Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

Belatedly. I thought I'd post some pictures of the Raku event we held at Little Myles Farm Pottery in Stondon Massey, Essex in September.  This was organised by artist and owner of the Pottery Judy Cowan and resident potter/technician extraordinaire  Tina Capener.  The Pottery  is in a wonderful country location, with landscaped grounds, and the studio facilities are excellent. Much fun was had on the day- although results it was fair to say were mixed! We ended stacking up a lot of work in the kiln-on about 4 kiln shelves- not recommended-  at one point a kiln shelf collapsed- although miraculously nothing was broken. We used some local oak wood shavings for some of the reduction, alas I think it was a bit damp so this affected the resulting reduction lustre. However plenty of decent white crackle was achieved- and the copper glaze achieved a sort of lava-gunmetal finish. Not what we were expecting (and there was some disapointment)- but as I kept saying...

The hard graft of making sculpture is over...so now it's time to do some throwing. Tune in... turn off and .....here are some results. Wheel thrown bowls

Well I have just about finished making my latest batch of slab constructed work. I started in about August-it's now November! You just can't make them quick enough. I've got to start a bit of throwing now, and get the firings on the go- I hope before Christmas... I've already got a few customer enquiries for some pots so I suppose that's a good sign. I hope if the pots fire succcesfully to hold some decent stock back with a view to generating a collection I can take to Craft shows in the coming year. Last of my slab constructed "Menhir " sculptural vessels.  Scarva earthstone clay 

Anyone in the Braintree, Essex area- fancy a New Year challenge? I'm setting up a new hand-building course focusing on all the basics...soft and hard slab work, coiling, pinch potting, clay modelling, simple figurative sculpture- basics of decoration.... Pass it on....

It's been a quiet time of simply getting on with stuff back in the studio. Not much doing exhibition wise- all my work has gone off to shops leaving me with precious little stock.  I'm in a spell of hand building and probably then focusing on throwing some bowls and so on. I still exist and I have the photo to prove it! In between I've been doing 1 or 2 Pottery workshops which have been fun and a bit hair raising! More on this  to come. Me and my pots.....

I finally got round to packaging up some work for the Erwood Station Gallery in Powys, Wales. This is the sister gallery of the Lion Street Gallery in Hay on Wye. In between I have had yet more kiln woes- so production ground to a halt during August. Everything is now fixed and I'm back up and running. The pots will be in Wales fingers crossed by the weekend. Here's a few of the "newbies."

I paid a visit to the Taplin Gallery at Woodbridge today to drop off some new work, including some conical style bowls, tea-bowls ( Chawan ) and a couple of sculptural pieces. If you know Woodbridge it's a picturesque Suffolk town with a beautiful old high street and is situated on the River Deben. I've been exhibiting work there periodically since about 1998. It's always a pleasure to visit and today was a chance to have a chat with it's new owner and I must say the gallery is looking  great. Worth a visit if you're up in that part of the world. You can "facebook" the gallery manager- Maz- for more information  at, https://www.facebook.com/taplingallery Some of the new work for sale at the Taplin Gallery Aurora- retail £145    Raku Chawan (small) £25