two porcelain stem cups
from the firing opened on 17th. May
more fine pots from the firing
2 beakers and a tea bowl
four tea bowls from the gale force 8 firing
characterised by strong bright glazes and and warm body colour
Cold winds and snow on the hills.
I am glazing pots, preparing for two April firings.
wood fired ceramics and abstract paintings.
Andy has lived and worked at Minniwick,S.W.Scotland,. since 1973.
The pottery and studio are surrounded by oak woods, spruce and larch forest, and the upland terrain of the Galloway Hills.
Clays, slips and glazes are made to recipes developed over many years.
Ball clays from Dorset and Devon make up most of the two stoneware bodies I mix by hand,but the colour and textures are achieved by adding, or using as slips, local low- firing clays and Ayrshire fireclays, along with the granite sand of Loch Neldricken. Glazes are based on simple clay/wood ash and clay/ limestone combinations that were developed in the early days of high fired ceramics in China, Korea and Japan.
The pots are fired with the timber of the local forests to 1300C in a three chambered kiln.
I develop my paintings in groups and series, using oil-based pigments and gesso grounds, principally on 50% cotton paper.
