Easter greetings

Oh dear, I really have been lax. About the blog that is - not about anything else - except perhaps the washing ironing and vacuuming - but what does that do for the soul?? In other areas I have been rushing round like a maniac and this Easter weekend break is deliciously welcome. Just wish it would warm up a bit.

I have been busy with my Creative Partnerships work and not been in the studio much. But I did get the results of the wood-firing at Rufford which were kind of okay but not spectacular. It was a bit of a damp squib (literally) of a firing as we ran out of dry wood. I think this was caused by a combination of high winds during the firing and the fact that the wood was quite thin - both factors leading to a very fast burning rate. It was not a total disaster however, as the kiln had reached temperature; it just didn't get the soak at top temperature over a couple of days which we normally do. The effects of this is that the glazed surface is not so exciting and a bit dry in places. Some people's work was more effective according to the type of clay they had used. Mine tended to be quite dark brown in places but not bad. I was particularly pleased with our dog's tombstone which has finally been completed - I made this with my daughters when our dog died quite some time ago - poor thing - he was always running off - a saluki greyound rescue dog - and he had no idea about cars whatsoever, and finally met his maker on a dual carriageway near home. We were devastated but the tombstone (RIP - Run in Peace) is a nice marker for his grave.

I digress. About the wood - wood for a firing needs to be both seasoned and protected from the weather - we have a large shedload of the stuff at Rufford - I will post a photo - but its still drying out. We do have another firing coming up in April so hope the woods okay for that. But if anyone reading this blog knows of any good supplies of wood please please let me know.

I have not made any other new work though have a couple more pieces in the making. Have been doing some glaze testing as well, with some interesting results. I also finally fired my students work - sorry students! - and it is really fantastic. I hope they like it too.

I'm hoping to get three days of solid making in the studio over the Easter hols between family visits and trips out - decided not to go on holiday but just potter - we all are so busy during term time that its nice to just spend a bit of time at home. Besides the garden is in dire need of attention though its looking quite good there's lots of tidying up to do.

As far as preparations for Open Up, they are mostly in my head. I do have some nice ideas for some small pieces of jewellery and I will continue with my button making. Some of the pieces that came out of the Rufford firing are composite pieces and I am really excited by that - an earthbound fishy shape becomes mobile on a pedestal of fins, an exotic sort of seedhead is propped on a strange stem, so I'd like to extend this repertoire. I've always liked collections of things and these seem to be like strange objects in a museum display. In fact I think a visit to a natural history museum - or the Pitt Rivers Collection in Oxford, may well be what's necessary.

Well I think I might sign off now - the sun is shining and there is both work and play to be done!!

Happy Easter.

Sarah