Monthly Archives: June 2011
New Beach Hut Pieces
Featured Interview – Penny Spooner Ceramics
Meet: Penny Spooner CeramicsHow long have you been making your work and how did it all begin?
I have been making work to sell now for 3 years. It all started when I signed up with a friend for a term to study ceramics at night classes in our local college about 9 years ago. The first time I threw a pot on the wheel I just loved it and have never stopped feeling like that.
What processes & techniques do you use in your work?
I love printing onto porcelain and have a drawer crammed full of wonderful things I have collected, which can be impressed onto clay to achieve interesting finishes. I’m also really keen on using slip to decorate my work and use this technique for all my cake stands.
What are you inspired by?
Displaying food I suppose, which my Grandmother inspired in me; being a farmer’s daughter she was up with the lark and baking for the day. All these lovely things would then be presented to us on a traditionally laid out table with cake stands, tea plates & lovely little cups & saucers. I love to make pieces that can be used but add something special to the table.
Do you have a work space or studio? What is it like?
I’m so lucky to have a studio of my own. In a former life it was a pair of old thatched cottages, but they burnt down in the 1970’s and were turned into a garage, 3 years ago I was lucky enough to get hold of it. It is just the best place to be – I absolutely love walking in there, turning on the radio, filling the kettle, donning an apron and sitting down at the wheel. Heaven.
Where can people buy your work?
I have an Etsy shop, a folksy shop, and sell from my website www.handmadeinhampshire.co.uk
My work is also for sale in a small selection of shops stocking handmade items, as well as at a number of Art & Craft shows – details of these are on my website.
How do you promote your work?
Oh, I’m just terrible at promotion. I like making things, the rest is a necessary evil. I have those beautiful Moo cards which I hand out liberally, and have recently printed up postcards advertising my workshops, which I take to shows and leave wherever I can.
What goals do you have for the future?
To be able to spend every day at the studio making pots, and to sell my work through a larger network of shops. The trouble is I love it in the studio so much, I’m not keen to spare time for anything else! I am getting better at the business side as I’m realising how important it is.
What advice would you offer to someone thinking about turning their craft/art into a business?
Speak to other artists who have gone before you and get plenty of advice, and make sure your family at home understand that you will be busy so that they can help support you.
A few of your favourites (just for fun)….
Colour: Oh definitely blue, as I’m sure you can tell from my work
Animal: Dog. I just love dogs and have always had one, at the moment we have two fabulous rescue dogs who come to the studio with me.
Season: Spring because the weather is warmer, everything perks up and my garden always looks its best in Spring.
Person: Too many to choose!
Food: Mint chocolate and liquorice
Website: www.handmadeinhampshire.co.uk
How to make a Piñata
You will need:
- Balloon
- Newspaper
- Flour & Water
- Bowl
- Scissors
- Cardboard (i.e. cereal box)
- Toilet Roll Tubes
- Crepe/Tissue Paper
- Strong Glue
- String
- Marker Pen
- Coloured Paints
- Sweets
- Foil Tube
Mix a small amount of flour with water to form a watery glue paste. Cut strips of newspaper ready to be applied to the balloon. Blow up a balloon, and begin by dipping a newspaper strip into the paste so that it is completely covered, and smooth over the surface of the balloon using the paper-mâché technique. Continue until the balloon is completely covered, making sure each strip is overlapped slightly. Hang the balloon up to dry overnight with a piece of string. Cover the balloon in another layer the next day, placing each strip in the opposite direction to the initial layer. Allow to dry again overnight.
To make the head, we used two halves of a jaffa cake box and paper-mâché’d them together, sticking on some ears too.
Cut small slits around one end of the four toilet roll tubes (legs), this makes them stay in place against the balloon easier.
Once the balloon has dried fully over night, position the legs evenly underneath and mark where they are with a marker pen.
I found it a lot easier to initially glue the legs into place using a hot glue gun to hold them securely. I then added more paper-mâché around the tops to smooth it out.
Next is the fun part! Pop the balloon using a pin or scissors, cut a hole big enough to fill with sweets and remove the balloon.
Fill the empty body with sweets!!….
….and also some confetti.
Once you are happy with the amount of sweets and confetti inside, glue the head onto the body.
Paint the legs – the brighter the better!
Cut some lengths of crepe or tissue paper (we used crepe paper as it’s a lot stronger than tissue), and cut some tassels along one side. Begin to attach the strips onto the body, using cello-tape to secure. We found it a lot easier for one person to hold the strips in place while the other sticks the cello-tape.
Continue to layer up the strips of paper in different colours. When you reach the top you will come to a big bald patch – cut one large oval of the next colour with tassels around the edge, and layer up different coloured ovals on top.
Add some zig-zag lines around the legs, or any other pattern you choose to jazz them up a bit! Make a tail using some thin card to form a cone shape, cover in crepe paper and decorate. Attach some tassel strips to the top of the tail.
Cover the head and ears in random cut-out pieces of crepe paper using pritt stick.
Cut tassels along the edge of the ears, stick the tail on, and add some big googly eyes.
Upcoming Exhibitions
The Contemporary Coastal exhibition at Staacks in Merseyside is going well, a few of my pieces have sold so far so I’m happy. There is still plenty of time to visit Staacks and view the wide range of contemporary crafts on show – definitely recommended!
- Handmade Market, St. John’s Church Hall, Kenilworth – 13th August 2011.
- Art & Craft Fair, Napton Village Hall – 21st August 2011.
- Craft & Gift Fair, The Benn Hall, Rugby – 30th October 2011.
- Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience, Warwickshire Exhibition Centre – 4th Dec 2011.
There will be more fairs and exhibitions gradually added to the list so keep an eye on the right hand side bar of my blog as the list is updated.Work in progress
After my break away at the seaside last week, it’s time to crack on with orders and stock for exhibitions and upcoming fairs. I’ve been working on some new ideas, as well as developing others. It has been nice to be ‘locked away’ inside the workshop churning out new pieces. I have also been having a big sort out and tidy up in the workshop, ready for a few different customers that will be popping by to visit soon. Another visitor to my workshop, which I am very excited about, is a student who has just finished exams at school and will be coming to learn and make a few things in a couple of weeks. I’ll be sharing more on that soon!
Featured Interview – Cinnamon Jewllery
Meet:
I’ve been making jewellery for seven years now. It began when I was browsing eBay one day, saw lots of handmade earrings and thought “I could do that”. I really had no idea how to “do that” so bought a book and some supplies and with the help of tutorials on the internet taught myself. I used fuse wire to practise my loops to begin with!
I make wirework, some basic metalwork and torch enamel jewellery.
I love bright colours, swirls and spirals, geometric and abstract designs and rustic style jewellery. I have a bit of trouble finding my rustic side though being a bit of a shiny neat freak but I’m getting
there!
I work on the dining room table which luckily isn’t used to actually eat from any more. I’m slowly spreading out and have comandeered various cupboards including one in the kitchen for my enamelling stuff! It would be lovely to have a room just for making jewellery so I
wouldn’t have to keep getting stuff out and putting it away again but I manage and the cats like to sit and stare at me while I work (as only cats can).
I sell on Folksy, Etsy and in a shop, The Gift Gallery, in York.
What goals do you have for the future?I want to continue to develop my style. I love making metalwork designs so am always looking to learn new basic techniques that don’t require too much new equipment which means I can add something different to my jewellery designs. I recently taught myself fold forming – a metalwork technique that adds texture to metal by folding,
and I’ve learnt how to enamel metal by torch. I would also like to have more projects in other magazines and find more shops to sell in – I think I’ve got my work cut out!
Research the type of items you make – are they popular. Be prepared to work hard at it – not just the making but finding places to sell and promoting. It all takes time and lots of effort if you want to make a go of it. Be prepared for quiet spells, they are inevitable but don’t let them push you off track, just keep going. Learning new techniques within your field is a good idea and means you can develop your style and offer something that’s a bit different or unique to what’s already out there, giving buyers more choice. Overall remember to enjoy it!
Colour: Purple
Animal: Tiger
Season: Summer
Person: My Mum (sadly no longer with us)
Food: Curry/chocolate in equal measure!
Website: Folksy of course!
Trip to the Seaside
Home made Onion Tart
- 250g fresh ready-made shortcrust pastry
- 40g butter
- 75g bacon, chopped
- 700g onions, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 50g parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tsp dried sage
- salt & pepper
I’m in VOGUE Magazine!
Featured Interview – The Cotton Potter
How long have you been making your work and how did it all begin?
As a child of the seventies, a lot of my time was spent making things – as shown on Blue Peter and picking up dressmaking skills from my mother who made nearly all my clothes. After a diploma in general art and design followed by a degree in ceramics at
What processes & techniques do you use in your work?
I tend to look at fabric as if it were a slab of clay, often stiffening it with interfacing to reinforce it and then experiment with different patterns to create ‘slab-built’ style vessels. I have started to design my own fabric which is something I want to develop much further.
What are you inspired by?
My main inspiration is Ceramics, particularly vessel forms. I’m also inspired by nature, particularly birds and flowers.
Do you have a work space or studio? What is it like?
I do have a small studio in my garden but invariably end up traipsing into the house and working in the kitchen or sitting room instead.
The majority of my work is sold online through Folksy and Not on the High Street though I sell to a few B & M shops and galleries as well.
How do you promote your work?
I have a neglected facebook page and that’s about it, but I am happy with the flow of sales I have currently, so promotion isn’t top of my to-do list at the moment. If I ever give up the day job to concentrate purely on The Cotton Potter, I would definitely need to hone my promoting skills.
What goals do you have for the future?
Although I love my day job I do dream of one day turning the Cotton Potter into a full time business. In the short term I would like to work on some more of my own fabric designs and put them into production in the form of wraps and slip covers.
What advice would you offer to someone thinking about turning their craft/art into a business?
Gosh, I wouldn’t know where to start, but what I found helped me was planning my style, product range, pricing, packaging etc, getting it clear and organised in my head before entering the market.
A few of your favourites (just for fun)….
Colour: Pink
Animal: garden birds, hares
Season: Spring
Food: italian
Fresh from the kiln
Following on from some of my dandelion designs on bowls, here are a few on vases, I’m really pleased with them. Each are indivually handmade and although the forms of the vases above are the same, each one is decorated differently, no two are ever the same.
This set of six magnets below would brighten up a fridge or any other magnetic surface, and with the lovely engraved words, they are bound to put a smile on everyones faces!
Here are a set of 8 coasters featuring my pine tree design, that were ordered a couple of weeks ago by a customer in Scotland. I only had a set of 2 in stock, so I enjoyed making some more. I love the natural look to them, they would look gorgoeous outside on a garden table too.
I’ll be churning out lots of new pieces this week, so pop back for some updates from the workshop and some sneak peaks of work in progress!
I’ve also been featured by Laura of Cards and Candles For All Occasions this week, so if you fancy reading more about me check out her blog here
