Jerry Brown

Another potter that really got me into face jugs was Jerry Brown from Hamilton, Alabama. I stumbled across a great little film of him at folkstreams.net (also check out another old potter Sid Luck and the wonderful Grandma Prisbrey (not a potter) then have a browse at all the other great stuff.) Jerry is one of those great old timers and man can he throw a jug, absolutely no nonsense functionality. Now some of his face jugs can get a little goofy, but you can't not recognise his style. God bless Jerry, i can just watch him throw (sorry USA... "turn") all day long.

Burlon Craig

In the run up to Christmas i came across these brilliant clips of Burlon Craig, one of my favourite face juggers. There are 2 films in 2 parts, grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy!. Burlon was a very important link between the early face juggers and the current crop. Few kept the tradition going, but Burlon became a key figure. I love those grand old groundhog kilns too, what an event. Wish i could have gone to a Burlon kiln opening. Burlon's son Don kept the tradition alive along with others such as Charlie Lisk, Kim Ellington and Joe Reinhardt. Now there are just so many face juggers out there. Good old Burlon... and not forgetting my favourite Lanier Meaders.

Another Owl

While i'm on the theme of 'Owls', here's one i made early last year and as i didn't have clay i built it from thick card tubes wrapped around with scrunched newspaper and coated in modrock. Once that had set i skimmed with polyfilla and then used polyfilla from the tube to "ice" on the feathers. Quick couple of sprays of plasti-kote, bit of painting on eyes and beak, then varnish and hey presto! It worked for me at the time. It's about 10 inches tall and his head comes off for storing bits in, but it's no slipware beauty like Matt's... and Ozzie it most certainly isn't!

Making of the owl

Matt's owl seemed to go down very well.. and so it should!
Here's a little clip of the man in action.

Christmas Owl

I've been very slow to put this up, but look what Santa brought me for Christmas! Actually, it was Jakki that bought it and i'm very grateful to Matt for making it happen, "thanks again Matt". It was such a great surprise and i'm not sure how i feel about Jakki being such a great liar! Jakki had even seen me watching one of Matt's clips from his new space and said "Oh, who's he?" and i'm sat there thinking "you gotta be kidding me??" like she never listens to anything i say! All the time she's sorting this out with Matt for me. Bless. Love these little owls. If i could figure out how to link back to it's birth i would... go to Matt's blog and refresh yourselves!

clay line up

Just a few of the bits around my illustration studio. My studio bit's aren't all made of clay, but here's a little row of things that are. They were picked up at a boot sale or the charity shop, except the Harry Juniper jug, which was a junk shop find...( i just wish it didn't have the orange and green on it).

First thrown pots

 ... and i've no idea what they were trying to be, other than upright!
These are for you Matt and Ron, should give you something to laugh at. I'm just happy they exist at all. Really enjoyed making them and would have loved another hour on the wheel after these two. I only got to make three and the first one ripped apart.. and then i also realized the wheel was going clockwise for that one! Really have to find a way to get on this now. It's a shame, i've just had to spend any money i did have on a new mac for work, after my not-very-old one died a death just before Christmas. Matt, i'll be taking you up on your kind recipe offer and i'll just have to start by making a few dishes etc (for some reason i can't comment on your comments, i'll get the hang of this blog stuff soon).

Where my money goes...

... creating the next generation of superheroes! Welcome to my two boys, Texas and Tennessee... sorry, Wolverine and Spiderman. They just spend whole days changing costumes, Buzz Lightyear, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, The Thing, Iron Man..... and guess who gets all the whacking?!

Ruby Dixie

Just a quick one to direct everyone to Jakki's new jewellery website. After a few years of leaving it on the back burner, while doing a grand job with our two little boys, she's back! She's also joined the world of blogs, so if you never want to hear pottery mentioned that's the place to go!

This weeks wish

College

My 10 week course has now finished and i'll stick a few more bits i made up here, if only to make a couple of proper potters laugh! It was worth doing though, as i needed a bit of a kick start and it has helped me understand a few more things about working with clay. Could it have been better? it was a college course... of course it could! It got off to a good start, but kind of faded out. The snow didn't help.
Anyway, the good news is i finally got to use the wheel and experience throwing, I loved it! I knew i would, but there was always a fear that once i did, it might not have been what i expected. Only got to throw 3 lumps and spent forever cleaning the damned thing back to it pristine condition! (no wonder they avoid using them!) I found centering the clay easier than i expected, i guess i picked something up from all those youtube clips! My problems came when i tried going up!! I ended up with a couple of odd pots, i took photos, but haven't uploaded them yet... funny. Oh, and one had a base about an inch thick! I know that i could do it though, i just need a bit more practice and to remember what i should be doing when i'm doing it. I just need to figure out how to get more experience on a wheel now, at a time when money is at it's tightest. Why didn't i get into this 5 years ago when i had money and no kids?? It'll have to sit on the back burner for a bit. I want to get making and doing some sgraffito real soon though, so i need to stock up and figure out what clay and slip i need to kick me off. Hopefully i might stumble upon a wheel or some spare cash soon.

On Golden Pots

I never thought i'd see the day i made a golden pot! Don't panic though it's not how i see my pots going. I finally got around to glazing the various bits i'd been making on my course and it seemed that bronze and pewter were the big thing in college!... how could i refuse?(Gulp). Reluctantly i covered this wee chap in bronze. I'd made it with a bit of leftover clay, just widening a narrow cylinder and then using off cuts to make the features. I joined them pretty crudely, lots of slip, so i'd get a fair bit of ooze. After my initial( heart sinking) horror of seeing the fired result i eventually grew to really like something about it. I think it just has inherent charm and it's just wrong in all the right ways. Slipware it's not, but that will come. This was just me finding my feet and having fun along the way.

Some of that junk

As i mentioned in my previous post, i do like a fair bit of junk and sometimes i make things out of it. This was made for Jakki as part of her Christmas goodies (one small cheese board, bits of a kids letter game and some of those lovely charity shop figurines.. oh, and some model making grass with a few small shiny green glass beads for a bit of sparkle). I made another one too, i'll see if i can find a pic. Ah, there it is. The bottom pic will get a few more squirrels when i find them. Actually it all needs a little tweak and final fixing down.

Running Late

I promise to sort this out soon! I never intended this blog to just be a run through of my 'Wish List'.
I've already stockpiled some photos that i can trickle out over the week. I'll also be picking up the rest of my pots from college on Friday, so that should add some hilarity... still not sure if i'll stick any up. I've a few creative ideas kicking around for some personal illustration projects, but trying not to make them all look like these 'Wish List' pieces! I'm also adding the inspiration for this piece, which is also relevant to my world of clay. It was made by my big sister Jo when she was at school and i took it from my parents house years ago. It sits happily alongside other 'amateur ceramics' that i rescue from charity shops and boot sales.... along with a lot of other junk, which i'll put some pics of up soon. For now though "enough".