House Names

A few weeks ago we were asked to make a round house name sign. We have been making house names signs for many years and they are something that the potter enjoys making.

We started out making rectangular signs such as this very early example:

At this stage we were also having a very high fail rate with the signs cracking in the kiln. We quickly discovered that our mistake was how we positioned the sign in the kiln. Poor air circulation around the sign meant that it fired quicker on one side than the other and caused the cracks.

Once we had worked that out our fail rate was dramatically reduced to (touch wood) almost none. Looking back we really had no idea what we were doing and were figuring it out as we went! Kiln loading particularly seemed like a dark art where you had to work it out for yourself what worked and what failed!

Other things like if you pack items close together or far apart, it changes the colour of the glaze were also discovered during these early days! Thankfully we have got the hang of it these days so we have a better idea of what is going to come out of our kiln when we open it!!

Anyway back to name signs...... We moved on from rectangular signs to oval signs as the potter became more adventurous with her designs. The oval signs left much more space for decoration, and the signs became much more detailed as a result.

I am glad to say that the rectangular signs have also moved on in terms of decoration from those early days!

 



When we were asked to make a round sign, we spent some time debating what would be the right size for a round sign, to leave space for some decoration in the middle. The client we were designing a sign for liked the idea of the central design (rather than just a border design like the rectangular signs) so we needed to leave space for that.
We settled on a sign that is approx 30cm in diameter. We liked the one we made for that client so much we have decided to add round signs to our official list of options (www.embarpottery.co.uk/housesigns.html)
This is an example plate that the potter made at the last show we were at, so we could show people an example of a round sign.

 

 

Ta dah! as you can see it came out rather well. Of course what I was supposed to be doing with this picture is adding it to the website page before we go out to our next show this weekend not writing a blog post about it, So I must get to that...........

 

If you are interested this weekend you can find us at the Marks Hall Country and Garden Show at Marks Hall, Coggeshall Essex (CO6 1TG)



http://www.markshall.org.uk/things-to-see-do/events/marks-hall-country-garden-show/
We shall be there rain or shine (hopefully shine... pleeeeeeese!)

It keeps on raining at all our shows!

The rain is a persistent devil! It seems that Embar Pottery at a show is a sure sign of rain. Tomorrow we are going to the Grundisburgh Art and Craft fair. A late addition to our show schedule as we had a weekend free and thought we would fill it with something local. However I have seen the forecast for tomorrow.......  ...... So it looks like our run is going to continue!

The last show we did was the Garden Show at Abbotts Ripton Hall. While it was raining (and thundering!) we had a trial of laying our stand out differently.

Although you can't see where my seat is (its on the left between the two tables) For the first time this season I haven't been hiding behind the house numbers board where I can't really see or speak to people. I have no idea if that made a difference of if it was a fluke, but in spite of the rain we had a better show, which made the potter very happy.......

..... although maybe less happy about having her photo taken! She was hard at work here making a winter lady (we sold the last one I told you about).

We also took the birdbaths out with us. In a previous post I took photos of them in the garden (on a sunny day) They made a statement on our fake grass stand as well!

They look a bit shiny as I had to take the photo with the flash on (all the black clouds made it a bit dark in the marquee!)

Fingers crossed the forecast I have seen for tomorrow is wrong and we have a lovely sunny day.

New ideas

It has been ages since my last post. We have been busy trying to dry out after our last show (at Woburn abbey where we got a bit wet!!) and feeling generally a bit disheartened (rain will do that to you).
Anyway today it is sunny and long may it last as we are at a garden show next weekend at Abbots Ripton http://www.abbotsriptonhall.co.uk/ Fingers crossed for some good weather, we will be there whatever but it does boost the moral slightly when you are not soggy!

Some of the plants I have been growing for the occasion are looking fabulous, and hopefully someone will love them at the weekend.

The potter hasn't been moping about the weather (well maybe a little) but has been busy experimenting with new things, I am going to give you a sneak preview of one of them. It isn't even fully dry yet......

 

So its a frog.... actually I think it might be a toad..... sitting on a lily pad. (My photo was photobombed by Gladys who sneaked into shot when I wasn't looking!)
This is the side shot....

 

 

So the toad could be decorational for the garden (next to a pond maybe) but he does have a hole in the top which the potter thought could be used for this.......

 



.... a solar light. I will update you with some pictures of it once it has been fired and glazed, and we shall see how he comes out. He is looking like a sentry in the last picture so maybe you need to have 2, one on either side of your front door!

Updating

I thought I would use today's post to update you on a couple of  things I have been talking about over the last few weeks.

Firstly fairy doors. It turns out that it isn't just the Embar Pottery imagination that loved the fairy door idea! After the Penshurst show we had sold out of our show stock, so we raided our Dedham unit and sold out of those during our the Hatfield show! So the potter has been very busy preparing more fairy doors for our next show which is next weekend at the Woburn Abbey Country Fair http://www.livingheritagecountryshows.co.uk/show/the-woburn-abbey-country-fair/55.php

These doors are all mid way through the glazing phase. It is always a bit difficult to tell what they are going to look like when finished as the glaze is nothing like the colour it is when fired. The edges will be green (not brown) the Mushrooms red (not brown) the cute little deer will be fawn (not dark brown) and the backgrounds are all different speckly colours (not white!!) You often just have to trust what the pot says and run with it. Occasionally you get a surprise when you open the kiln!

A few weeks ago I suggested in this post that the Potter should make a new Green Lady plaque at the one of the shows. The Potter did this, and the green lady is now out of the kiln and looking lovely.

 

The potter also made a hairy male companion to the Green lady! who is quite a cheeky chappy!!

 



Cone Planters

I thought I would introduce one of our new lines this week. Those who have visited us at one of the shows we have done already this year will have seen our new shape planters.

For the last few years we had been making the green man wall planters which were flat at the back with a curved bowl at the front and a green man face on the front.

At the end of last year we decided to have a change (You have to mix things up a little!). The design we agreed on was a cone shape.

Possibly not shown off to its best effect against a pink wall!! But a cone shape with a hole in the bottom (for drainage) and an ivy pattern. We also tried a smooth version which we glazed.

We really liked the glazed effect so in the end we went for the 2 types, the smooth glazed and the ivy patterned sandy textured planters. So far they have received a positive response, although there has been a few people missing the green man style!

Apologies for the slightly sick looking spider plant used in the following pictures! We have been using pansies in our show displays instead this year as some spider plant rescue has been necessary!

The potter has been busy making some more of these so we will be fully stocked for our next outing!

 

We will be exhibiting at the Shotley Penisular crafts event over the May bank holiday weekend (and the potter will be there Sunday and Monday demonstrating)

 





http://www.shipwreckpub.co.uk/peninsular-crafts-bank-holiday-weekend/

 



Setting up a show

This weekend (just gone) we spent at the Living Crafts Show at Hatfield House. It was a good show with lots of good quality crafts on offer, unfortunately ruined by the atrocious weather (very windy and rainy) which put people off from coming so it was quite quiet.

We set up the show on Wednesday afternoon and the show was open from Thursday to Sunday. We usually set up for these big shows the day before and I thought I would take some pictures to demonstrate why!!

This is what our space in the marquee looks like when we arrive. This show has posh marquees which have carpeting down on the floor. Some of them are directly onto the grass. The space was a bit lumpy so first job is to position the tables as we want them and put blocks of wood under the legs until they are flat and don't wobble! Next job is to set up the structure of our stand.

We have a metal framework which we hang curtains from and attach our lights to. There is 3 grid walls which are clamped to the back of the tables (and have netting draped across the front to disguise them a bit) and several wooden boards which a couple of years ago I made some matching covers for so you can hardly spot them! This all makes the back drop from which to show off the pottery.
Once we have got this far then the hard work begins. First we have to move all the boxes of pottery from the Van to the stand (and Pottery is heavy!) Then we spend ages deliberating on the best layout of the pottery that shows everything off to its best advantage. This is what we came up with this time out!



To the left of this picture we have another table where the potter spends the day demonstrating and making things.
As promised the potter made a new Green Lady Plaque as discussed in the previous post Green Men and now we are home and all dried out I thought I would show you. It is not fired or glazed yet but you can get the idea!

With slightly longer hair as promised!

Bird Baths

Every now and then, the potter has a flight of fancy and makes a series of unique pieces. Although we never make 2 things that are exactly the same and all our standard lines are made freehand, these pieces are designed to be stand alone and not repeated.

The most recent flight of fancy took the potter to make bird baths. She has made 3, and they are all a but different. Today I have taken advantage of the lovely weather to take some photos of them in their natural habitat! (the garden)

This has got round holes punched in the base and a lovely streaky blue glaze with a glassy effect finish to the inside.

This has a wintery theme to it, with fir tree cut outs from around the base and robins around the rim of the bath and a blue green colouring.

And last but not least is the clam shell shaped bird bath that has been dividing opinion! (a bit like marmite you either like it or hate it!) There is Ivy running up the back with a sneaky gecko making an appearance if you look hard for it.

These we will be taking to some of our more garden orientated shows such as the Abbots Ripton Hall garden show at the end of June.