I feel like this is overdue, not because it’s been ages since I’ve written but because I made these pieces for a show last November. The months leading up to Christmas are the busiest for every maker and it’s all go with making.
Last November I did the Potfest in the Pens Melton Mowbray market. Every year the organisers have a potter’s competition based on a theme for all of their shows; last year’s theme was Rooted in the past, Planted in the present. It’s completely voluntarily and a bit of fun.
For my pieces I wanted to make something based on my allotment and the fragments of pottery I’ve found while digging the earth over. If you’re signed up to my newsletter, you’ll have seen a photo of them. The rooted in the past comes from the fragments, copied directly the onto the vases. The planted in the present is from the vegetables that I and my allotment partner grow on our plot - beetroot, onion (no it’s not a leek) and parsnip.
The fragments of pottery are very nearly all blue and white patterned mass-produced bone china or porcelain apart from the odd piece of stoneware. Some are tiny fragments of glaze on a very thin layer of clay and some are larger pieces, up to 5cm, from the bottom corner of a mug or the rim of a plate. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve found and I’m still finding more after three years. There are quite a few pieces of willow pattern, unintentionally these were the patterns I used, and a few contemporary patterns like thick stripes.
I spent some time drawing a few of my favourite patterns and discovering which style worked best when contained within the shape of a vegetable. The decorating techniques are a mix of sgraffito and inlay using slip; the originals were made using decal transfers. I really enjoyed the challenge of figuring out which techniques to use for each of my chosen pattern and especially when both techniques were used - which one was going to be used where. I kept the colour the same too as another reference to the fragments.
They were such a success and I love them so much that I’m going to make more of them. I’ve been thinking of other vegetables to use. Just watch this space…