Mick Lindberg – Textile Artist

‘In Her Head The World Was Green’ – Detail of a Textile ‘Art’ Bag by Mick Lindberg   I discovered Mick Lindberg’s beautiful textile art at the start of my Instagram journey.   I am fortunate to count her among my most constant and supportive  ‘Insta-Friends’. Mick’s love of textiles and stitch were inherited from her Swedish mother and grandmother. Her … 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

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

Inspiration Board – ‘Re-Hang’

‘Inspiration Board’ from my studio   Like many artists and creatives I collect and keep images which appeal to me.  These are often in digital form but I still like tangible ‘hard copies’ which can come from many sources – newspapers, magazines, greetings cards, art exhibitions, galleries, open studios or specialist shops.  Sometimes they are ‘ephemera’ or things I simply … Read More

The concept of ‘Home’

Cover design of ‘Home’ by Carson Ellis.   I picked up a children’s book in a gift shop recently entitled ‘Home’ by Carson Ellis.  It illustrates, very beautifully and imaginatively, many different homes and the people or creatures that inhabit them. I’ve always found ‘home’ an interesting concept.  What is it that makes a ‘home’?  I suppose it means different … Read More

Joan Miro – Assemblage – Found Objects and Figures

Joan Miro – Figure and Bird, Bronze 1968   I was lucky enough to spend a long weekend in Barcelona this summer. Such an amazing city – lovely people and fabulous architecture. I was delighted by Gaudi, but I think the highlight for me was probably Fundacio Joan Miro.   It is a spacious purpose-built gallery situated on Montjuic with wonderful … 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

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

C F Tunnicliffe: Ladybird Nature Series and ‘What to Look for in Autumn’

C F Tunnicliffe from The Ladybird Nature Series: ‘What to Look for in Autumn’   The Royal Academy in London recently hosted a small but beautifully curated exhibition of C F Tunnicliffe’s work.   I made reference to it in an earlier Instagram post. I have seen some of his wonderful engravings reproduced as cards but had completely forgotten that he … Read More