Obamaware update

The Obamaware auction raised $10,194 for the Obama/Biden campaign. Whilst I can't really get my head round the idea of the sums of money that are spent in the US election campaigns, and the fact that fundraising is totally ok, i'm still impressed that artists are devising such creative ways of raising funds and awareness.

One of the artists involved was Jeffry Mitchell, who appeals to me for the very obvious reason that he sometimes turns things gold, and he uses a lot of 'high art' imagery to create 'low art' objects.

Obama Ware from Diana Fayt

Diana Fayt is one of my favourite ceramicists around and I was delighted to see her latest blog post today and discover a project that really excites me. Obamaware brings together 27 contemporary ceramicists who have created special pieces of work that will be auctioned off on October 20th, with proceeds going to the Obama campaign.

I've not mentioned much about politics on this blog, because I sometimes feel that the US elections aren't something that i'm qualified to talk about, but the fact is the results of the election will have a direct impact on us here in the UK, and around the rest of the world too. That's why i'm keeping my fingers crossed for Obama (and besides I had a dream with him in and he was ever so nice).

Take a look at the work over at Obamaware, and even if you don't agree with the politics i'm sure you will find something new to inspire you- I know i've just discovered a whole bunch of new artists to check out.

A mini series of Etsy favourites

Delicate ceramic pieces from Jasna

Cleo Mussi

One of the things I make sure I do if i'm near the V+A is to check out the Crafts Council showcases in the shop there. This time it was the work by mosaic artist Cleo Mussi that caught my eye- I liked the way the pieces of ceramic have been joined together with no attempt made at hiding the breaks. Unlike this piece by Melabo:

which has been made using slip cast techniques so the joins between the deer head and the man's body are invisible (and which I will buy just as soon as I can).

How green are your ceramics?

Just had to post this link to a post on Diana Fayt's blog by her guest blogger Laura Zindel.
The Green Ware question is about the relative 'greeness' of making ceramics, and has lead to me having a 'lightbulb' moment where I realise that I have never considered the environmental impact that making ceramics has. I somehow feel that ceramics are so right and good and earthy that I don't take into account the fact that to make a finished ceramic piece you will use huge amounts of energy and potentially toxic materials, as well as that 'earthy' clay that will have been dug out the ground and transported huge distances before it reaches your studio.

As exciting as that lightbulb moment for me is discovering Laura's work:

click to view on her website

I am totally smitten- a combination of bugs and ceramics! I think i'm going to have to ask someone if they can buy me one of her pieces for my birthday (I hope she ships to the UK!)

That hippo is such a show off

Just thought i'd share what i'm working on at the moment. It's nearly end of year time at college and i'm getting ready for my show. I'm not 100% sure what form it's going to take, but that's ok because I wrote into the brief that it wouldn't be concrete til the very last minute. I've been working on ideas to do with collecting and the ideas around what makes something precious to one person and junk to another. I know it's not a new idea (was thinking of calling this piece of work 'nothing new to see here') but it's something that I keep coming back to time and time again.

Whilst talking to Alys last week (who spied this hippo for me in a junk shop) we realised that I had enough ideas here to last me about three years- I find it really hard to get my thoughts and ideas down on paper, but while talking to various wonderful friends of mine the ideas come thick and fast and it's down to people like Alys to try and rein me in. I've decided to use the fact I have difficulty with committing things to paper to my advantage, and instead of a sketchbook full of half baked sketches i'm going to fill it with cassette tapes full of me being articulate, enthusiastic and above all persuasive about the merit of the work. Whilst at the Tate Britain last week I spent an enjoyable half hour listening to the taped conversations of various artists in the Audio Arts exhibition (i've just noticed that you can listen to the interviews via the website), and the offer from various people to interview me means it's too tempting to pass up.

This hippo is actually not a brilliant representation of the work i've been doing, but he is pretty and looks happy with himself sitting on top of that cake stand (with ceramic doily made by me). I've been reluctant to share my work because I never ever think anything I do is any good, but today I got the photos back from the developers and got round to scanning some, so posting one on here is the least I can do for it!

Oh and just in case he is reading- hello Josh! I bumped into my old flatmate the other day and he is about to leave the country to go and work in Qatar. He lived in my house when he first moved over from the US and now seems like Weston has lost it's appeal as he and his new flatmate are headed for the desert. I figured out he'd been reading this when he said 'so...you've been back to Berlin then?'.

Another Etsy Treasury!

I said to my mum that creating 'treasuries' on etsy is just like virtual curating. This time I went for ceramic artists, inspired by my recent experiences in the ceramics studio I set off on a search through etsy to see what I could find. I was looking for cups and teabowls for this and here is who I found:

Top Row

Alyssa Ettinger
Big Paw Pottery
INV/ALT design (website and blog)

Second Row


Deb Babcock
Suus Keramiek(website)
Sea Urchin (website)


Third Row

Mandy Gerth (website)
Kim Westad (website)
Circa Ceramics (website)

Last Row


Folded Pigs
Courtney Murphy Ceramics
Binny(website)

Project Spectrum: Yes Thankyou

Yes Thankyou
Originally uploaded by crunchcandy.

Finally something that I made myself, rather than just photos of bits of my house or my collection of buttons!

This is a test piece that I made for a project I am working on at the moment. It's a ceramic slab that I have decorated using stencil (the lettering) and screen print (the floral design) in oxide on white slip. After the biscuit firing it looked pale and interesting, but for some reason I decided to glaze it with a turquoise glaze over the top. I had many sleepless nights after I made this choice and it was only when I saw the fired piece today that I could relax again- I hadn't totally ruined it after all!

The image is based on a photo of my grandma holding a puppy when she was a young girl (not that you can tell) The words 'Yes Thankyou' were written on the back of the photo, and in this finished test piece it's only the 'thankyou' that still stands out.

Today I glazed another three test pieces and started working on four finished pieces. Fingers crossed they all do exactly what I want them to do, but as anyone who works with glaze will know, sometimes it's the accidents that happen that make the work, work.