In the big smoke

My first mistake was to walk to Southville, that and bringing the axe.

I thought I had a pretty sweet deal going in the van to MadeLondon, it certainly sounded better than the five am megabus. Once I had trekked across town carrying a ten pound axe (for my dad's birthday) and carried all the stock down two flights of stairs I wasn't so sure. Once we got to London there was more carrying, then we built our beautiful stand (by far the best there, thanks Charlie).

The atmosphere at Made was great, and I got a lot out of talking with the other makers there and with the visitors, too. Despite the biting cold plenty of people came along, bought some of our lovely things and were genuinely interested in the work and it's making.

After three days underground and a diet of pret a manger sandwiches and coffee I was glad to see that van again. Now I've caught up on sleep it's back to the grindstone, making Christmas stock.

Well done to Sally, Alice, Bryony (and me) for bringing Bristol's best to the big smoke.

What to get me for Christmas...

Is it odd to be excited about a brush? Just discovered Harrop & Penny, purveyors or pleasingly utilitarian household bits and bobs. They have a particular knack for presenting their products as a little piece of art, each to be admired. They also have a very lovely tumblr, which cost a me a good half hour of last night in a reverie of enamelled cups and bentwood furniture. Drafting plate profiles will have to wait just one more day...

This video from Fort Ripper (found by chance on etsy's blog while looking for a knitting pattern, unsuccessfully) succeeds in being both very cute and testament to what a skilled hand can do for a neglected object.

'The beginners guide to the afterlife of an Ottoman'




I would love to make an animation of my making, I'm not sure a cup has so much anthropomorphic potential as this little guy, as proved by Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Just a couple...

Deadlines have never really irked me, in fact I rather like them. With less than a month to Made London long studio sessions are becoming routine- the cat looks at me sideways when I get in, I'm becoming a stranger in my own home. But, oddly, this is all to the good. For months I'd been meaning to make cups with my crystalline glazes- the kind of job that feels to big to start and sits in my to do list getting dusty. Now, though, it's done! Here they are on their way to be glazed.