Photo Shoot at Home in the Kitchen

When it comes to taking photos of pots, my style of photography for the past ten years or so has favoured a plain white or minimalist background. I like the simple look of this style so it's always been a 'go to' choice for me. Also magazines prefer to use such images when publishing a feature.

But it does have drawbacks. The main one is that people can't tell at a glance how big or small a pot is. This is a concern when some of my pots might look exactly the same but come in different sizes - like my modern pourer jugs, bird tail bowls and pouring bowls. Also, some of my pots (like the garlic grater bowls for instance) don't translate very well on a plain white background. Some pots just need a bit more visual explanation!

So recently I decided I needed to do a photo shoot using 'styled' settings to give some of my pots a context. The setting I chose was my kitchen at home. Most of my pots are kitchenware or food related in some way, so it seemed an obvious choice.

Luckily there's enough daylight coming in through the kitchen window in the morning to allow me to take photos without the need for any additional lighting. I do have a reflector though (made from aluminium foil wrapped over a piece of cardboard) to help kick back some light into the shadows. I just prop it up where I need it.

And talking of props...sometimes this is the best part of planning a shoot. In this selection of photos I have some new props to play with. They include an old wooden board which I've painted using pale grey emulsion on one side. This board is movable so it can be used both as a surface or a backdrop for pots (as seen in the photo at the top of this post).

The unpainted wooden surface in the rest of these photos is actually my normal kitchen table and the little chopping board is one I use all the time for preparing food (it's handmade by CottageCoppicing). A jar of local honey, some garlic bulbs (also from the Isle of Wight) and other food props all help to set the scene. I'm hoping these photos will give some idea of scale and show the pots 'in action'.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new photos. As always, these pots are available to purchase from my Etsy and Folksy shops. Thanks for reading!

Modern Stoneware Beakers: Monty's Vintage Shop Blog Feature

Back in January in my last blog post I was throwing an order of beakers. Well since then I've been so busy (as usual) I've hardly had time to show off any of the things I've been up to. But today (while I'm waiting for the latest kiln to cool) I thought I'd at least mention what happened to those beakers...

After throwing them, I turned the bases next day and then brushed blue/black slip around the outside. To create a 'dotted line' pattern I then scratched through this slip to reveal the lighter coloured clay underneath: a technique called 'sgraffito' (which always requires a spellcheck.)

After firing them in the bisque kiln, I then glazed them in clear glaze both inside and out. I did have photos of this too - but it was so dark on the day they all looked out of focus. Instead, below is a photo of the order after the final glaze firing.

Since then my beakers have been featured in a lovely post on Monty's Vintage Shop Blog (a screen grab is seen at the top of this post). So I just wanted to say thanks again to Rebecca for doing such a great feature and showing off my beakers (which are now her beakers) to their best!  

I also thought this was a perfect opportunity to try out Etsy's new Shop Update feature. So I posted my first update today featuring my beakers. Here's the photo with the Etsy Tag. I currently have two of these available in my shop - just click on the pic for a link!

Spring Things - Making Bells, Jugs and Bowls

 

The kiln is on again. This time another bisque. It seems the only time I write a blog post these days is when the kiln is on! But I've been taking photos of some of the things I've been making this past month. Above and below are a batch of new bells or wind chimes I've made for an order. As you can see, each one is handthrown on a wheel just like a bowl and then the base is turned and rounded off. Then I attach little strap handles for hanging them up in the garden or for holding as a hand bell.

These chimes were featured in a great blog post on Remodelista back in March - so they've proved a bit of a hit lately (I've sold out at the moment.) These ones are in the kiln as I speak ready to be glazed hopefully in a few days time.

I've also been making a batch of large jugs for another order and a few one-off pieces including some low cylinder bowls suitable as fruit bowls or serving bowls. Everything was going swimmingly for a while and I made quite a few pieces when suddenly the weather changed. Spring arrived overnight and we had a very dry, warm spell which meant all the pots started drying out too quickly...

Normally during winter I can leave pots out in the studio uncovered and they can dry out nice and slowly in the damp atmosphere. But I took my eye off the ball and forgot to cover the pots overnight when the weather changed...and before I knew it, handles were cracking off and bottoms were splitting! Sometimes it's so easy to forget the obvious stuff. So I lost about four big pots: I had to hit them with hammers to break them up and put them in the recycling bucket. All very upsetting and disappointing, especially as I had to make them all over again!

Above are photos of the doomed pots! The ones that got away. I forgot to photograph the damage (it was much too traumatic). But I've remade all these now and fingers crossed they've dried out properly this time and they're in the kiln being bisque fired as I type.

Finally, here's some little porcelain eggs I made especially for Spring this year. They come in three colours: plain white, pale blue and sage green. Inspired by the little blackbirds I starting making last year, I thought I'd make some eggs to go with them. And because you can't have eggs on their own, I've hand knitted and felted some little nests for them too. These are made using a gorgeous soft Alpaca wool sourced locally on the Isle of Wight. The result is a very cute little set available in my Folksy and Etsy shops. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Ideas

 

It's been a busy 2015 already - mostly with finishing a spill-over of Christmas orders and re-stocking on some essential pots (bird bowls are back in stock btw!). The kiln has been bisque fired once and glaze fired twice already before January had a chance to put its feet up!

I think the kiln was wondering what on earth was going on - especially as it had to contend with some chilly temperatures out in the studio recently. As a precaution I brought all my bags of clay indoors from the outside store, just in case they froze. One day I switched on the electricity to the kiln and the themocouple plummeted immediately to zero. I'm sure if it could display any temperature below freezing then it would have...

Anyway, enough about the cold studio conditions! Here's some new items I managed to make in-between all the other pots in January: just a few ideas for Valentine's Day. I made some very cute little bottles with cork stoppers which you can see in the photos above, and I made some ceramic heart tags to go with them with 'love potion' written on them. 

These bottles are small enough to sit in the palm of your hand and make a lovely gift. They can be used as a bathroom accessory to hold oils and salts for instance and because the glazes are food safe and dishwasher safe, they can be used in the kitchen too. The glazing is plain white so they can even be used as little bud vases without the stopper and tag. They are available in both my Etsy and Folksy Shop.

In the process of bringing in all the stoneware clay out from the cold, I also found some porcelain - so I made this pair of love birds. These are hand shaped and left unglazed to show the pure white porcelain body, while their eyes were picked out by brushing on dots of blue/black oxide. This unique pair of love doves is available in my Etsy Shop. Enjoy!

 

Biscuit Bowls - Yummy Cookie Bowls

One day I was carrying a mug of tea in one hand and some biscuits in the other and I had a brainwave. A little biscuit bowl; just big enough for a couple of biscuits. A small shallow bowl to catch all those precious chocolatey crumbs and cute enough to feel like a special treat (without eating the entire packet).

One of my favourite things about pottery is that now when I have an idea for a pot I'd like to own myself, I don't have to wait for someone else to think the same way or look out for something similar-but-not-quite-right in the shops. Instead I can actually make it. And so these are my first little biscuit bowls (or cookie bowls if you like).

I wanted these bowls to be a bit special so I decided to write a biscuit based message on each using letterpress letters impressed into the clay when wet. These are highlighted in a deep brown oxide wash under a lovely neutral glaze. I think this gives them a really cosy but cute feeling - and can be personalised if people want.

I also decided to use a different clay for these bowls. This clay has a lovely light neutral or ecru shade with lots of dark speckles - which I thought would be perfect to go with biscuits. I also left the underside of the bowls completely unglazed to reveal and emphasise the natural bare clay.

My new biscuit bowls are now available to buy in my Etsy shop. Enjoy!

Spring Flowers and Jugs

Spring is definitely here; I've been sneezing all day and the local blackbird hasn't stopped singing all week. It's been lovely to hear him while I'm in the studio - he's picked a tree at the end of the garden to call from (he's very loud...), and so far he's been pretty inventive with his tunes too, trying out all sorts of variations. Sometimes though while I'm throwing pots or trying to concentrate on something fiddly, he can be a bit distracting; chirping in at exactly the wrong moment and putting me off...!

Last week the latest jugs were finally finished and came out of the kiln. These are the same jugs which featured in my last blog post. Of course I've been photographing them again (!) this time for a series of shots I can use for listing them in my shops.

I also put together these two composite/multiple photos (above and below). Composites are quite a nice way of showing off pots because they allow different angles or details of a pot to sit side by side at a glance in one image. It also avoids the 'long scroll down' through loads of photos of the same pot!

I used to make composites just for my blog and for my flickr account, but recently I realised they'd be useful in my listings too. I don't know why it took me so long to think of it! Maybe I thought it wasn't possible to load them - although I save them as jpegs like other photos, and so far Folksy and Etsy have accepted them fine. Maybe I thought it was cheating! Effectively you get three extra images in one photo; which can be useful when you have so many angles to show off. Sometimes I have so many photos left after a shoot that it's a shame not to show as many as possible.

I'm very pleased with how these jugs came out. The oxide band around the rim and down the handle seen on the jug above has created a really interesting effect. Where it overlaps with the white glaze it has 'bled' and mottled into blues, blacks and browns. It does run a bit though which I'll have to be careful of in future - especially if I use it near a base. Probably don't need to apply quite so much oxide next time. But the result is very successful and makes for a lovely striking feature on this particular jug I think!

Anyway, these jugs are now available for sale in my Folksy and Etsy shops btw!

New Beginnings and New Bud Vases

Yesterday I fired the first kiln load of the year! I've been busy since the beginning of January trying to make enough pots to fill a bisque kiln. It hasn't been easy, especially since the studio roof has been leaking (again!) in all this wet and windy weather. During one particularly heavy downpour, I even decided to wear my waterproofs indoors to avoid the drips... The general atmosphere has also been so damp, the pots have taken ages to dry. But, moaning about the weather aside and despite everything, I managed to get the kiln going yesterday for my first bisque - and so today (while I'm waiting for the kiln to cool down) I thought I'd blog about some new pots I've been making.

Before Christmas I started to throw a few new vase shapes. I wanted to make some small bud vases with a belly form and also some straight slim and narrow 'stem' vases. Above is a photo of the first small test batch I made before Christmas (shown in leatherhard stage and drying out). They're all hand-thrown as usual, but the straight narrow vases have been thrown in two parts: two thrown 'tubes' which are then spliced together when they're both leatherhard. This sort of making is called composite making, and it's something I've started to experiment with. It's especially useful for making taller pots and for making narrow forms (for when your fingers can't fit inside the pot during throwing).

I've started to list a couple of these finished pots in my Etsy and Folksy Shops - and hope to add the rest in the coming weeks. All being well, there should also be more narrow vases in the same style from this first bisque kiln - once I've glazed them and fired them again of course. But I'm very pleased with this first selection and I'm looking forward to developing the theme further this year. Hopefully it's going to be a great new year with lots of new pots!

Pots That Pour: New Pouring Jugs and Bowls

New Pourers

Just a quick blog about pots that pour! I do enjoy making pots with pouring lips. There's something about adding a lip to a shape that instantly transforms it into a pot with purpose. It seems to say 'look, you can pour stuff out!' and that makes people identify with them, and imagine all sorts of ways of using them. Also, a pouring lip gives a pot a sense of character - a bit of personality.

Above are my newest pouring jugs. These are a variation on my 'tip jug' - in other words jugs without handles. These are a bit taller and straighter in design and measure about 6.5cm high (that's about 2.5 inches or so). Dispensing with the handle makes using these jugs an even more tactile experience - they feel so nice in the hand and they're easy to grab and use. Sometimes handles can actually get in the way of function; because you have to turn the jug around to get at them. These little jugs are just grab and go! They're available for sale now in my Etsy Shop.

Freshly Thrown Pouring Bowls

And here's my latest 'pots that pour': some new pouring bowls. These are a larger size to go with my drizzle bowls and 'medium' pouring bowls. As you can see they're freshly thrown in the picture - still on their batts. Since then I've turned the bases and they're now drying in the studio. But in the meantime, here's some photos of my smaller sized pouring bowls. I took these recently for listing in my Esty and Folksy shops. Hope you enjoy them!

Pouring Bowls, Drizzle Bowls

Candleholders Revisited

The kiln is on again today – another bisque. It was infinitely easier to pack this time round and for some reason seems to have taken no time at all to fire. Such is life with pots! But anyway, while the kiln is clicking away in the background I thought I’d catch up with some blogging.

A theme seems to have developed over the course of this year so far. In January I blogged about a small batch of hand-thrown candleholders I was commissioned to make. These also popped up in photographs I took of my first bisque firing in my kiln: both as pre-fired and post-fired pots. So it seems only natural I should blog about them again as a finished product.

I hope you’ll agree they’ve come out beautifully! I decorated them in two different glaze styles. One of these was using two glazes on the same pot: a deep honey brown glaze for the body with a small highlight of blue/grey on the handle. The other style was an all-over design using an olive green ‘wood ash’ glaze. I’ve already sold all the brown ones but the ‘wood ash’ ones are available for sale in both my Folksy Shop and my Etsy Shop as of today.

As I suspected, I ended up keeping one of these candleholders for myself….

Winter Landscape - Side Plates

Winter Landscape Side Plate

Back in July I was invited to take part in a promotional plate display idea as a part of UK Clay Users on Etsy. I don’t normally make plates. Large flat pieces tend to have a high mortality rate at various stages of making – they’re prone to cracking while drying or warping in the kiln, which makes them a costly item to make. However, since this was a ‘one-off’ idea, I thought I’d have a go at throwing a couple of small side plates and see how things go!

Winter Landscape Side Plate - Detail

Well yesterday I finally sent off my submission, which you can see in the photos above. This plate measures about 15cm across (or 6 inches). It’s made from stoneware clay and glazed using two different glazes: a white gloss and a blue/black glaze, which I’ve overlapped to create the idea of a landscape. The theme for the promotional idea was 'Winter' so I’ve called this one ‘Winter Landscape’. The other plate I made at the same time has been decorated using the same two glazes but with a slightly different approach. I’m planning to put this second plate into my Etsy shop available for sale in the near future.

Throwing Plates on a Bat

Freshly Thrown Plates on Bats

In the meantime though here are a couple of photos of both plates being thrown. As you can see they’re quite small – this helped to reduce the risk of cracking and warping. But it also means they’re very cute and perfect for just a couple of grapes or a snack as you can see in the last photo below!

Winter Landscape Side Plate with Grapes

Impression Vases

Impression vase - Birch Tree

I’ve been working on a new range of vases which I’ve called ‘Impression’ vases. The idea is quiet simple really – throw a vase shape and use objects to make impressions and marks in the clay while it’s still soft. These marks are then picked out and made a feature of in the design by using a combination of oxides and glazes brushed over the surface. So today I thought I’d show some photos of one particular vase during making.

Using a pebble to make marks

As you can see, I’ve the placed the vase upside-down on a wooden bat. The vase was thrown the day before this photo and the base lightly turned next day - so the clay is still quite wet. The wooden bat is resting on the wheelhead which I’m using as a banding wheel so I can see all around. And why is it upside-down? Well for some reason it’s easier to see what’s going on! I started making marks at the base of the pot and worked ‘down’ to the rim. This avoids the dangers of marks feeling ‘cramped’ at the base by running out of space and instead allows them to grow naturally ‘up’ the pot. And I’ve used a small beach pebble I’ve had for years. It’s always nice to use natural objects when making.

Oxide detail

I got the idea for this design back in November last year. I was doing a show at Quarr Abbey and in a coffee break I took some photos of the gardens and textures I found in the grounds (see post). The bark on a birch tree was particularly lovely and immediately suggested the idea to me. Of course the markings on birch bark are ‘raised’ rather than indented and the colours are much more subtle than I’ve used here: but I really like the results from this first vase and think I’d like to repeat the motif again on another piece. In the same making session I also decorated more vases using different impressions and marks, but using the same oxides and glazes. I’ve added two of these vases to my Etsy shop so far and will add more soon.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the photos!

Inside vase showing indents

New Etsy Shop Launched

Front Page of my Etsy Shop

Today I thought I’d officially launch my brand new Etsy shop. It’s been on the 'to do’ list for some time but I decided to open one now because I wanted a new on-line venue to showcase my latest work. So please do pop over to my shop and have a look.

I must say I’m enjoying using Etsy so far. The listing process is the easiest and fastest I’ve come across and I’m really pleased with the quality of my photos on this site and how clear my banner has reproduced. I’m still getting the hang of where everything is and I’m only just beginning to interact with people on the site. But I’m feeling very positive about my new shop and looking forward to seeing how I get along. 

My About Page (photos carousel)

Last week Etsy launched a new feature on their site called 'About’. This gives shop owners the opportunity to add photos and go into more background detail about their shops or focus on their working process for instance. This is an excellent feature which I think really enhances the feeling of it being ‘your’ shop with its own identity rather than 'just another’ shop on a huge massive site. And of course it’s loads of fun to play around with! I used my ‘About’ page to feature photos of the making process and also to talk about my aims or philosophy behind what I make and why – nothing too profound (!) but just something to highlight the ideas. I’m hoping it will give people a little bit of an insight without being too fluffy - and there’s a link to my blog at the side if they want to come here to see more.

Anyway, please do have a look at my 'About' page. Etsy are doing some maintenance tomorrow (Saturday) so if nothing's working, it’s not me! Any likes/contacts/circles/favourites greatly appreciated of course.

Also, I just wanted to thank Helen for featuring a white sugar jar she commissioned from me on her blog: click here to see her post. Thanks Helen.