Ceramics – Page 3 – Frames of Reference

Le Jardin des Fleurs de Poterie

This summer we decided to drive to the south of France. My brother Anthony and his wife, who hails from Nice, my wife Criselda and I took two cars down to Gattières, a village perched overlooking the River Var, in the Alpes Maritimes. Catching the earliest Eurotunnel from Folkestone allowed for a leisurely drive through Northern France, Picardy and the Champagne region. We were heading for an overnight stay in Corps near the pilgrimage site of Our Lady of La Salette in the Alps, before continuing our drive on the Rue Napoleon through Grasse and on to Gattières. Continue reading “Le Jardin des Fleurs de Poterie”

Manningtree (Slight Return)

We came back to the North House Gallery in Manningtree to see Fin · River · Swift, a new exhibition by Julian Meredith. This piece is called Elmigration, a large woodcut measuring 3 metres by 1 metre, printed from a single plank of elm wood. Continue reading “Manningtree (Slight Return)”

The Tower Of Babel

The Tower of Babel presently stands alongside the Medieval & Renaissance sculptures in Room 50a at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It’s an exhibition of 3000 miniature ceramic London shops stacked precariously 20 feet high, ranging from bargain basement shops down at the bottom to exclusive and aspirational shops up at the top. Continue reading “The Tower Of Babel”

100 Cups

Long ago I made cups, real ones out of porcelain to be exact. And now I don’t do that anymore. Instead, I often paint pictures of cups. It began innocently enough, as a path for transposing the ceramic cups that had always inspired my pottery into paintings. This simple idea launched an obsession and soon my desire to paint cups got a little bit out of hand. Because I had so many different ideas, I began numbering them in an effort to hold it all together. Continue reading “100 Cups”

Christmas Studio Sale

Liz Somerville / The Rowley Gallery

B For Barcelona

This large letter B is on a rooftop in the Born district of Barcelona. Is it B for Barcelona or is it perhaps B for Born in Barcelona (that old Springsteen classic)? Or maybe it doesn’t stand for either, especially since it’s lying on its back. Maybe it’s B for Brossa, the Catalan poet, playwright and artist Joan Brossa. He liked to play around with letters and it seems to be on the roof of his theatre. We found it when we came looking for Lottie who lives nearby. We met her under the B for Beer. Continue reading “B For Barcelona”

Art & Life (& Memory)

This painting by Ben Nicholson, titled c.1930 (Cornish Port), features on the cover of Art and Life 1920-1931, the catalogue for the exhibition at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, examining the artistic partnership of Ben Nicholson and Winifred Nicholson in the 1920s and their friendship and collaboration with Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and the potter William Staite Murray. Continue reading “Art & Life (& Memory)”

Triptychs

This is Pink Dark Triptych, 2011, oil on linen by Sean Scully, a donation to the Pallant House Gallery Collection and the catalyst for their recent exhibition, Sean Scully: Triptychs. It sounded like a great show, I was looking forward to seeing it, but I wasn’t quick enough and now it’s closed. I was disappointed to miss it so here’s my own compilation of Scully triplets and trinities and trios. Continue reading “Triptychs”

Victor Skipp

Kettle’s Yard are presently hosting – A Lasting Legacy: The House and Collection of Victor Skipp. When he died in 2010 Victor Skipp left his estate to Kettle’s Yard. He was a writer and historian with a passion for art and philosophy. This exhibition reflects his many interests, with displays of modernist and minimalist art side by side with tribal rugs, African sculpture, Indian miniatures, folk art and vernacular architecture: a perfect complement to the existing Kettle’s Yard collection. Continue reading “Victor Skipp”

Pride & Prejudice

200 years ago Jane Austen wrote a masterpiece. About four years ago I read it. Since then I have become a devoted Austen fan. Her books have inspired my most successful series of prints. For a poor foreigner like me, reading the novels is like munching a delicious cake made with words. I couldn’t help it but to carve on lino the images she put in my imagination with her amazing dexterity in the use of the English language. Continue reading “Pride & Prejudice”