Full listings of all upcoming events can be found on the 'events' page of my website www.jeantolkovskyceramics.com
My first show of the year will be with
Craft in Focus, Wisley Gardens, from 28th April to 2nd May. http://www.craftinfocus.com/wisley_april_may_16.html
This is a great day out with access to the lovely Wisley Gardens as well as to a wonderful Craft show.
New pieces are underway, such as the 3 figures seen here. The tallest is about 25cm high. Once bisque fired I will decorate them with my usual underglaze colours and dry lithium glazes.
June sees the return of the ever popular Surrey Artists Open Studios which runs from 4th to 19th June. http://www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk/home/visitors/ This will be my 8th consecutive year and I always look forward to meeting visitors, new and returning. My studio is situated at the end of my rather long garden and I always try to produce some unique garden pieces exclusively for this occasion. Visitors can meander down the garden, viewing the outdoor work before arriving at my studio where I display my smaller indoor pieces.
This year I have already made a few new pieces, which are currently drying before being fired and decorated. Here's a preview. For the large scale pieces I am using Architectural Clay from Valentine Clays. It's really easy to work with, very strong, fairly smooth and can easily be thrown as well as slabbed and coiled. Fired to 1280 it has proven to be completely weatherproof.
This first piece was thrown in sections and is designed to slot over a metal pole which can be anchored in the ground to add stability. It stands about 120cm high. I have carved the surface and will add colour, probably in the form of a glaze which I will apply and then wipe back to highlight the carved areas.
The following two pieces are scaled up versions based on the smaller pieces at the start of this blog.
They stand at around 120cm approx. and will most probably be decorated with underglazes.
Large pieces like these take a good deal of drying out, especially at this time of year, so it may be a month before they are complete. Once finished I'll post some new images.
Meantime, do visit my events page at www.jeantolkovskyceramics.com and find out what else I'll be up to in the next few months.
As you can tell, I'm not a daily blogger, but my resolution this year is to try to blog regularly at the beginning of each month. Watch this space!...........
