This is one of the largest dishes I’ve made the diameter being 54cm across. The inspiration for the bowl was a conversation between Rob and me. He loves colour and has been encouraging me to add vibrant colour to my pieces. We discussed the idea of earth being oppressed by the misuse of its resources with the subsequent loss of forest habitat. He said, ’it’s as if the edge of the world succumbed to downward pressure and is burnt to a white heat by the intensity of the sun’s rays.’ This is my interpretation of that conversation. I hope you like it.

By the way the open Garden is at 57 Beulah Road, Rhiwbina, Cardiff. The garden was gold medal winner of Cardiff in Bloom. This year the addition of some of our pieces will hopefully add to its interest and beauty. The garden is open from 12 noon to 5pm on Saturday 5^th July. See you there!

Alison

Alchemy

I created this bowl in the spring time.  The bees in my back garden had battened down the hatches against the cold wet westerly winds so they could survive the winter. They emerged in March to collect pollen from willow and other early flowering plants. This bowl was created in response to the bees greeting the new bee year with such tenacity and vigour. One hive swarmed on April 25^th VERY early to be swarming!

I was pleased with the first firing of this large bowl – it survived intact! Glazing is one of my least favourite tasks but eventually I had to have a glazing day…I painted the insides of each hexagon with yellow underglaze colour, sprayed the center of the bowl yellow, sprayed the whole bowl with transparent glaze, being careful to wipe away the excess spray from the outside.

Rob has just written a poem about this bowl which has emerged from the intense heat of the kiln shiny golden yellow on the inside and roughly textured ceramic on the outside. The poem’ Alchemy’ from which the bowl gets its name, is a sensitive observation and poetic interpretation of… well you can read it for yourself if you can visit our pop up exhibition on 5^th July in Cardiff. Directions coming soon…

This is the first time I have blogged using my iPad mini; I am a closet technophobe so bear with me! This is the first complete piece to come out of the kiln. ARRT’s first pop-up exhibition is on Saturday July 4th. As part of the Rhewbina Festival a member of the Contemporary Arts Society of Wales is opening her beautiful garden to the public. ARRT will be there too! Now here’s hoping I can add the image of the largest ever FOUND bowl (table top version with its poem an explanation is on this site … See drop down menu under ARRTWORKS)

Alison

Post Script… well I didn’t quite manage to post this blog without the help of my trusty PC but I learned a lot in the process!

I recently cut a Burr from a branch of an ash tree. This is a swelling or growth produced by the tree in response to an infection or parasitic growth

What a wonderful piece of wood it turned out to be. I cut it into a number of pieces . My main objective was to get a right angled piece out to use as a stand for a piece called trees.

I got much more than this, four fantastic pieces, covered in a wonderful textured and gnarled bark, and with a fine and clear grain with a dark stained centres. The pieces of wood are all set to inspire new pieces of art.

The end piece (which was originally just the opening offcut) has been debarked and looks just like a dis-embowelled stomach, rather macabre but an astonishing piece of wood. Alison looked at it and went Arrrrgh its horrible; but I am sure I can do something amazing with it.

Just watch this space to see how the fruits of my amazing harvest become ARRT work

Rob

Rob and I are both bee keepers and not only have we attended and successfully housed 2 honey bee swarms today, but also we have been ‘buzzing’ about the fascinating, thought provoking and stimulating presentations from yesterday when we went behind the scenes, metaphorically speaking, at the National Museum of Wales, (NMW) Cardiff.

What a delight it was to listen to stories of curator, James Putnam, who has been collaborating with artists in museum galleries across Britain since the 1980’s; to Andrew Renton, Head of Applied Arts NMW, honest and illuminating discussion with Sarah Younan a PhD student at Cardiff College of Art, facilitated by Sheila McGregor Director, Axisweb; to be fascinated  by Jon Monaghan, artist and animator; to be awed by the depth of research and prolific productivity of Helen Snell and amused by Emma Price director, EMP Projects ‘say it like it is’ approach to brokering partnerships and searching for funding.

We were SO pleased  to be part of such a powerhouse of a day.! Thank you to Axisweb and NMW for facilitating and hosting such a though provoking and informative event.

The first time I opened my beehive after the long winter cold the bees had formed, fashioned and crafted this. How amazing!