2009 June | Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics

Weekend of fun!

I have had a really fun weekend and thought I would share some of my photos. The break from being in my new workshop has done me good, although I’ll be doing lots of glazing this afternoon.

Part of my weekend involved being at a childrens birthday party, but I’m too embarrassed to put the photos of me on the bouncy castle on here!!

We went to a Pick Your Own farm on Sunday, and the strawberries were to die for. By far the best I have ever tasted, I had strawberry juice all down my clothes! It was nice to see all the different rows of other organic fruit and vegetables growing.

Yesterday me and Dave went to Alton Towers which was sooo much fun! We thought it would be a good day to go on a Monday with not many people about, but we were wrong! It was still packed with the weather being so nice. I felt quite brave to have been on Nemesis, Air, Enterprise and some of the other smaller rides but Rita was one of my favourites (see pic below). The rollercoaster sets off from being dead still and goes from zero to one hundred in 2.5 seconds!!! We bought the photo of us on it, but thats also another one I’m too embarrassed to show! I also loved the rollercoatser Air, it feels like your flying, we went on that twice.

On the way home we hit a huge thunderstorm and drove straight into it. It got so bad that we had to pull over, couldn’t even see through the windscreen there was so much heavy rain. The thunder and lightening went on for ages and was right above us, but we managed to slowly get out of it.

We also went to Twycross Zoo a few weeks ago, these were my favourite photos. That organutang was so cute, we watched him pull that big bag up to the top of that tree, hang it up, and then climb into it!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend too!

Open Studios Brochures

Two posts in one day, I am feeling generous! I am taking part in the Northamptonshire Open Studios event this year, and will be exhibiting my work at the Evergreen Gallery in Daventry in September – see details below.

I have been given 50 brochures to distribute… If you would like one please let me know! I will be taking some to my craft fairs and other shows leading up to the exhibition in September. Open Studios is Northamptonshire’s largest visual arts festival and is too good to miss!

Click here to visit the Open Studios website, you might find an interesting Open Studio near you.

Grand Tour of my new Den!

It’s finally set up and ready to go!!! I have been so excited arranging where I wanted everything to be placed and finding homes for my tools and materials etc, although I have been a little impatient as I haven’t fully insulated it from the inside yet. It gets way to hot in there at the moment though! I’ve decided to leave it til the end of summer. I have filled all the gaps with expanding foam as you should be able to see (mostly to stop the spiders coming in), which will prevent wind and rain.

I still have a list of things which need to be done, such as a roller blind to put up (did initially want mini curtains but thought they would attract too much dust from the clay), a pin board where I can keep images, ideas and jot down notes, a plaque needs to be hung on the front which is waiting to be fired as we speak, a padlock to go on the door, some sort of coating to treat the outer wood from weathering, and of course the insulating.

I’ve put together two large collages of images which are displayed on the walls – one full of inspirational images and some of my own photos, and another of other artists and ceramic artists work whose I love.

Here’s me working! I was beginning a sculptural vessel. Do you like my pink apron?

I have two work benches which fit all the way along the windowed wall, so its nice to look out at the garden while I’m working.

This is my shelving area and where I keep some of my moulds.

Theres plenty of storage space under the work benches to keep my glaze materials, oxides, scales, clay, moulds, safety equipment, tools, newspaper, etc. The benches also have shelves on the bottom which is very handy.

Thats it for now! I wasn’t sure whether or not to show you these images because it is not completely finished, but these can be the inbetween stage photos! I’ll show you some more when the other things are done… in the meantime I’m sure you can guess where I’ll be spending most of my time?!

My New Workshop!

I’m so excited to have my new ‘workshop’ built! I haven’t started to move everything in yet as I’m waiting to get a high wooden work bench to put inside, and I would like to insulate the walls and roof from inside so its not as cold in winter. I also plan to put some mini curtains or a roller blind up, it will be lovely and cosy!

Thanks to my Dad and Dave for putting it up at the weekend. I had a great job of being the spectator, letting them know how it looked at what had gone wrong whilst sitting in the sun!!

I’ll be spending most of my evenings out here now…

I’m going to make a plaque to hang on the door :)

Sywell Craft Fair

Another successful day yesterday at the craft fair at Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire, organised by Pennine Fairs.

I love this venue, it attracts so many people and all items for sale are strictly hand made by the exhibitor. I spent ages looking round at all the other stalls, and then had to go round again! I also met lots of lovely people and enjoyed chatting.

I sold my large sculptural vessel with the dried pussy willow sticks in it, and although I was very pleased to make the sale, I was also a little gutted as it was my favourite piece! It used to take pride of place at the top of the stairs at home, but I know its gone to a good home and I’ll have to make some more similar ones.

I’m looking forward to my next event at Peterborough Town & Country Show over the weekend of 4th &5th July… I’ve got sooo much more making to do over the next couple of weeks!

First Craft Fair of the year

I was at my first craft fair of the year last weekend, at Castle Ashby Country Show. Thanks to the gorgeous weather everyone seemed to be out and about enjoying the local 2 day event. I was so pleased with the success of my stall, and now need to get making lots more ready for the next shows I’ve got lined up!

Behind the scenes shot…

Firing Results

For those of you who were interested to see my firing results from the images of my ceramic pieces about to be fired in my previous post, here are the outcomes!

These magnets are new to my range. I wanted to create some tactile and decorative items that are smaller and cheaper, to add to the range in prices on my stall at craft fairs and shows.

The magnets with words or writing on were really popular at my fair this weekend, I sold all of them! Will have to start making lots more, now I know which type sells more.

I couldn’t resist making lots of magnets in my usual style… “Organic and Rustic”, as some people refer to it as…

My coasters were all sold in sets of 4 with different coloured ribbon tied around them. Each coaster has a coloured sheet of foam neatly stuck onto the underside to prevent scratching on the table and to stop them sliding around.

Melting glass into my bowls, or rolling flecks of glass into the surface of the clay before constructing forms is like a trade mark to my work in terms of decoration, and people say it is what makes it so different.

Opening the kiln is such an exciting moment as you never really know what the outcome will be. Even the most experienced potters still have lots of happy accidents. I enjoyed peeking in through the gap in the door when the firing for all of these flat pieces were finished, the burst of colour made a change to my usual decoration.