Since my last visit to England my sister Mary and her husband John have moved from the country into a smaller house in Salisbury. It's hard to imagine a more perfect city for a retired couple. Their house is five minutes from the central market square, the railway station and the cathedral where Mary is a steward. Our mum lived right in the Cathedral Close,…
This year marks fifty years since I immigrated to Canada from England. Over the years I've made many trips back, usually with Alan, but sometimes on my own. I always make a point of revisiting favourite potters and galleries near where family members live. After Al had had his eight-day trip to Osaka recently we agreed that I should take a holiday in England…
The last few days illustrate how my life is a blend of pottery-related activities, household stuff and days when family is top priority. Last Thursday I finished applying terra sigillata to the undersides of all my pots, fast-dried some still slightly damp plates in my convection oven (on 'warm'), loaded the kiln for the bisque firing and turned it on. We'd set aside Friday for…
After a rather long gap, due mainly to my having a lingering viral throat something-or-other, we finally had three 'Raiders' here on Thursday. It was so good to spend the day catching up with artist friends. Mina Totino had three square plates to work on, Philippe Raphanel requested some large platters and new guest, Mina's friend Michelle Normoyle chose to paint some oval plates and…
Here we are almost at the end of April so it's time to do a catch-up blog. I've just been poddling along, painting the odd plate and some jugbirds and more importantly researching glaze recipes for cone 04 white clays. It's been a record-setting rainy month so we grab the chance to do some gardening or I load a kiln when the sun comes out. Happily Easter Day…