Tammy Midkiff – Watercolour Artist

Gray Dog (Watercolour and gouache ) by Tammy Midkiff I have recently renewed an old friendship thanks to Instagram.   I first met Tammy Midkiff in 1993 when we went to live in the USA for work-related reasons.  Tammy, her husband Ray and their daughter ‘Little Rae’ helped us settle in and find our feet in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. They … Read More

Robert Cooper

Tea Caddy – Robert Cooper   I was fortunate to have Robert Cooper as a tutor during my two years on the City Lit Ceramic Diploma course.  He is a free-spirit with an open-minded and experimental approach to ceramics, as well as being a committed, engaging and enormously enthusiastic teacher – full of ideas and suggestions. An inveterate collector and … Read More

Jane Daniell – Artist and Printmaker

Jane Daniell – Aquatint Etching “Once upon a Time” – (detail) I popped into Southbank Printmakers Gallery – an artist-run cooperative at Gabriel’s Wharf – just before Christmas with a friend who collect prints.  (We were on our way to Tate Modern but the Southbank has so much to offer that we took our time and meandered for a while). … Read More

Carol Farrow 1944-2012

Paperclay ‘implement’ by Carol Farrow   I received a mysterious parcel on my birthday last month marked ‘Fragile’.  Carefully unwrapping it I found a small shovel-shaped ‘implement’, in delicate chalky grey, which I immediately recognised as the work of Carol Farrow.  It was accompanied by a card which read: “I saw this and thought of you”. This gift was sent … Read More

Soutine’s Portraits: Cooks, Waiters and Bellboys

Chaim Soutine – ‘The Little Pastry Cook’ (detail) c1927   I visited The Courtauld Gallery last week, ‘killing time’ between a theatre matinee and evening visit to Cockpit Open Studios in Holborn.  I worked at The Courtauld Institute of Art for several years and often used to pop into the gallery but visit less often these days. Somerset House is … Read More

Isobel

Isobel – an ‘art doll’ by Johanna Flanagan   It was by pure chance that I discovered Johanna Flanagan’s Instagram account, ‘The Pale Rook’, a few weeks ago and immediately started ‘following’ her.  I was intrigued by her work. The next day she posted an image of Isobel – an ‘art doll’ – the central character in an exhibition entitled … Read More

Phoebe Cummings and ‘Truth to Materials’

‘Triumph of the Immaterial’  (detail) – installation in raw clay by Phoebe Cummings   I was delighted to see that Phoebe Cummings has recently won the inaugural Women’s Hour Craft Prize (8 November 2017) with ‘Triumph of the Immaterial’ – a installation piece in raw clay which took 5 weeks to create and is currently on display at the V&A. … Read More

Annie Turner’s sculptural ceramics

‘Martello Tower’ by Annie Turner – Ceramic vessel with fishing net (detail) I was very fortunate to have Annie Turner as a tutor on my ceramic diploma course several years ago.  She is a gifted teacher who demonstrates techniques clearly and is happy to share not only her extraordinary hand-building skills but also her slip and glaze recipes. In her … Read More