Glazes and Garlic

Over the past couple of days I’ve been sorting through a selection of small accessories that came out of the last glaze kiln. These included buttons, brooches, pendants, rings and miscellaneous ‘blanks’. All of these little pieces require some finishing touches. First I usually smooth them all using sandpaper to soften the edges and make sure they don’t snag on clothing or feel rough against the skin. After sanding I add the fittings like brooch backs and ring findings (I use Araldite as a ceramic fixative and the fittings come from my local bead shop). I also thread the pendants onto lovely new suede thongs and individually attach each button onto card in singles or matching pairs to keep them together. All in all it takes a day or two to go through all the pieces - choosing which items go best with which fitting (and also trying not to glue my fingers together). But it’s all worth it in the end I think – especially now I have a new selection of jewellery and buttons (with brand new glazes!) for my next show.

Talking of which…our next show is coming up very soon. My sister Sue and I will be sharing a stall together again (as Osmosis) at this year's Isle of Wight Garlic Festival next weekend (14^th and 15^th of August). It’s our second year at the festival. Last year was very good for us and we had lots of interest in our work, so we hope it will be successful again this year. We’ll be exhibiting in the Arts and Crafts marquee on site with lots of other local artists and craft makers - and there’ll be plenty of other attractions over the two day event including live music and lovely food stalls with garlic to eat of course! So if you’re in the area, please do drop by: here’s a link to their official site.

And I just wanted to thank Helen again for featuring my bowl on her lovely blog last week: here’s a screenshot, and here’s a link to her blog too. Thanks!

Open Studios: after the event...

Today I’m recovering from our four-day Open Studio event. I feel as though I’ve been on my feet for weeks! We had a very successful and enjoyable time. In my last blog entry I mentioned we were sharing a venue in Freshwater - which is one of the more remote areas on the island. So we were really pleased to count 592 people through the doors over the weekend! We met lots of new customers and also quite a few fellow artists too (including some potters – which was very good for me because I could ‘talk shop’ about ceramics with them). Overall I think we all had an excellent time and lots of people said how much they enjoyed coming to see us. So you never know, we might just do it all over again this time next year!

Anyway, I managed (in all the busy buzz of holding a stall) to remember to take some photos. However, the interior shots didn’t come out as well as I’d hoped. So instead I thought I’d blog these exterior shots of our venue – which was a lovely old thatched building (Freshwater Parish Hall).

(By the way, my homemade button display board was a hit: sold lots of buttons and had lots of lovely comments about them too. So I’ll definitely be taking the board with me to the next event…)

Open Studios

This year my sister and I (as Osmosis) are taking part in the Isle of Wight Artists’ Open Studios 2010. It starts this Friday (16th of July) and ends next Monday (19th of July) so it’s not long to go! We’re exhibiting in Freshwater on the island and will be sharing a venue (Freshwater Parish Hall) with 5 other artists including painters, sculptors, jewellers and other craft makers. This means visitors will get to see a wide variety of arts and crafts all in one place – so there should be something for everyone! You can see our listings and find out more details here.

In the meantime I’ve been busy planning what to take to the Open Studios in terms of stock – but also putting together details of the display. In fact the display part seems to take the longest! Since it’s a four-day event this time, I decided I needed to think more about how to show off my buttons. Normally I put them in wicker baskets or arrange them flat on the table: but this really doesn’t show them off properly. So yesterday I had a brain wave and re-commissioned my cork pin board from the studio. I gave it a few coats of white paint, pushed in some nails, and hey presto, a simple, lightweight display board for my buttons! And it cost me nothing because I already had everything to hand. Anyway, these are some shots of the result.

I’m really pleased with it. I think once it sits in amongst all my pots and other display pieces it’s going to look a treat.

Anyway, wish me luck!

Buttons and Bags

Just wanted to mention this gorgeous bag pictured above. It’s made from pure Jacob and Mohair wool mix in a natural stone grey and hand crocheted in one piece by Deb Scudder of pipistrelle. And (you might recognise this) Deb has finished this beautiful bag with one of my little raku buttons in a mustard and white crackle glaze! I think they work beautifully together and I’m so pleased to see my little button doing what it was intended for! This truly is a unique piece: and you can read a more detailed explanation of the making process in the listing for this bag in her folksy shop and also her blog.

And here's a close-up of the button before it found its true purpose in life!

Thanks again Deb!