CERAMIC WORKSHOPS in Hastings January and February 2012
Published January 5, 2012
This is my workshop diary for January and February in case you would like to learn some of my techniques and have a bit of creative fun in Hastings. My workshops are suitable for beginners and people with previous experience alike. I look forward to seeing you!
Thursday morning workshops; Five sessions
A new five session series of ceramic workshops is starting up on Thursday 19 January 10.30-1 pm. These workshops are suitable for beginners and for people with some previous experience alike. I will be introducing some new techniques at each session, but I am also happy for you to do your own thing.
Thursday 19th; bowl making, introducing textures. We make the bowls inside moulds so we do not use a potter’s wheel.
Thursday 26th; coiling techniques
Thursday 2nd February; slab building techniques
Thursday 9th; decorating with under glazes
Thursday 16th; glazing and smoke firing, please follow link to see more about my smoke firing classes!
Cost; £125 for the full course, including all materials, firings and tuition plus refreshments.
One day Wonders January and February 2012
During this workshop we create a series of bowls using press molds and not a potter’s wheel.
Please bring a packed lunch!
Please bring a packed lunch!
Cost; £40 for the day, including all materials, tuition and firings plus tea, coffee and cake!
Please bring a packed lunch!
Today we decorate our bisque fired plates with under glazes and oxides.
Cost; £40 for the day, including all materials, tuition and firings plus tea, coffee and cake!
Please bring a packed lunch!
Sunday 12th February 11-3pm; sculpture techniques, part 1
During this workshop we create sculptures using coiling and slab making techniques. These are the techniques I use for my own work, and the results can be amazingly varied.Suitable for beginners and people with previous experience alike.
Cost; £40 for the day, including all materials, tuition and firings plus tea, coffee and cake!
Please bring a packed lunch!
Please bring a packed lunch!
The abduction poem and bronze sculpture
Published December 25, 2011
The story goes that a young girl went to the woods to gather fir cones. Feeling tired she sat down next to a hill and as she leant against the rock it opened up and she was invited inside by the king of the mountain. All night she danced and feasted with the beautiful people, but in the morning she woke up outside the hill with her basket of fir cones.
‘I must have been dreaming’, she told herself and walked home. But a new family now lived in her old house and she didn’t recognise anyone in the village. Nobody knew her. Finally an old man said he had heard stories about an old couple who had lost their daughter in the woods many years ago when he was a child.
Abraham Gibson, the London poet, wrote a poem about this piece
The Abduction
A kiss is a weapon
it can strike you
Or stand guard… about your world
Loneliness is not bitter
if there is
… sun light in your soul
We do not care for summer
the birds chatter too loudly
the branches
… steal light
from the sky
Music is not ours
if we cannot hear its heart beat
love is not content
if we…
cannot hear its sigh
He found her sensuality
beautiful / disturbing
it reached him…
through her breath
over miles
and
across streams
The sun filtered
through the trees
like ribbons
The deeper he ventured
into the forest
the tighter
the ribbons
wrapped around his veins!
Be my soldier
Be my king
Hold me while I sleep
Be my soldier
Be my king!
Madness is a holding fast
and a letting go
His melancholy a dance with pain
that aches with hope
How do you keep a song quiet
that entices your every mood
if he could hear this music…
Who else could?
Their meeting place
was stained
ram shackled
danced over
And she has never been seen again
half of his mind…
still waits for her
half of his mind!
half of his mind
is being chased by the grief
Be my soldier
be my king
Be my soldier
be my king!
To see more of Abraham’s work, please go here http://youtu.be/Le7d2cHw2LY
Sold
Published December 20, 2011
‘The Abduction’, a bronze sculpture inspired by an old Swedish fairytale about a girl who is abducted by the fairies.
I made it in plaster of Paris and then had it cast in bronze in an edition of 6 at Livingstone art founders in Matfield, near London.
To find more Christmas presents, please go to www.annakeiller.com
Ceramic Fat Birds
Published December 19, 2011Just in time for Christmas!
A new gang of Fat Bird sculptures came out of the smoke bins this morning – I’m very excited about them and I hope you are, too.
If you are looking for that unique Christmas present, then have a look here. I send all my work using the post offices special next day delivery.
Ceramic Owls
Published December 17, 2011
All through the night the smoke chambers have been working and this morning these little owls emerged, bleary eyed.
I am busy cleaning them up and taking their picture so that they can go on my website later on today. It’s so exciting!
This is a link to the owl page.
There will be some new Fat Birds as well later on today. I send my sculptures using special next day delivery, so if you would like to give a bird to someone as a Christmas gift, it will arrive in good time (this is only valid for Great Britain – if you live elsewhere then please contact me and I’ll see what I can do – I sent a little Owl to New Zealand recently, and it arrived within a week.)
sold
Published December 16, 2011Fat Birds are flying out the door at the moment;
This couple went to Preston
And this yellow Fat Bird flew to Leamington Spa…
I have a new collection of Fat Birds and Little Owl sculptures in the kiln waiting to come out, so watch this space!
sold
Published December 11, 2011
Most of my ceramic torsos work well as sconces as there is enough room for a light to be fitted between the back of the torso and the wall. This torso was bought by a couple from Manchester to give their daughter as a Christmas present.
Please go to www.annakeiller.com to find more exciting Christmas gifts!
making ceramic owls…
Published November 29, 2011
I’m having a full day in the studio – phone is off the hook, sun is shining and the Skittle Cat Eagleburger is helping out.
Well, he is sitting on the clay a lot.
I am making Little Owls. It is almost Christmas, and I seem to have run out. With a fair wind and the help of the Skittle Cat there should be a brand new edition ready in time for Christmas.
Please call my mobile on 07722171818 if you would like to place an order for a unique Christmas gift!
Sold – ceramic owls
Published November 25, 2011
All my little owls have sold without me actually noticing it…They are all smoke fired ceramic.
I thought I made a lot of them, but I now notice that I haven’t got any left…
Must try harder.
Plate making workshops – some final results
Published November 24, 2011We have been making ceramic plates for several weeks now in Dudley Road Studios, and here are some of the results.
Jill made this plate for a friend who lives on a narrow boat in Oxford.
I like the ferns – they come from my garden and were pressed into the clay using a rolling pin. I also like the irregular shape of the plate.
The blue and yellow come from Botz under glazes. There’s a transparent glaze on top.
Pretty pink flowers…again, we used Botz under glazes with transparent glaze on top.
A bird in the hand…plaster sprig moulds of birds were used to create the birds on this plate, and cobalt and copper oxide daubed on to add colour. Again, we used a transparent glaze to seal in the colour.
I will upload my website with new workshops soon, so please go here to find out what’s in store.
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