Useful professional development chat !

Met with Denise Malone in Print room yesterday. I have seen her work at The Great Northern Craft Fair and at other events over the past two years. We discussed how I might get my designs out there !
She mentioned a couple of suppliers of 'Whiteware' that I can check out for my business in the summer. We discussed the use of Trade Fairs, price and how useful they are. It might be a large outlay initially but I think I need a presence there for at least the first couple of years. Food for thought, many thanks Denise.

My Coalport pot.

'Flog it 'and me.

Went to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to sketch some 19th Century novelty pots last friday. It was an interesting experience. There were hundreds of people there queuing to get their prize possessions valued on the tv programme Flog it ! I was not fazed by this but determined to get done what I had gone there to do, sketch . I walked past the cameras and warm-up guy to get up to the first floor where the Coalport and Davenport pieces were shown. I ignored the camera on the top stair and went over to the cabinet. There I found exactly what I wanted, so I began to draw. I stood there for 10 minutes and then they started bothering me, " excuse me but can you move for this shot", "Er, no".
The presenter came over to me , " Hi, are you okay ", "Yes thanks I'm working". "Oh".
Another 10 minutes went by, "Hi, sorry to bother you but could you possibly move for this shot ?",  "Well, give me five more minutes ", the presenter "This lady needs a minute ", everyone looked at me .
I moved after five more minutes. I like my drawings though.

This image is of the work of an Italian designer working at the same time as Robin Day's team at The Festival of Britain, I love the block colours and think that this work owes more to Bauhaus than British design. What do you think ?

Nona triennale, 1951

Having just had my home internet connection fixed today by the lovely BT I thought I would bolg about research points for essays. A good source for me is reading back issues of Craft Magazine. The editorials have very useful discussions on the development of Craft today and also the history of many practices.

London- RCA, 2012, Ceramic Arts.

Last friday I managed to get to the London Ceramic Arts fayre at the Royal College.

I chatted to a lot of potters, the display of hand thrown work was heart warming.

Colour was the big attraction for me. Moving away from Edmund De Waal's white,

white forms. I had a discussion with the Potter Barry Stedman, a former student

of the the RCA. He sees himself firstly as a painter , then a potter. His pots have a

riot of colour and he paints all of his images first.

The London I saw was very different from the bombed South Bank site of the Festival

of Britain as shown in this image. The Festival site saw an import of cash that has made the

South Bank what it is today.