Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

Just a quick post to say "Hi" during Lockdown! Lots of things have changed, personally speaking, the loss of my teaching profession has allowed a bit more time for potting- in between home schooling. Strange days indeed. It's difficult to express just quite how wierd life is these days.  I hope galleries and craft shops will get back to normal soon. I have work with Erwood Station in Wales and Buckenham Gallery  in Southwold. I am planning on re supplying them very soon.  In the meantime I am potting and re supplying my etsy store.  https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ShaunPots It has gone surprisingly smoothly and I would recommend etsy. I love the fact that there are no "middlemen" hassling you about your work. Or unscrupulous internet gallery owners who refuse to pay up three months later  for your sales. I've had enough of that and the disrespect metered out to the crafter. Stuff them.  For me it is perfect and I have been lucky to make quite a few sales. ...

Safely delivered to Buckenham Galleries for the upcoming Winter Show in November...... ....Some new work in raku, copper matte and glaze post reduction...and some new volcanics based on coastal rock textures...see you in part 2....

Over winter I've been testing out the sodium silicate technique, which yields a typical cracked looking textural surface. It's fun to play around with. I've ended up with an absolute stash of bowl forms- loosely inspired by ceramics from the Iron Age- Belgic period, after visiting various collections in Essex and Suffolk museums. I'm still figuring out exactly how to finish these pieces glaze wise- I've opted for a rough texture on these ones with a manganese wash over porcelain slip applied at the making stage. Interiors are poured over with a thin coating of Stephen Murfitt's bronze glaze recipe. I've used a blue turquoise glaze to highlight the rims. Do they work ? I guess they're the best yet and I managed to sell all three of these to a collector from Hastings- which is a nice start for this range. So yes - another nice change to Raku- and we'll see how it progresses with time.

Lots of sculptural work is now up at #Rippinghamart online gallery. As some of you may know, I've been dealing with David and Jan Rippingham for the past few years and they have hand picked some very interesting and renowned artists, potters and crafts people. It's great to be sharing work through their online gallery again. Brand new pots now online. Have a peek here: https://theartonlinegallery.com/artist/shaun-hall/

Working in Raku doesn't always go to plan. A lapse of concentration here, the wrong temperature, too slow to get the pots in the smoking bins, dropping and cracking  pots, getting them stuck together in the kiln...anything and everything can and does go wrong. So it's tough when you get a pot that's ultimately flawed but not bad enough to merit being banished to the back garden by the fish pool rockery...or death by going under the hammer. Here are one or two ultimately flawed pots that I felt deserved a stay of execution. (I'm sorry the really bad ones are already under our patio...) This is the curse of Raku...so many pots get sacrificed...

I've nearly finished renovating my workshed, so I am almost ready to resume working and about time. I am getting itchy fingers for the clay!  Meanwhile I've been having a studio sale of some good quality seconds....new work uploaded to Rippingham Art Online , and delivered work to Buckenham Galleries.  Just because I can I thought you might like a glimpse of some of the promotional imagery being used at Curocarte.  The magazine image is of course, GQ . Still can't quite believe it, but I am making the most of it  as they say! Links:  https://theartonlinegallery.com/artist/shaun-hall/   https://www.curocarte.com/in/countries/united-kingdom.html?dir=asc&order=name

Occasionally I get a batch of pots which don't work out. It's generally ok to re-fire and in most instances it actually can improve the surface of the pot. Warming the pot and then applying another coat of glaze can work wonders too, although take care not to rub off the dried glaze as this can happen quite easily. Worth a go...these are all re fried pots...

Chuffed to be included  in  the latest  Craft and Design Magazine's July - August edition. This features one of my recent  slab constructed Jugs and a wheel thrown two tone glazed Raku dish in the Makers section. WEB: http://www.craftanddesign.net/

For about the past 3 years I have been lucky enough to get selected for the annual EWAAC exhibition and awards. The EWAAC society  is primarily about  promoting  new talent and emerging artists in all mediums, and helps to foster artistic connections between the UK and Japan. This will probably be my last entry this year, as I feel I have been very lucky so far to get shortlisted 3 years running! Creatively I could also do with a bit of time and space to try out new directions too.  I felt it good to bow out on a high with this Raku Nuclear Jug piece- which is the sister piece to my Chelmsford Museum Jug. I am very fond of this piece- and it was a tremendous effort to get 2 large sized copper matte works  to fire successfully without breaking!  The exhibition is free to enter and takes place in London at La Galeria, Pall Mall during the last week of October.  For more info  http://www.ewaaward.com/artists/judges/view/3D-133028 ...