‘Ceci n’est pas une Pipe’

Clay Pipe Fragment.    I realise I haven’t written here for a while.  The truth is it has been a difficult year – one of relocation, disorientation and upheaval – the loss of all that was familiar and ‘normal’ which, if I’m honest, has given rise to feelings of anxiety, depression and isolation.  Along with it has come, almost inevitably, … Read More

Hannah Whale / ‘Bohwne’ – Art Spoons

Mixed Media Spoons by Hannah Whale   My grandmother had a small wooden box with mother of pearl inlay which, as a small child, I was allowed to look at and open from time to time.  It contained a selection of ‘memory spoons’ – silver plated teaspoons with brightly coloured enamel badges bearing coats of arms, flags and place names … Read More

‘Friends Reunited’ – An Instagram ‘Curation’ Story

‘Friends Reunited’ – a ‘curation’ from found objects I really enjoy Instagram.  It’s stimulating and endlessly informative – a great way of ‘meeting’ like-minded people and discovering new creative contacts. It is, by its very nature, primarily visual;  an instant hit – a picture-gram.  It doesn’t take long to speed-scroll through and ❤️ anything that particularly appeals.  That’s one approach. … Read More

Instagram – Contacts and Creative Inspiration

Paperclay shoes from an installation entitled  ‘Not all things go to plan’  by Alison Bournes. Some months ago I gained a new follower on Instagram.  This artist had started making shoes from porcelain paperclay and I assumed that, rather than being a coincidence, there must be a link to my own ceramic work.   A series of direct messages revealed … Read More

Images and Words: Words and Images

‘Not Waving but Drowning’ – a curation I spotted this piece of sea-worn glass on a recent mud-larking expedition. Within a couple of feet of it lay a tiny porcelain arm.  It was a bitterly cold day but the wind and tide had churned up the river bed and swept some interesting pieces on to the high-tide line.  Sometimes the … Read More

Lest we forget

‘Curation’ – ‘Lest we forget’   This little figure, with her head bowed and a far away look in her eye, is the personification of contemplation and mindfulness. Made entirely from found objects, she wears a little ceramic ‘helmet’, her neck is glass and her body a broken vase decorated with faded foliage and a bird motif.  She was inspired, … Read More

Herald

‘Curation’ – ‘Herald’ Inspired in part by Laurence Binyon’s poem (see my ‘Autumn Leaves’ post), I put this little figure together from autumnal hues and textures – oddly shaped pieces of ceramic and metal that I found on the foreshore. This young boy, in his autumn finery, is carrying a tiny branch of seedpods. He epitomises the richness and variety … Read More

Clay Pipes

Clay Pipes I come across numerous clay pipes – or fragments of them – on the foreshore. They are a common find for mud-larkers as most working men smoked tobacco in ‘days of yore’. What is fascinating is that they come in so many sizes, shapes and designs. The one with the Buffalo Head and letters RAOB (Royal Antedeluvian Society … Read More

The Lost Sheep

‘Curation’ – ‘The Lost Sheep’ Sometimes the forms of my foreshore finds suggest something to me the minute I see them. In this instance I found a piece of rough textured ceramic with an ‘ear’ attached.   Back in the studio I partnered it with a cloud-shaped fragment of painted polystyrene which I’d had for a while and a few bits … Read More

Pipe Dream

‘Curation’ – ‘Pipe Dream’ The piece shown above is composed from the head of a figurine, an old clay pipe and a piece of seaweed.  Each ‘assemblage’ or ‘curation’ is photographed before being dismantled into its component parts for re-use or re-incorporation into different forms. This strikes me as the most appropriate and sustainable way of working with these unique … Read More