is going to a new home soon. ❤️

I took them to a joint performance of our Clay chorus and the Starfish choir because we were singing a song about the Willow pattern (this is based on a Spode platter) and also a ship called Hispaniola bringing pottery clay from across the seas that had been written for us by Mark Whitter. I was very proud to have my work appreciated.

I am making cards from these if I can so I need better photos to show them clearly .

Still there….

Posted on March 18, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Chimney, Clay, Hard work, Life, Memory, Middleport pottery, Poem, Poetry, potters, Pottery, Thinking, WordsLeave a comment

The tall chimney tapers

High up in the air

Birds soar around its slender height.

Blustery and white

Clouds scud across the blue

A memorial to ancient potters

Who wheezed in its smoky shadow.

Coughed clay into spittoons

Made and created beauty

Paid little

Working hard

In their race to death.

Socks idea

Posted on January 27, 2023January 28, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Bottle oven, Canal, Copyright?, Drawing, Pottery, Present, Sketching, socks, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Thursdays #bandofsketchers prompt was socks. I don’t know if these exist, so if they don’t this idea is my copyright ©. Canal and bottle oven socks. The ideal present for someone who loves industrial archaeology, is interested in the Trent and Mersey canal and needs to keep their feet warm!

Flight

Posted on January 22, 2023January 22, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Artistic pottery, Drawing, Gladstone pottery museum, Life, Longton, Pigeon, Pottery, Sketching, Stoke-on trent, TV18 Comments

I just watched a programme about pottery on the TV. It’s set at the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. I like it because people have to do challenges, tonight’s was to create three low relief birds, in a small medium and large sizes. Each one had to represent a real bird. One person did three macaws, another kingfishers, a third falcons. Each contestant made really interesting birds, the standard was very high. One person got Potter of the week, one got eliminated. Its good to see an art based programme with real skills.

The drawing above is a digital finger painting I dis in ArtRage oils a few years ago. It’s meant to be a multicoloured pigeon.

Tabby or tiger?

Posted on November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 Posted in Cat, Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Cat, Ceramics, Design, long tail, Pottery, scraffito, Sculpture, short legs, Tabby, TigerLeave a comment

In a display case, trapped like a tiger in a cage. Black and brown tabby sculpture. Little legs, massive tail. Iove this piece of cat sculpture at Salts Mill in Saltaire, Yorkshire. I think the technique is scraffito? Where you have a thin layer of slip pover a different colour. When it’s dry you can carve through it to reveal the underlying colour. A purrfect decoration for this wild tabby!

Christmas present

Posted on November 18, 2022 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Cat, Christmas present, Emma Bridgwater pottery, Jug, Pottery, Stafford Pottery, Tortoiseshell catLeave a comment

Jug I decorated at a Stoke on Trent pottery for a Christmas present I did a few years ago. I think that this was done at Stafford Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. It’s about half the price of the Emma Bridgwater pottery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. I tend to paint flowers and cats on things like this. I decorated it as a tortoiseshell cat, black tabby and white. These tend to be female cats if I remember rightly. Something to do with their genetics.

Hand painted jug

Posted on August 10, 2022 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Cat, Drawing, Painting, Pottery, Sketching, Stafford Pottery, Stoke-on trent, Tortoiseshell cat2 Comments

I did this a few years ago. Living in the city of Stoke-on-Trent means there are places where you can pay to paint pottery with glazes and then collect the finished piece a week or so later. I found a place in Burslem which was about half the price of other potteries and the vase was double the size. I think it was called Stafford Pottery, its on the opposite side of the road to Burslem Town Hall. I gave the resulting jug as a Christmas gift. I usually paint cats but have been known to paint horses too… I know it’s mainly a kids thing, but it is fun.

Wall painting

Posted on August 9, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Burleigh ware, Burslem School of Art, Colour, Middleport pottery, Mural, Pottery, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Wall paintingLeave a comment

Wall in Burslem painted with the Burleigh ware pattern that is available on pottery from Middleport pottery just down the road. There was a board below it which explained more but I was in a rush so just took a photo and then had to go. This is visible outside Burslem School of Art on the wall to the right of the front doors. As you probably know I love pattern so this is right up my street. Also this colour of blue is fabulous although the pieces I own are dark red and white.

Fire?

Posted on July 15, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged arson, Falcon works, Fire, heritage, History, Life, Pottery, Stoke, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

I don’t know what happened but there was a fire last week on the old Falcon Works pottery site near us. We saw a column of smoke rising from behind the Portmeirion pottery that is across the road from us. Then we heard a fire engine heading towards the pottery. The smell was very strange, like burnt rubber. My hubby went for a walk round the back of the works when we got back from Cornwall, he said it just looked the same as normal?

It turns out that the land has recently been sold to developers. Could this be a coincidence? A lot of old derelict industrial sites in the area seem to be hit by suspected arson recently. It is worrying to think of the damage being done to our heritage.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Pottery