JUNE EVENTS

Firstly I am delighted to announce that I have been offered a place at this year's Art in Action, Waterperry House, Oxfordshire.  This amazing event has been running for 40 years and sadly this is to be the last one ever, which is a great pity.  If you have never been, do try to visit this year 14th - 17th July.  I shall be exhibiting in the 'Market Place'.  http://www.artinaction.org.uk/

In the meantime..........

SURREY ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS

http://www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk/

This annual event will take place from 4-19 June 2016  (see below for opening dates and times)

So it's almost time for Open Studios which starts this coming weekend, Saturday 4th June, and I am frantically trying to get my studio and garden ready for visitors.   

In addition to my current range of indoor figurative pieces you will be able to see earlier works as well as a few garden sculptures.

The large 'rabbit' figure is a type of Alice in Wonderland fantasy character.  Handbuilt using slabs and coils and decorated with underglazes, this piece is designed to stay in the garden all year round.  Made in two sections, the head is cemented to the body after firing.

This garden sculpture was made in thrown sections with added modeled features, decorated with underglaze colours and high fired.  By making in sections I was able to produce something taller than the internal height of my kiln.  The whole thing can be slotted over a metal pole which is inserted into the ground, to give it stability.  Suitable to be left outside all year round.

Birds on metal spikes to dot around the garden.

In addition you will find lots of indoor figurative pieces and some of my earlier works including jesters, feathered birds and jugs, plus some new fish mobiles.

Feathered chickens for the home

And my current figurative pieces.

I shall be opening my lovely garden studio on the following dates:

3 weekends of 4/5, 11/12 and 18/19 June, plus Tues 7/14, Thurs 9/16  (evenings only), and Friday 10/17th.  (In other words, every day apart from Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursday day time).

Opening hours are 11am - 5pm, and Thursday evenings, 6-8.30pm.

If you can't make any of these times please contact me to arrange a convenient time.

my garden studio

Brochures are available in various public locations such as libraries, but all the info is online, including an interactive map, individual artists web pages and so on.

This is a great opportunity for members of the public to visit artists in their own studios or with a group of artists. Meet the makers and see and buy their work direct. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING LOTS OF NEW VISITORS AND CATCHING UP WITH OLD FRIENDS. HOPE YOU CAN COME.

Just a few days after Open Studios ends I shall be packing up and travelling to Nottingham where I shall be exhibiting for the first time at Earth and Fire.

EARTH AND FIRE, RUFFORD 

24th - 26th June 2016

Rufford Abbey Country Park

Near Ollerton

Nottinghamshire

NG22 9DF

open 10 - 5 daily

for full details please visit    http://www.earthandfireceramicfair.co.uk/home/4590807774

The weekend after Open Studios I shall be packing up to take my wares to Nottingham for this well established and much revered ceramics show set in the lovely grounds of Rufford Abbey.  This is an outdoor event with covered stalls for exhibitors - so praying for sunny weather.


Hope to see you soon.

MORE FOR MAY

Exhausted and recovering from a long stint at Wisley Craft Fair. Had a great time, met so many lovely people, including exhibitors and members of the public. Said goodbye to a number of my pieces so thank you to all those who bought from me, and to those who gave me such great support and encouragement.

Now it's a matter of unpacking the car and re-organising the studio before getting on with new work ready for Surrey Open Studios closely followed by Earth and Fire, Rufford.

One new exciting announcement - Jo Lloyd, glass artist and I have been accepted to exhibit at Handmade Kew 6-9th October, where we will be sharing a stand. http://www.handmadeinbritain.co.uk/shows/kew/exhibitors/

More about that to follow at a later date.

Now for the more immediate news:

SURREY ARTISTS OPEN STUDIOS

http://www.surreyopenstudios.org.uk/

This annual event will take place from 4-19 June 2016

Brochures are available in various public locations such as libraries, but all the info is online, including an interactive map, individual artists web pages and so on.

This is a great opportunity for members of the public to visit artists in their own studios or with a group of artists. Meet the makers and see and buy their work direct. 

I shall be opening my lovely garden studio on the following dates:

3 weekends of 4/5, 11/12 and 18/19 June, plus Tues 7/14, Thurs 9/16  (evenings only), and Friday 10/17th.  (In other words, every day apart from Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursday day time).

Opening hours are 11am - 5pm, and Thursday evenings, 6-8.30pm.

If you can't make any of these times please contact me to arrange a convenient time.

my garden studio

EARTH AND FIRE, RUFFORD

24th - 26th June 2016

Rufford Abbey Country Park

Near Ollerton

Nottinghamshire

NG22 9DF

open 10 - 5 daily

for full details please visit    http://www.earthandfireceramicfair.co.uk/home/4590807774

The weekend after Open Studios I shall be packing up to take my wares to Nottingham for this well established and much revered ceramics show set in the lovely grounds of Rufford Abbey.  This is an outdoor event with covered stalls for exhibitors - so praying for sunny weather.

Ok, so have put off the unpacking for too long, it's off to the car now!

Hope to see you soon.

MAY UPDATE

LAST CHANCE TO VISIT WISLEY CRAFT FAIR Just a brief blog tonight to remind you that tomorrow, Bank Holiday Monday is the last day of the Wisley Craft Fair. If you haven't had a chance to visit yet, do try to get along tomorrow - lots of lovely things to see. Today was very busy thanks to the great weather. Hope for sun tomorrow. News about Surrey Open Studios to follow in a couple of days.

APRIL NEWS

Hooray, it's April and it finally feels like the year is waking up and with Spring come the first of the year's exciting events.


CERAMIC ART LONDON 8th -10th April

This is a great annual ceramics event, to be held for the first time at the new venue of Central St Martins.

A really worthwhile day out for the ceramics enthusiast with a wide variety of top quality work to be seen, I shall definitely be visiting this year, (although I'd love to see more figurative work,). There is also a programme of free talks to choose from.

go to http://www.ceramics.org.uk/index.php  for full info.

***

Next up, and the first of several events in which I will be participating this summer -  

Contemporary Craft Fair at Wisley Gardens, Surrey from Thursday 28th April until Monday 2nd May.

A wonderful opportunity to combine a visit to this great craft fair whilst visiting the beautiful Wisley Gardens.

I hope you will visit me in MARQUEE B, stand 10 near the greenhouses and cafe.

 Follow link for full details:

http://www.craftinfocus.com/wisley_april_may_16.html


HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

Meantime new work is progressing well. Large figures now decorated and about to be fired.  I'll be posting photos on my facebook page in a the next week.

https://www.facebook.com/jeantolkovskyceramics/

MARCH MADNESS

Well, it's the 1st of March and true to my word, here is my monthly posting.

As you know, my work is influenced by old toys which often carry narratives, some of which are inspired by fairy tales or nursery rhymes. The three characters below make reference to the following rhyme which dates back to early 1700's. I've always felt this poem had a slightly 'dark' feel to it and was interested to learn that it may be referring to the fact that children had to work by day and so could only play at night.

Girls and boys, come out to play,

The moon doth shine as bright as day;

Leave your supper, and leave your sleep,

And come with your playfellows into the street.

Come with a whoop, come with a call,

Come with a good will or not at all.

Up the ladder and down the wall,

A halfpenny roll will serve us all.

You find milk, and I'll find flour,

And we'll have a pudding in half an hour.

 approx 16cm high




And here, on a lighter note, are the 3 new figures I showed you, pre-firing, in my last blog. The tallest is about 30cm high. I'm pleased with the outcome - love the colours and the way the characters interact, yet work equally well as individual pieces.

I shall be taking these new pieces to Wisley Craft in Focus at the end of April where you can see them 'in the flesh'.


Meantime, I shall be exhibiting other works such as the one below, at Lingwood Samuel Art, Godalming, Surrey,  from 11th March - click on link for more details http://www.lingwoodsamuelart.com/forthcoming-events.html

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS............

A NEW YEAR AND NEW WORK

So, we are well into the New Year and I am excited to tell you about a number of events which I have lined up for 2016.
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!...........

JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT MY NEXT EVENT IS WITH CRAFT IN FOCUS AT THE

ART AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGNER CRAFT FAIR,

RICHMOND ADULT COMMUNITY COLLEGE, 

RICHMOND-UPON-THAMES, 

TW9 2RE

FRIDAY 13TH TO SUNDAY 15TH NOVEMBER 2015

OPEN 10 - 5 DAILY

HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT.