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!

Speckled Stoneware Clay - Some New Pots and Designs

This year I've been using a speckled stoneware clay more often to make new designs. Some of these designs I make exclusively using this clay because they go together so well. When fired, this clay is lighter in colour than my usual stoneware and is best described as 'ecru'. It has a brown speckle throughout which comes from the tiny flecks of iron inside the clay.

As well as being a lovely clay to throw (it's very smooth and creates hardly any mess!) the speckle feature is very versatile. I often leave areas of pots unglazed to show off the natural bare clay. The speckle is great for this as it has lots of interest both visually and also to touch. It's a very tactile surface when fired and feels rougher than my usual stoneware but has a warmth to it too. It's great for making modern style cylinder shapes like my new large fruit bowls and salt and pepper sets (seen in the photos above).

I've also been using the speckle stoneware as a base for some new sgraffito designs (seen above). My usual stoneware clay is a bit too dark for this type of work, so having a lighter clay has allowed me to develop a new range of blue speckle ware. I've made just a few pieces in this style so far (some of which have been bought straight out of the kiln!) It requires brushing on a blue black slip onto the pot whilst still at the leather hard stage. Then I scratch (sgraffito) a design onto the pot. This reveals the light clay underneath giving a contrast. Finally I use a clear glaze over the whole pot to allow both the blue and the bare speckle clay to show through.

The lighter colour of this clay means that when I apply my usual glazes to it, these look very different too. This creates more versatility and options without having to create new glaze recipes. Most of the time though I prefer to use either clear glazes or an oatmeal glaze with this clay - both of which allow the natural speckle and ecru colour to show through. This style creates a very simple but modern feel which I really like.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos of some of my speckled stoneware pots! All the pots in the photos above are currently available in my Folksy and Etsy shops.

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!

Coffee Set and Coffee Bowls

What a busy summer! Since my last post I've been potting away making lots of pots for wholesale orders and a few private commissions too. And it seems to be a quirk of making pots that sometimes different people ask for similar things. 

This past month the theme was coffee and I was asked to make a coffee set (as seen in the photos above). This included a coffee pot (complete with lid and pouring lip) a lidded sugar bowl and a set of four coffee mugs. Although I've made each of these items separately before this was the first time I've made them together as a matching coffee set. 

The most tricky thing to do was the coffee pot itself of course as it required so many composite elements. The body of the pot is essentially a big jug, but since it was a part of a set, I had to make it big enough to hold a liquid capacity that would pour out and fill at least four of the matching mugs' worth of coffee! Then it had to have a handle strong enough to hold the weight of it plus all that liquid, while at the same time being comfortable to use and pour. And finally it had to have a lid which not only fitted but allowed pouring through the lip or spout whilst in place. As you can see in the photo I also cleaned back the glaze from the rim of the coffee pot to leave a section of un-glazed bare clay. This makes sure the lid doesn't stick to the pot permanently when fired in the kiln.

In the end I was very pleased with the result because everything matched and all the elements worked: and most importantly my customer was happy too! The glaze I used for the coffee set was a new version of my wood ash glaze. This has proved such a popular glaze and works especially well with rustic style coffee themed items! Below is another wholesale order I finished recently: a batch of coffee bowls using another version of my wood ash glaze. I actually have two of these coffee bowls left spare - and both are available in my Folksy Shop now. I hope you enjoy the photos!

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!

Three Tall Jugs - Throwing, Making Handles and Taking Photos

Last week I made three tall jugs and decided I'd try to remember to take photos along each of the stages of making - from throwing to attaching handles. This is actually harder than it sounds! Sometimes when you get into the 'creative zone' you forget all about taking photos. And pottery is a messy business: there's water and wet clay everywhere and consequently a huge potential for accidentally dropping a digital camera into a bucket of sludge... (Thankfully, I didn't do that by the way!)

Tall Jug - On the Wheel on a Wooden Batt

Tall Jug - On the Wheel, Lip Formed

The other reason why it's sometimes difficult to remember to take photos is that pottery doesn't happen in just one day. The initial stages of making a pot - especially a hand-thrown one - can take several days: by which time the plan to take photos can slip the mind. Above you can see two photos I remembered to take (!) after finishing throwing the first of these jugs. They show the jug still on the wheel, freshly thrown and still on its wooden batt. As you can see, I've finished forming the jug and even put in the lip. I've also cleaned off the batt with a sponge - because when throwing it gets covered in slip clay.

First Jug - Off the Wheel (and Mugs Drying!)

Three Tall Jugs on Batts

The next stage is to take the jugs off the wheel and put them aside to start drying out. This is what the wooden batts are for: they allow a larger thrown pot to come off the wheel supported on their own surface so they don't lose their shape when being moved. Then I simply put the next batt on the wheel and throw the next jug. The above photos show the freshly thrown jugs drying out still on their batts (also some mugs drying upside-down in the background!) No photos of the actual throwing process itself though...

Attaching Handles

Cut to the following day and the jugs were still very wet. It was late afternoon before they could be persuaded to come off the batts at all (using a wire). Then I could begin to 'turn' the bases. This involved putting them back on the wheel upside down and trimming the bottoms to tidy them up. And just to prove my earlier point about forgetting to take photos I forgot to take any of this particular stage! In fact overall it was a frustrating day. The weather was dampish so everything was taking ages to dry and I had to use a hair drier on the pots (which I don't like to do) to try to hurry things along. It was late in the evening before either the jugs or their intended handles (which I made for them that day) were ready for me to attach and put together. Hence the only photo I remembered to take was this one above - a bit late in the evening when it was dark and I had the very last handle to add!

Three Tall Jugs - Drying

Three Tall Jugs - And Oxide Decoration

And then it's two days later before I remember to take any more photos! In the meantime the jugs were positioned upside-down on their rims to allow the handles time to dry onto the body of the pots. In this position gravity helps keep the handles 'stuck on' and discourages them from cracking away at the join. Of course then the weather changed that day and became sunny and warmer - so I worried the jugs might dry out too quickly! To avoid this I draped plastic over them to keep them damp.

Above are two photos showing the three jugs safely attached to their handles. At this stage I was confident enough to put them right-way-up again and take off the plastic to let them air dry. The pot on the left though you may notice has some decoration added to it. I've brushed on an oxide mix around the top rim and down the handle. Proof yet again that I forgot to take photos and completely missed out another stage of making! Oh well, another time.

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

Out Of The Kiln

It’s only when you become a potter yourself do you finally realise how much goes into making a pot. Of course most people know about the throwing and firing aspects, and some people also appreciate that there’s also a lot of designing, planning and preparation that goes on behind the scenes too. But I’m not sure for instance how many people know that even when a pot comes out of the kiln, the story isn’t over yet!

When my pots come out of their final firing (which is when they’ve been glazed) there’s still a couple of extra things I need to do before the pot can go out into the world. My pots are usually made of stoneware clay and fired in an electric kiln. This is quite a ‘clean’ way of firing (there’s no residue left on the pots like there is in raku for instance) but they still need a final check.

First I check that the glazes have all worked properly and there’s no cracks or faults in the body of the pot. Sometimes the glaze will ‘run off’ the pot for instance or a drip of glaze will stick onto the base. If this happens the pot is either a reject or sometimes can be saved by chipping the glaze off with a hammer and chisel. The angle has to be just right, and the tapping has to be ‘just so’, but if you’re lucky the drip of glaze will slice cleanly away without damaging the pot.

Next I check any pots with lids. I always fire my pots with their lids ‘in situ’ which means hopefully a lid will shrink to the same extent as the body of the pot during firing and be a perfect match. However, tight-fitting lids, like those on teapots for instance, do have a tendency to get stuck. The remedy is to hit them with a wooden stick: literally! The best way to release a stuck lid is to ‘tap’ (sometimes quite hard) the edge of the lid where it meets the body of the pot to encourage it to separate. Usually they come free after some patient thwacking, but if they don’t, then I try filling teapots via the spout (or submerging closed forms) with alternating hot and cold water. This usually does the trick.

Finally, I give all the bases of my pots a quick sanding over: and this is what I did today by the way. The bases of pots and any bare/non-glazed areas of exposed clay always feel a bit rough to the touch when straight out of the kiln. This is perfectly normal but when a pot is a functional item – like a jug – it needs to feel comfortable to hold. It’s also important that the base of a pot doesn’t scratch any surfaces when used every day. So I always check the base of my pots and smooth any sharp edges with sandpaper. I use normal medium-strength sandpaper to do this, which is just enough to take away the roughness without losing that rustic charm that stoneware has. Then I wipe the pots with a cloth to clean away any dust.

And that’s it! At least that’s the end of the ‘making’ part. The next stage is another blog post entirely…

Making Handles

I’ve been making small cream or milk jugs recently. These are about the size of a mug, just enough for serving milk with tea for instance and for general purpose around the kitchen. I was inspired by the ‘penguin’ silhouette I’ve been throwing recently (see my last post) which suggested to me it would make a very nice simple jug shape on a smaller scale. So I thought I’d make a test batch: and I decided the design of this type of jug really would benefit from a handle.

Handles are one of those additions that I both enjoy and feel nervous about, however many times I make them. I’m not sure why that should be: perhaps I’ve inherited a phobia or paranoia caused by other people saying they’re difficult to do and get right. Thankfully I got the hang of handles fairly early on in my making (unlike some other methods – I can’t make pinch pots at all for example!) I was shown a simple but effective method, which I’ve adapted and now I’m very comfortable using. It has its limits, but so far I’ve had none of that ‘my handles never work’ business that other people complain of. Touch wood! I don’t want to tempt fate but my method rarely causes cracks, broken or weak handles.

My method for making handles is to take a small blob of clay and roll out a coil as you would for making a coil pot. I make sure the coil is absolutely cylindrical and smooth before gently squashing it flat between two wooden boards. This creates a flattened strip. I then smooth and stretch this strip of clay on both sides using my fingertip, turning it over each time until I get the thickness and width I want. Then I trim the ends to a standard length before bending it into shape. I always make a couple more extra handles than I need in case of accidents and for a bit of choice (they never look completely identical!) Finally I put them on a wooden board on their ‘sides’ to dry (I used to put them ‘upright’ but I found this could make the shapes sag or crack). In the meantime I turn the base of the jugs or pots I plan to add the handles to, and when I’m finished I usually find the handles are ready to fix.

Of course it’s not the only way to make handles, but I find it works very well for my needs at the moment! As you can see from the last picture on this post I often use the base of the handle as a place to put my personalised stamp: it helps fix the handle a bit more and provides a nice softer area of clay to make the impression. To ensure the handles get a good chance to adhere without cracking or sagging I also turn the pots upside-down to dry. This means gravity works with the sweep of the handle rather than against it, keeping its shape. Secretly I suspect most people’s problems with handles are to do with this drying stage rather than any other: as long as the body of the pot dries out at about the same pace as the handle, it all should work!

Nevertheless I still worry about my handles and hope they all work out OK. No way of knowing until the pots are completely finished…

Open Studios: 2011

I thought I’d just do a quick blog today to mention that I’ll be taking part in the Isle of Wight Open Studio event coming up this weekend. This time my Open Studio is being held at Quarr Abbey and will be running for six whole days: so I’m preparing for a busy week! There are five of us sharing the venue at Quarr in the gallery/exhibition space, so there should be plenty to see including ceramics, paintings, felting, knitting, jewellery and more. There are lots of other artists exhibiting over the whole weekend across the north, central and east of the island – so if you’re thinking of popping over for a visit there’s plenty of other venues to see too. You can download a brochure for the Open Studio weekend here and you can see the details of my Open Studio event here. Hope to see you there!

Jugs

It’s all about jugs lately! Last week I listed these little white jugs in my Folksy shop. I call them ‘tip’ jugs because they don’t have handles: instead they fit snugly in the palm and the contents are simply tipped out. So they’re perfect for a spot of milk or cream in your tea or coffee. They measure just over 5cm x 5cm and come in three colour ranges: gloss white (listed), a wood ash glaze and a dark tenmoku.At the moment I’ve only listed the white ones, but the others will follow shortly I hope. (click on the pic to go to my shop.)

In the meantime I’ve also been taking lots of photographs of these jugs. As you may have noticed I usually photograph my ceramics against a plain white background. This time I thought I’d also try out some ‘styled’ shots to show these jugs in context and suggest scale. Although I do like the minimalist look of the white glaze against the white background, sometimes it helps to add a bit of colour to illustrate how gorgeous this glaze really is! Anyway, here’s a medley of photos that came out of the ‘shoot’ showing a 'styled' shot and also the wood ash and tenmoku glazes.

Last week I also put together my first gallery in my Flickr account. I’ve been meaning to try something for ages but didn’t know what subject to choose. In the end I chose a theme of ceramic jugs: I thought it would be a good way for me to think about different design features on jugs and be inspired by what others have made. And I’m really pleased with the result. There are so many lovely photos out there with some gorgeous pots. And now I’ve done my first gallery I’m looking forward to having a go at making some more. Here’s a link to my first Flickr gallery, Jugs.

And finally I also had a couple of lovely Folksy Friday features last week. Thanks to Sam for featuring my tip jugs on her blog A Simple Melody and also to Kellie for featuring my buttons on her blog It’s The Little Things. Here’s a couple of screenshots too!

Rustic Jug

I've been making these rustic stoneware jugs recently as part of a wholesale order. I usually make a few extra pots when preparing an order to cover accidents like breakages, and this one above is a 'spare' left over from a finished consignment. I decided to list it in my folksy shop today.

It's a lovely simple jug; hand-thrown in stoneware and glazed all over in a wood ash glaze. I love this glaze - it's very easy to use and so far has given reliable, consistent results out of the kiln. The colour is a subtle olive green with a matt finish - although in some places there's a hint of glossiness where the glaze is a bit thicker. And it gives these jugs a no-nonsense, rustic feel I think - which is why I call them 'rustic' jugs!

Anyway, for more details on this little jug visit here!

Charity Shop Inspirations

I’ve been rummaging around in charity shops lately looking for possible ideas and inspiration. There’s usually a few bits of old crockery, china and general ceramics in charity shops and although most pieces are no longer fashionable (some are truely hideous let’s face it…!) sometimes there’s a piece worth turning upside-down and inspecting if only to work out how it was made (before re-shelving it). And then occasionally there’s something that isn’t made of ceramics but it gets the ideas going anyway. Hence this little pewter jug I found for £1.50 in my local RSPCA shop.

I don’t know anything about pewter. It’s the first piece I’ve ever bought – although the fact it's made of pewter is incidental really because the thing that struck me about it was the little spout. I realize it's a common feature of metalwork to form a triangular hole when adding a separate spout on jugs, coffee pots etc. But in ceramics the instinct when making is to avoid this more complicated route and choose the quick and simple solution; which is to shape a lip on the rim of a jug by smoothing a channel in the clay while the pot is still wet. Of course I've seen examples of ‘hole-and-spout-pouring’ jugs in ceramics before, but it doesn’t feature as a design as often as a shaped spout. So I’ve been toying with the idea of using it; something a bit different and quirky maybe...

Anyway, the point is, it’s a nice little jug I think and it's currently perched on my shelf in the studio (along with some other charity finds) to remind me of potential design ideas. I also bought this little 1958 copy of The Observer’s Book of Painting and Graphic Art. You can’t beat Observer’s.

I just want to say thanks again to Kate at Bluebell and Rosie for featuring my tea bowl in her Folksy Friday today on her lovely blog which you can see here. And also to Helen for featuring my buttons on her Folksy Friday last week on her blog Dizzy Izzy Handmade which you can see here. And finally to Haptree for featuring my raku buttons on Craft Blog UK recently which you can see here.

Thanks guys! Bye for now.

Second-hand Pot

Saw this jug/pitcher in a second-hand shop the other day for just seven quid and decided I must have it. There’s a potter’s stamp on the base with the initials J W but so far I haven’t been able to track down who that might be (based on the style and after a bit of Googling). Whoever made it was clearly influenced by the Leach tradition - but then what potter hasn’t been?! So that doesn’t narrow it down much. Anyway, it’s a lovely no-nonsense sort of pot which is growing on me each day. Yesterday, despite my rotten cold, I braved the freezing weather (a sprinkle of snow) and picked some tall stems of holly from the copse down the road and arranged a spray of them in my new pot. They look fantastic. Unfortunately the light’s so bad at the moment I can’t take a proper photo of the whole display without it all going wildly out of focus. So these were the best of the photos that came out…

Other news. It’s been a bit busy round here lately. Since my last blog entry I’ve done two Christmas craft shows, finished off my Christmas orders, caught a cold, stood in line at the post office queue and had a very exciting rush of sales on my Folksy shop which I’m over the moon about. I also discovered that I was listed in the Folksy Sampler which, until I got my hands on a copy, I had no idea about. So thank you to Folksy admin for listing me and to the lovely Jackie of Henny Penny Designs for letting me keep a copy!

Short and sweet today. Hopefully I will get some time in the next few days to blog again.