Painting

Got a couple of coats of paint on my plinths and shelves today. Managed to remain fairly calm and collected despite there being no paint and having to drive to Homebase, and despite it being bring-your-boyfriend/husband-to-do-your-painting/photography/picture hanging/lifting/carrying day. Jealous? Moi?

Drawing with Wire

Woodwork

T the technician built me an amazing wooden frame for my kaleidoscope. I've polyfillered and sanded and now need to paint it white. And R the technician made me two floating shelves for my corner. Going to be using mirrors there too. Thankyou!

Legs

We're gradually creating our spaces for the degree show. This is now a common sight when I walk into my room. L's legs dangling out of a space she's made in her wall. If you wheel away her ladder and forget to bring it back she gets stuck forever. So don't.

Scanning

With the aid of a posh scanner and a photographic bin bag I've been taking scans of jugs. This one is a bit streaky but you get the idea.

Taking shape

Tutorials in our spaces. Starting to gather plinths and tables and shelves. I got this shelf. Things are taking shape.

Nice Degree Show Poster

Dear Everyone I Know,

My degree is nearly over. Doors close next Wednesday at 6pm for assessment. Then I will be lying down for a week and maybe hoovering a bit before the degree show opens on June 10th. On that evening I will be standing next to a lot of jugs I've made, feeling a bit silly. I'll be there for most of Saturday and Sunday too.

The degree show poster that the university have made this year is very vile so I have made my own. I'm the one on the right for those of you who haven't seen or heard from me in the last four years. I've tried to work in the style of the uni poster - note random bits of bush and pipe and window. But mine is nicer.

I'm still going to be ignoring most of your phone calls and emails for a while yet, but maybe not for another four years.

Love and jugs,
Jo

Vile Degree Show Poster

Please don't let this be the poster for my degree show. Found it on the a-n website. It's so depressing. What are those things dangling in the air? It looks like Itsy and Bitsy from Paperplay have died. Drowned and died. Here are some Itsy and Bitsy pictures to try and cheer us all up. They were very artistic spiders who helped a lady called Susan make really rubbish things in the late 1970s. Think I'll watch them on you tube and try not to think about the vile poster.

Transfer firing

A few of these in the kiln. Had to mask off a section and glaze a white patch and fire. Then mask off the white and glaze the rest of the jug black and fire. (Then reglaze and refire some of the black because it was  patchy and rubbish.) Now the transfers are on over the white patch and they're in the kiln for their final firing. Everything crossed...

Everybody out

Wednesday night empty shelves onto desk...

Thursday night move contents of desk downstairs onto shelves...

 Put up lucky plaque from first year...

Desk cleared ready for the degree show, which will appear magically on this spot sometime over the next week and a half. Apparently.

Mirroring

Still playing with mirrors...

Clay drawing

Made this clay drawing of sixty circles for mum for her birthday. Or are there sixty one circles? Had to do a tally chart when counting them due to lateness and tiredness.

Jug of the Month - May

I gave this jug to Mum as part of her 60th birthday present. It's Spanish Ironstone, and the pattern is Fantasia from the Pontessa Young Range. It's part of a set she used to own when she was newly married in early 1970s, bought from Owen Owen in Coventry....

Mum gave it all away years ago, keeping just one meat plate, and I've been and gone and bought it all again. Here is the rest of the set...

And here it is nestled in the corner of the kitchen trying not to be noticed by a certain person who might think there is too much ceramic tat in the house already...

And here are the jug, cup and sugar bowl I made in the second year. It's now very obvious where my inspiration came from...

Birthday Cake

Mum had a big birthday last weekend and I had a great time helping to make and eat all of this food.

Mary made this amazing cake.

Happy Birthday Mum. X

Spiers & Boden

Not sure if it is normal to stalk your musical heroes by giving them gifts of tableware. Must be some sort of law against it. J and I made these plates for Spiers &  Boden for their 10th anniversary. They show Bold Sir Rylas killing a spotted pig, and the wild-woman and her tree. And a hound. 

Hope they like them. They don't look very sure...