This is a commissioned piece, the lady came in the studio with a large tin of all the china she had dug up in the garden and a saucer belonging to her wedding china, so this is what I came up with, I particularly like the blue and white base.
This January I have been trying to keep warm! but the new ideas are bubbling away inside my head, this wee fellow is one of the first to come to fruition though, the dreamy hare is sailing away in his little dingy gazing at the stars, he is mounted on an upturned teacup with waves lapping against the boat. Just need to think of a name for his boat now! he will shortly be popping up in my web shop. one of my favourite bits is his key rudder.
30th August 2014
Earlier in August I had a solo exhibition at the lovely Iapetus Gallery in Malvern, so needing to produce some bigger work to help set the scene, I finished three heads, all made from sea china and vintage bits and bobs. The lady wearing the flowery hat, I experimented with getting her head and hands cast in glass, which I feel gave her a lovely quality. I hope to do some more figures using the glass again soon.
In 2012 I received a grant from Creative Scotland to do a series of figures, well here is the second of my ladies. She will eventually be sporting a very fine broad rimmed hat made from a saucer with Royal Doulton ceramic flowers adorning it and holding a beautiful string of pearls around her neck. The head and hands are made from cast glass and she is supported on a thick copper wire network. Her body is made from sea pottery, collected from a beach last summer on Holy Island with her upper body covered in copper and pearl flowers. Hopefully next week I can finish her hair and hat.
After four years of working down a little alley in my beloved Gallery In The Alley I am on the move. I needed more light and ventilation for myself and my assistants and we have simply out grown the old place. Here is my new shop at No 41 High Street Jedburgh, it looks a little unloved at the moment but a lick of paint and a lot of love and she'll be up and running in time for Easter.
The boarded up window looks alarming I know but its Hand Ba' in the town today, so to protect the shop windows they are protected with shutters. For most of you who have never heard of Hand Ba before here is a little potted history.
Known locally as Jethart Ba’, it is played on the Thursday after Shrove Tuesday. The first ever game was played in the 1700's supposedly with an Englishman’s head! Thankfully these days the ball is made of leather, stuffed with straw and decorated with ribbons which symbolises his hair. The teams (Uppies and Doonies) are chosen by where they live – Uppies are those born to the South and Doonies to the North of the Market Cross. Play is in the High Street starting in the Market Place with the boys or Callants game first and the mens game later, the Uppies goal is outside the Castle Jail and the Doonies goal is at the Pleasance, each a couple of hundred yards away from the start. The ball is thrown into the crowd to start the game and they can last all day well into the night.
