Crunchies and Clay
Today's colour is brown
I have just finished eating a Crunchie which I treated myself to after lunch. As I paid for it at the local garage/supermarket the young cashier asked me if I’d like to use my points, it just so happened that the points covered the cost of the Crunchie so I responded with a gleeful yes and said ‘thank Crunchie it’s Friday!’ to which she looked rather nonplussed. I suggested she look for the ad online to see what I was talking about and scuttled home!
On Freedom
Last Friday I had fully intended to write, but had begun a hand building project in the studio which I was so enjoying that I thought ‘bugger it, I’m going to just carry on’. I love writing here, but since I don’t offer a paid subscription I appreciate the liberty I have to write or not as it suits me. I built the little jug from coils and was so relaxed and happy by the end of the day - it was an excellent reminder of why I began the whole pottery lark in the first place!
One afternoon as the proverbial cats and dogs rained down outside recently I also gave myself permission to hunker down inside and finally made some long planned cushion covers. I bought the fabric for these covers 16 YEARS AGO! I mean I’m sure there are many who have procrastinated longer than I but still - why on earth did it take me so long to get around to making them?!
I know I have had that fabric for 16 years because I bought it just before we left South Africa so that I would have something to remind me of our three years there. Obviously I have lots of things to remind me of that era - objects, memories and photos - and indeed of all the other places we’ve lived. All these things tell the story of our lives and I treasure them.
However, this week I bought a vintage textile which would have been somebody else’s treasured memory - a collection of Japanese art prints which were collected on a couple’s honeymoon in the 1950’s. I’m going to have the piece framed and would have liked to add the original owner’s name somewhere at the back of the frame, but their son (who sold it to me) felt his father would not have liked that. I absolutely respect this of course - but now find myself wondering if there’s some fabulously intriguing story that I’m missing out on!
In The Garden
I am declaring the wild flower garden at the front of the house a triumph! What were two patches of mossy, weedy ‘lawn’ when we moved in have spent two years looking considerably worse than that, but have proved themselves this spring. We have had weeks and weeks of pleasure from the Oxeye daisies which sway in the breeze and give a beautiful light as the day fades away.
The cornflowers and poppies, amongst others, are starting to make their way through now and while the daisies are slowly going to seed the birds are having a heyday. I have spent many happy minutes, or longer, watching the sparrows dip in and out of the flowers, stopping to perch now and then, as they nibble away.
The rest of the garden is gently coming into bloom. I think, in truth, I’ve been rather late in getting some things out of the plastic palace and into the ground - mostly for fear of them being drowned or blown away - but last weekend was highly productive and this week’s warmth and rain has been perfect. I must however ask you to remind me in the autumn that I will be concentrating on perennials next year. No more annuals! Except cosmos obviously. And sweepeas of course. And perhaps the most beautiful verbascum……
In The Studio
While I was waiting for my kiln to be repaired (it is now back in order, but not really suitable for firing at the high temperatures I favour) I bought myself a bag of terracotta to play with. I thoroughly enjoyed making a variety of vessels with it, and while the wheel itself looks as though it might have been used for a chocolate fountain the rest of the studio looks like a bit of a crime scene!
I managed to bisque fire one kiln full of pieces and as soon as everything is dry will have another one ready to go too. I have lots of tiny bowls and cups, some of which I’m planning to subject to the Obvara process which I’ve enjoyed before. If you haven’t come across it, it is an ancient Baltic technique which involves heating bisque fired (first firing to partially vitrify the clay) pieces up to around 850°c in a raku kiln, removing and rapidly dunking into a large bucket of ‘sourdough batter’ and then into a second bucket of water.
Obvara doesn’t result in a functional surface by today’s standards (though I’ve risked coffee out of my cup) but it’s fun and very satisfying to create interesting pieces with such basic ingredients.
Though the very thought of it is giving me mild palpitations, but I’m going to invest in a bigger kiln which will be better suited to high temperatures and will thus allow me to experiment further with ash glazes. Needless to say there is a 10-12 week lead time, which is frustrating, but in the interim I have found another potter locally who has a gas kiln and will let me put a few pieces in his next reduction firing - another technique which produces exciting results, but is out of my reach for now.
Going Cuckoo
I have spent a disproportionate amount of time over the last week or so worrying about the cuckoo I hear on my walks. In my mind, it is unusual to hear one much beyond the end of May, yet even at the beginning of this week he was still calling away, and I couldn’t help wondering whether he has yet to find a mate.
I happened to bump into the local Nature Recovery Ranger, who explained that changes in the landscape have resulted in fewer Willow Warblers nesting locally (these are the particular nests that cuckoos favour). I know their house-hunting habits leave a lot to be desired, but all the same, I would be very sorry if I were no longer to hear their call each year.
Right, the sun is shining and I have more seedlings to prick out and pot on, and some more (salad) seeds to sow. I must also check the drying progress of a charmingly wonky terracotta wine cooler which Mike asked me to make - well he didn’t request the wonky element but I’m sure he’ll embrace it!
Wishing you a week ahead filled with things that make you smile.
With love, Vx
I remember the advert….but can’t allow myself a Crunchie unless I’ve swum in the sea AND put my shoulder under - Granny’s rules! - or possibly at Easter when the frankly odd ‘Easter Bird’ delivered them……..
I so get the cushion delay! I bought some wool in Copenhagen 12 years ago. I made an enthusiastic start on the jumper then something went wrong. After a breather of 10 years, with a nagging sense of must sort it, I finally abandoned it. I rewound the wool and started again. 2 years in I’m around half way along now and each summer I think I’ll finish it for this winter.