Natural | Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics

DIY Nature Wreaths

November 28, 2010 Charlotte 2 Comments

It’s a lovely frosty day today, the grass is still crunchy from this morning. We’ve had a little sprinkling of snow this weekend, but nothing major yet. I’m enjoying this relaxing Sunday! Earlier I made this wreath using a collection of pine cones. I got the idea from Maya’s inspiring blog. They are so simple to make – all you need is a circular cut out piece of card and a hot glue gun to stick the pine cones onto it.

When I was arranging the pine cones, somebody had to poke her nose in and get involved as usual!…

Molly loves chasing pine cones around the house! I’ve given her one to play with. It’s so funny watching her run around with it in her mouth.

I attached a hoop of ribbon to the wreath so that it could be hung up. I’ve placed it in various places around the house, it looks lovely anywhere. It will be a nice festive decoration to have out for Christmas, although I’m thinking of keeping it out all year round.

For now it’s sitting on top of the fire.

Hope you are enjoying a relaxing Sunday too!

Posted in: DIY wreath, festive decorations, natural, nature, pine cone wreath, pine cones, Projects, wreath

Surface Decoration

November 24, 2010 Charlotte 1 Comment

Can you guess what these close up images are of?

Regular readers of my blog may have recognised the detailed surface decoration above to be close up sections of my ceramic heart bowls.

I was waiting impatiently for these to come out of the kiln last week! The melted glass in the bases makes the bowls really stand out and it creates a glimmering effect in different lights.

All of these bowls are available in the Bowls & Dishes section of my website, and will be coming with me to the Contemporary Craft Shopping Experience if I haven’t sold any before then.

Do you like them? What would you use them for? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Posted in: heart bowls, melted glass, My Work, natural, surface decoration, surfaces

Winter Walk

November 22, 2010 Charlotte 1 Comment

I can’t believe how quickly the autumn leaves are falling from the trees. The gorgeous red, yellow and orange colours from the leaves are a rare treat when autumn comes, because they are all gone before you know it!

That Christmassy feeling is definitely in the air now, there are Christmas songs being played in shops, the garden centres are littered with decorations and the Christmas lights were turned on in our town this weekend (by Chesney Hawkes!)

I’m trying not to get wrapped up into it yet. There is still so much to do in preparation for The Contemporary Craft Christmas Shopping Experience – work still to be made, glazed, fired, orders to finish. So no mince pies for me until everything is all up to date

I think I’ll wait a couple of weeks when all the hectic days are over with, then I’ll be able to relax and put the Christmas decorations up, which I am itching to do!

At the weekend I went for a walk in the woods with Dave, where I took these photos of the sunlight bursting through the trees. This has given me inspiration for a new surface design. We collected lots of twigs to use for new my hanging mobiles/wind chimes – more on these soon!

It was Dave’s birthday yesterday and we had a lovely meal in a restaurant and sat next to an open fire, surrounded by yet more Christmas decorations!

For now I’ll leave you with these winter tree images to enjoy. Hope you all have a good week!

Posted in: natural, nature photography, trees, walk in the woods

Commissioned Vase

November 04, 2010 Charlotte 1 Comment

This vase was made as a Christmas gift for the customers Mum. She gave me the wording she wanted to be engraved and trailed around the vase, and I think it has turned out quite nice. The overall finish is definitely organic and natural. I love the subtle effects of the surface decoration, it reminds me of a snowy mountain.

I have e-mailed photos of the vase to the customer and am really pleased that she is happy with it, it’s always a worry making commissioned items, especially when they are personalised.

If any of my blog readers are interested in a commissioned piece of work, personalised or not, feel free to contact me for details. Whatever your requirements, I would be happy to help! Now is the best time to get in touch to avoid disappointment on delivery if the item needs to be with you in time for Christmas.

Posted in: ceramic vases, commissioned vase, commissions, handmade vase, My Work, natural

New Wind Chimes

August 19, 2010 Charlotte 3 Comments

When I had the chance to sit down at my stall at the balloon fiesta last week, I managed to make some new hanging mobiles / wind chimes. I’m glad I took all my bits and bobs for making these, it felt good to make things that didn’t involve getting clay all over myself!

I really enjoy making these, in fact I think they are becoming my new obsession! I have lots more bits and pieces lined up for my next batch. I’ll need to make another trip to the woods for more wood first though!

All of these mobiles are available to purchase in the Hanging Decorations category on my website.

Posted in: charlotte hupfield ceramics, hanging decorations, hanging mobile, natural, natural findings, wind chimes

Collecting Nature

July 19, 2010 Charlotte 3 Comments

I couldn’t help noticing many of nature’s organic objects at our local country park whilst we were out walking this evening. I’m terrible for picking things up, inspecting them, and usually popping them in my carrier bag for use as inspiration. (I do wash my hands when I get home!)

At the moment I’m currently working on some new decorative hanging mobiles, using fired pieces of ceramic, shells, glass, and copper wire. I wanted to use some suitable twigs or branches to attach the decorative hanging bits and bobs, so the twigs I collected from the country park will make good use for that. I wish I lived closer to the sea so I could use driftwood, but I’m going to have a go at washing my collected twigs in sea water to try to create the same driftwood effect.

This week over at Poppytalk, there is an inspiring project going on called Collecting Nature. People from all over the world are uploading their nature finds into this Flickr Group Pool, and then will later share projects using their finds. I’ve uploaded these photos of my organic objects to the group, why not join in and share yours too?

Alternatively you could just browse the images in the group, theres tonnes of inspiration!

Posted in: Inspiration, natural, natural findings, nature, organic objects, woodland objects

Wordless Wednesday

June 16, 2010 Charlotte 4 Comments

1. Black Eiffel

2. Heather King Photography

3. Ocasiocasa

4. Midwest Modern Girl

Posted in: green, Inspiration, natural, nature, wordless wednesday

Beach Sculptures & Barbara Hepworth

June 08, 2010 Charlotte 8 Comments

The other day I was browsing through some of my favourite blogs and came across these photographs of naturally sculpted beach posts by Heather of Niftyknits. Heather captured these weathered posts beautifully whilst sitting on an empty beach in Rye enjoying a picnic.

I almost want to be there in the photographs to examine the ‘sculptures’ up close – I find a lot of things like this inspiring; things that many people wouldn’t stop to look twice at. The beach looks lovely too, I could spend hours sorting and collecting some of those pebbles!

One of the first things that came into my mind when I saw Heather’s photographs was Barbara Hepworth’s sculptures.

During a holiday in Cornwall in 2007, I payed a visit to Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture garden at the Tate in St.Ives. This was a huge treat for me, and I loved every minute of it. Her sculptures are so powerful and impressive. I love the fact that she was inspired by the sea, and the rolling motion of the waves.

It was such a tragic shame that Barbara Hepworth died in her studio during a fire (1975), but I think it’s nice that her studio and garden have been made into a museum to remember her by.

Thinking about this holiday led me to dig out a scrapbook of photos I took during the visit, and I’m feeling all inspired again now!

~ Inspiring quote ~

“If a pebble or an egg can be enjoyed for the sake of its shape only, it is one step towards a true appreciation of sculpture. A tree trunk, with its changing axis, swellings and varied sections, fully understood, takes us a step further. Then finally it is realised that abstract form, the relation of masses and planes, is that which gives sculptural life; this, then, admits that a piece of sculpture can be purely abstract or non-representational.”

- Barbara Hepworth. An extract from her statement in the series ‘Contemporary English Sculptors’, 1930.

Posted in: barbara hepworth, beach, cornwall, natural, rye, sculpture garden, st.ives

Pistachio Nut Shell Results!

April 17, 2010 Charlotte 5 Comments

Do you remember the experiment I was working on about a month ago, using pistachio nut shells in clay?

Well the results are finally here – I initially made a round pot and a flat dish to try out the effects. What do you think?

The pot sold at the craft fair I was at over easter, so I was happy that I took lots of photos of it before I went. The lady who bought it said she was going to keep it in her kitchen. I explained how the textured effect had been created on the surface, by rolling pistachio nut shells into the clay, and she seemed to like it even more. She liked the idea of owning a completely handmade piece of work, and being the only person in the world with a pot like it!

I’m pleased with the results and will definitely be making more pieces using this technique and different colours.

The dish is now available in my shops via my Direct Site, Folksy, Etsy, Swanky Maison & Zibbet.

Posted in: ceramic dish, ceramic pot, My Work, natural, pistachio nut shells, rustic ceramics

Joined Etsy & Featured in a Treasury!

February 24, 2010 Charlotte 4 Comments

I decided to join Etsy a few days ago, I thought it would be good to start getting my work noticed worldwide as well as in the UK. I’m really enjoying my experience of Etsy so far, there is so much to learn and I’m discovering new inspiring things every day.

You might have noticed a new feature in my side bar –>

It’s a link direct to my Etsy shop and shows a selection of the products that I currently have for sale. Feel free to visit my shop and ‘heart’ me if you are a fellow Etsyer!

I’m overwhelmed to already be featured in a treasury by handjstarcreations – It’s called ‘All Natural’, and my Organic Ceramic Planter was chosen to be featured amongst 11 other gorgeously natural findings.