New Ceramic Workshop dates for winter 2010
Published January 3, 2010
I will be running two short pottery classes from my studio in Hastings Old Town starting in January – one for beginners and one for people with previous experience and you are very welcome to join us in the fun!
COURSE OPTION ONE: A five sessions workshop covering essential ceramic techniques such as coiling, slab building, press moulding and glazing. Each session is 2.5 hours long including a teabreak, and the aim is for you to have fun and come away with bowls and sculptures you are really happy with. The groups are small, so please sign up early to avoid disappointment.
Starting date; Tuesday Jan.12th at 6.30 pm
Course costs just £110 + materials (approx. £10)
COURSE OPTION TWO: A five sessions workshop where we focus on techniques covered during previous workshops plus an exploration of unique smoke firing techniques which I have developed over many years using sawdust and galvanised dustbins! A lot of fun and amazingly easy to learn. The sessions are 2.5 hours long, including a teabreak.
Starting date; Saturday Jan.16th 11am-1.30pm
Course costs just £110 + materials (approx. £10)
I will also be running a Weekend smoke firing workshop for beginners. No previous experience necessary.
The workshop span two weekends and cost £35 per weekend and include all materials, tuition and a lovely lunch.
First workshop take place Sunday 7th March at 10-3pm at my studios in Dudley Road in Hastings.
During this session we create ceramic bowls and sculptures which I’ll bisque fire ready for our second meeting on Sunday 21st March 10-3pm when we will smoke fire the work in the garden outside my studio. Smoke firing in galvanised dustbins using sawdust is a technique I have worked on for over 10 years and I believe it is unique to me. It is amazingly easy to learn, though, and fun.
Maximum of 5 per workshop – please book quickly to avoid disappointment. There is a deposit of £10 to secure a place.
For further workshops, please go here .
Life casting
Published April 9, 2009During the last week I have been busy casting new models for my ceramic torsos
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This is the third time I have tried to get a decent cast of Luke.
It is looking promising so far.
These are previous attempts. Close but no cigar.
Now all I need to do is make moulds out of the best plaster casts and then I can start creating new ceramic sculptures…
Please see earlier posts on making body casts. To join a plaster casting workshop, please go here
John Martyn in Hastings
Published January 29, 2009
It was a hot summers day in the 90’s and John Martyn was back from touring in the US. He was staying at the Nelson in the Old Town. I believe he was sleeping on the pool table in the room above the pub. He was walking everywhere wearing slippers because his feet were too swollen for shoes. He was meant to rest, but I don’t think he did, much.
This particular day he was in a good mood and decided he fancied treating everyone in the pub to an impromptu concert on the beach.
His guitar was plugged into one of the winch huts, somebody went home to fetch their drums and Pat, the land lady, lit the BBQ.
This is the kind of magic one sometimes encounters in Hastings – especially in the Old Town. There is an irreverent anarchic sense of fun here, a generosity of spirit that no big business – like the Jerwood – can ever acquire however much money they throw at our corrupt politicians. Creativity is not a commodity that can be bought and sold. It has to be given freely, from a full heart, however much the men in suits try to harness it, re-package it and then sell it back to us. John Martyn walked his own way, and I for one am truly grateful to have met him.
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