Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

 Those nice guys at Union Interiors recently took stock of some new work at their  Design Consultancy and showroom  in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Hans Calvert and Josine Simon  recently approached  me, and I was excited to become  involved in their new showroom exhibtion. Union Interiors are a really interesting and eclectic practise- showcasing both high end design-( "lifestyle" pieces) - as well as promoting "up and comers" and established  craftspeople and artists. As such its' whole ethos is somewhat "ethical" too- clearly supporting the role of the maker. Hans is chief designer and  passionate about  materials and and the Crafts - and this shines  through in the sheer breadth and quality of his showroom gallery and exhibition. Where Union Interiors scores is that it's Hans' vision is to showcase contemporary arts and crafts within an interior setting or space. This clearly focuses the client's mind- helping them to see the "...

Also in 2011- 500 Raku was curated by the American Potter Jim Romberg. Featured are 500 works (yes- hence the title!) by Raku specialists from across the world- and as such it is very eclectic. I was very fortunate to be one of those selected. 500 Raku is available at Amazon and selected retailers. http://www.amazon.com/500-Raku-Explorations-Ceramics-Technique/dp/1600592945 Pisces II 2010- featured in the Lark Crafts publication-500 RAKU

Last year I was lucky to be featured in a couple of new publications. Handmade in Britain is published by Vivays- an offshoot of Taschen. Founded by the designer Piyush Suri- Handmade features some of the leading contemporary and up and coming practioner in the field of Art Craft and Design. I was lucky to have an Aurora copper matte vessel featured and a profile amongst other Ceramic designers. Check out the site here: http://www.vivays-publishing.com/handmade_in_britain.htm Available from Amazon and all good book sellers...

The EWAA Art awards 2012 is fast approaching. This takes place in London' s Pall Mall at   the prestigious   La Galeria. The EWAA is a society which celebrates artistic ties between Japan and the UK. Anyone can join- and once a year they have an exhibition in either Japan or the UK. This is subject to a rather rigorous selection panel made up from members of arts bodies including the Royal College of Art and established artists from both countries. This is the third year in sucession that I've had a Raku  work  selected.  last year I was very lucky to received  a commendation  from the Uk sculptor Michael Lyons. This was in the 3d sculpture category. Well awards or not it makes for a fascinating exhibition of art, craft and design and free sushi.... The dates are as follows.... 23-27 Oct ....EWAA Finalists' Exhibition to be held at La Galleria (11:00am - 6:00pm)                     ...

Raku firing Tips with Copper Matte slip- good luck!

Meanwhile on eBay..... Check out my clearance lines on Ebay. These range from Gallery quality-clearance line to very near perfect seconds- with minor firing defects. At less than half the Gallery retail price they don't tend to hang about long..... Pisces I - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261104055011?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1502wt_1398 Pisces II-   http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261104055474?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1338wt_1398 Raku copper winged vessel- Totem 1- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261104058757?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1866wt_1398 Totem- Winged vessel copper raku

Well Summer has been and gone- so I had a stack of work made and ready to be fired. As is usual with my style of Copper Matte Raku- there were lots of breakages- mis firings- and downright disasters. Its par for the course- but having said that- I hit the jackpot with some of the firings. I also fired a few new pieces- small copper glazed sculptural forms- hopefully making their debut at a Gallery near you soon...! Raku Copper Matte Aurora I, II Detail of gold, pink and blue "bloom" Trio of Raku vessels

Forthcoming Exhibitions.........it's all go-go go.... Lots of lovely new Raku work at the Beecroft Art Gallery , Westcliff  annual Christmas Cracker Exhibition- begins October 6th. Paintings by Hashim Akib- not to be missed! Click the link for more details:    A Christmas Cracker From mid October through to November- some choice pieces on display at Union Interiors near Grantham. This promises to be an exciting collaboration and one 'm looking forward to participating in. Click the link for more details:   http://www.uniongrantham.com/ I have again been selected for the EWAA art awards which takes place this year at the prestigious London gallery- La Galeria in Pall Mall. This takes place from the 23rd to 27th of October. Last year I was lucky to win a runner up award in the sculpture category judged by Michael Lyons. Click the link for more details:   http://www.ewaaward.com/artists/judges/index/1743/page:1 I will also be participating in ...

Well it's taken me a long time to get posting but here's the start of my new blog- so I hope some interesting and useful bits of Pottery info will appear here in future!! There'll be the usual self promoting propaganda- sorry!-details of my upcoming exhibitions, sales- eBay auctions of 2nds etc. I 'll also post anything I think of interest to the Potter or "follower"- with stuff about making- kiln firing, techniques I use and so on. I hope it won't be too boring! It's going to be my escape from Facebook- which has got a bit tedious so there we are- and another outlet for my work:) Thanks for watching! Above: A Raku bowl from a batch of work sent to the Beecroft Art Gallery- Christmas Cracker Exhibition! Oct- Dec 2012