People sketching

Posted on April 15, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Canal, Crane, Drawing, Life, Middleport, Photo, Pottery, Sketching, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

When I was out sketching a few weeks ago there were lots of other people drawing. After I finished I took this photo of my friend drawing the same view I’d done. He was working in charcoal and pencil I remember. The day was overcast with patches of blue sky. The ground is covered in concrete, but the way it is breaking up I think there are probably cobblestones underneath. There is a large area of cobbles around the corner where you enter the Middleport pottery complex. In the backdround you can see a small wooden crane which was used to load and unload barges. Forty years ago my hubby worked at another pottery, he actually used one of these to lift packed pottery ware to load onto a lorry. He said you could lift a big weight easily because of the gearing on it. The one he used was cast iron. It had a band brake and a pawl and ratchet to hold the load in place as it was swung over the lorry.

We are not that far away from the past, history is not that long ago. A lot of the old industry in the area was using old machines and equipment, because they had always done things that way and it probably saved a lot in investment. Even now there are lots of pottery molds to be found in the area. Sadly a lot of them get smashed. Losing our heritage. Do we really want to wipe our history out completely?

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.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Pottery