The Creative Studio. Art with a Heart

                  

       Just finished work at The Creative Studio at Art with a Heart down Normans Place in Altrincham.

I had a some lovely visitors come in to view the current exhibition and to take a look at the Altrincham Heritage area. Great day and great times to come.

A big thank you to all the ladies at Davyhulme Arts and Crafs Club.

A demonstration was given by myself on how to make a double pinch pot using oxidizing St Thomas.

I also demonstrated the art of ceramic painting onto bisque pottery, and the process of dipping with glazes.

     Much fun had by all!










The ladies enjoyed the demonstration so much that they have decided to book a course in January to make ceramic beads and pendants for their jewellery class.


            REMEMBER  When you reach the bottom of this page to click on older posts and see some more work and information. Thanks for looking.
     

British Ceramics Biennial

I went to the British Ceramics Biennial held at the original Spode works in Stoke on Trent.

I volunteered to assist in a fantastic ceramic workshop.
The workshop consisted of slip cast teapots, spouts, knobs and handles. Each participant created a sculpture using the various parts. The parts were added in such a way to create a fairytale or dreamlike sculpture.

Some fantastic wares were created by families and adults. Well done everybody!







Here are some images of the exhibitions at the festival.

These beautiful forms appear to be made using the pinch pot method. Just love these.

These designs won first prize. Apparently one of the large vases were decorated in real gold lustre glaze.

This art installation of wonderful bricks was quite unique. Each visitor could take a brick home ! The taking of the bricks was filmed, it will be shown at the next exhibition.

Just love the way the white clay appears to be dripping upwards.

                      STAIRS



Could'nt resist this dark image. The cast iron gates suggest protection of wealth, whereas the stairs suggest something a little more sinister, almost criminal.

  MARKET ROOF


This is a photograph of the wonderful iron structure of Altrincham Market roof.

I am intrigued by its web of engineering and just had to enter the image for the exhibition.

The only photo shop work I did was to make the image square.





                      PASTEL PRECINCT

Here are some photographic images that I took for an exhibition this week at Art with a Heart in Altrincham.The title of the photographic exhibition is Altrincham Squared.





This image of Altrincham precinct was livened up in photoshop to create a more colourful and welcoming environment. I made the colour translucent to reveal the brickwork.





                PAINT BY NUMBERS

 This image was taken looking down at the train track from an Altrincham walkway.

I then used photoshop to omit small areas and colour white. I then added numbers. I changed the look of the photo by adding a watercolour effect.

All of these images were sent off to a ceramic transfer company. When my transfers arrived I duly layed the transfers onto domestic white tiles, let them dry for a couple of hours and then fired them to 800c. They came out looking lovely and shiny and firmly fixed.

I then took them to the exhibition centre in Altrincham where they will be shown with other photographic works for the next few weeks. Details I will blog very soon.

Trains, trams and no automobiles

After my trip to the dolomites I was contacted by Art with a Heart ( Creative Surgery ). I was invited to exhibit some work for their next exhibition. The theme being "Trains, trams and no automobiles".

Initially I thought of creating a mobius circle out of earthenware clay, adding train tracks on both sides, but with little time for experimentation, I decided against the idea.

After much thought, I decided to create a surface design using photo shop and illustrator. I thought train designs are the most obvious, so I had a go at designing some train tickets.

I altered the ticket in Photoshop and erased all the typography . I also erased the logo for copyright reasons.

I transferred the blank ticket design to Illustrator and typed in the new ticket destinations etc. I typed all the main stations on the Altrincham line so it would appeal to the people of Altrincham. As this is where the exhibition is being held.
I then created a new logo.

After printing the image onto the transfer paper. I traced the ticket layout onto the fired wares. I then painted the tracing using mayco glazes. After firing the 2nd time I applied the transfers, then fired again




                                          Fresh out of the kiln !
                                                             

                   
The ticket design represents the diminishing train on its journey, the logo represents speed and direction.

Large glazed dinner plate

                                                Side plate

Art with a Heart. Creative surgery. Normans Place. Altrincham. 12 - 29 Sept.13 Thurs to Sun 10 to 5

Paragliding in the Dolomites

Italian Alps- Dolomites

Well, here I am in the Dolomites having a well earned break. Hiking for 10 days in the mountains may not sound like a break to most folk but I just love it. All those spikey ranges, colourful meadows and fresh air have been very inspiring for my art and ceramics.

Paragliding in the Dolomites

While I was there, I decided to take the opportunity to have a go at paragliding. Wow!!!!
This was the most beautiful experience I have ever had. To fly like an Eagle as high as the Marmorlada was breathtaking. 


So now it's time to get back to work and start being creative again. Life is good.

Lagoon Bloom Collection

wendy wallwork FolksyThis is my new collection.......

I named the collection Lagoon Bloom for an exhibition I am entering in Altrincham in July. The theme of the exhibition is In Bloom, so I was inspired by the name and got busy.

The Breakfast Toast Rack was made using Oxidizing St Thomas and fired to Stoneware. I then coloured using mayco

and dipped in clear Duncan glaze.

I pierced some large holes into the dividers to enable the toasted bread to be nice and crispy !

 The tiles were squared off once the clay had become leather hard.

I prefer this tile, as the colour is much deeper. This is because I used two layers of mayco .

 The bowl has turned out very pretty. I rolled the clay and covered it with a layer of clingfilm before moulding it into an existing breakfast bowl. When it was leather hard I took it out of the mould and removed the clingfilm.

The vases were made using the slab rolling method. I scored and slip pasted the edges to join the two sides and then made a base.

All of the collection was fired to Stoneware and then glazed. The flower designs were made by indents and the stems were created by pressing string into the rolled out clay.

         I made many different samples for the collection,
         and made  notes on different techniques, and
         various firing ranges.

                                           
                                              Some samples had a more desired look
                                              than others.

I love the way the colours pool into
the indents, giving it depth.