Potfest in the Park, Hutt0n in the Forest. 2021
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I was delighted and exceedingly honoured to win the Potfest Prize at Potfest-in-the-Park, with my sculpture 'To Everything There is a Season'

Every year, alongside the show, Potfest hold an Exhibition with a given theme or title. Exhibitors are encouraged to branch out from their normal practice, and I always enjoy the challenge. Often the pieces I attempt never make it to the show, being a little too experimental probably. This piece is in 5 separate parts and the same height as me (155cm) 
All the elements of form and complex glazing needed to work, each piece had to interconnect and balance with its' neighbour, and then the whole piece had to somehow unify. I put it together for the first time the day before the show!
I am quite proud of this piece and in now lives in a beautiful bog garden, resplendent, looking like it grew there! (See below)

Probably the only Christmas market I will do this season (covid restrictions permitting)
The Green Gallery is well known for its tasteful quality curation and this year will be no different.

I am happy to have been selected for 3 Ceramic Fairs this Summer.

First up is Potfest Scotland, set in the wonderful grounds of Scone Palace, Perth, the home of the Stone of Destiny, the crowning site of former Scottish kings.

June 7th – 9th 2019
Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday
10am – 5pm daily.
Adults £5-50  (includes admission to gardens)
Accompanied children free. Free parking. Refreshments on site.
For more info you can view the website here www.potfest.co.uk

  

Next up is Earth and Fire, 21st, 22nd, 23rd June. 10-5pm
Earth and Fire International Ceramic Fair is one of the country's premier ceramic events The fair takes place on the Welbeck Estate, Nottingham, which houses The Harley Gallery, The Portland Collection and an array of artist studios.
Earth & Fire showcases over 135 potters from across the UK and mainland Europe who come to sell direct to the public from outdoor market stalls, selling everything from garden sculptures, to bowls, pie dishes, teapots, mugs, plates and egg cups.
 
The event attracts collectors, gallery owners, enthusiasts and the general public alike, who flock to Earth & Fire to meet and talk to the potters. There is also a comprehensive program of demonstrations throughout the weekend. You can find out more info at the website www.earthandfire.co.uk
​You can also get a quick tour of last years show here youtu.be/GXuiMcMyfxc ​

​Last up is Potfest in the Park  July 26th-28th 2019

Over 100 exhibitors invited from all over Europe and beyond. All with very distinctive individual styles, all passionate about working with clay.
The venue, Hutton-in-the-Forest, is a cultural destination in itself with it’s historic house, walled garden, topiary terraces and woodland walks. The ceramics festival takes place in and around marquees in front of the castle, with the potters special competition pieces on the lawn
Fri, Sat & Sun 10am – 5pm daily
Adults £6-50  (includes admission to gardens)
Accompanied children free. Free parking.
Refreshments on site. Picnic area.
Well-behaved dogs on leads welcome.
Please be aware that many of the exhibitors are unable to process credit card transactions, and the nearest cash machines are six miles away in Penrith.

This summer, I have been invited to participate in the international ceramic symposium TOGETHER 4.0 at Budaörs, Hungary. Contemporary ceramists, art university students and students will be working together for a week at KözTér18 Communal Creationspace.
 
We will be experimenting with one of the oldest techniques used in the creation of porcelain work: underglaze cobalt painting on porcelain. The focus will be on developing new skills and sharing ideas and techniques collaboratively.
 
The work created during the symposium will be exhibited in the autumn, which will include workshops on traditional Korean painting and Korean calligraphy by calligraphy master Moon Changseok and Kim Dason - Korea is considered the cradle of porcelain art.
 
I’m really looking forward to meeting other ceramicists and producing some new work.

Looking ahead to this summer, I'm excited to be returning to Potfest Scotland from 8th - 10th June in the grounds of the beautiful Scone Palace in Perthshire. Now in its' twenty second year, it's always a lovely event to be a part of.  Later on that month, I head down to Nottingham for the Earth & Fire International Ceramic Fair from the 22nd-24th June at the Harley Gallery, Welbeck.

Later in the summer you can find me at Potfest in the Park from 27th-29th July at the fabulous Hutton-in-the-Forest in Cumbria. There are a couple of other happenings this summer...more on those soon!

I've been making lots of new work this spring and I'm looking forward to showing it at the  ceramic events this summer. The first show is Potfest Scotland at the beautiful Scone Palace, Perth from Friday 9th - Sunday 11th June, 10am - 5pm daily. This is Potfest's 21st year at Scone Palace...if you've never been before the ticket price also includes entry to the beautiful palace gardens.

Following a very successful show last year, I'm returning to Nottingham for the Earth & Fire International Ceramic Fair from Friday 23rd - Sunday 25th June. Over a hundred diverse potters from the UK and Europe show work here at the Harley Gallery, Welbeck. 

Last fair of the summer is the fabulous Potfest in the Park at Hutton in the Forest, Cumbria from Friday 28th - Sunday 30th July. The theme for 2017 is, 'Ancestral Voices - echoes of another time, another place'. I look forward to meeting some of you at these events, please do look out for me and say hello!

The busy season of Christmas markets has begun with a great fair in Dunoon last weekend. I had a wide selection of pieces from my Scottish Landscapes range; large and small bowls, mugs and dishes as well as my very popular whisky cups [scroll down to see images]. As well as buying these at the fairs, you can still buy from the range in my Etsy shop, however it's always lovely to meet my customers and have a chat, so please do come along if you can. The next fair is the 3d/2d Christmas Art, Craft + Design Fair at the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow on the 26th - 27th November.

On Saturday 3rd December I will be at the Out of the Blue market in Leith, Edinburgh. This should be a great event alongside some really interesting stall holders in a lovely venue...live music too! 

Here are a couple of images of the Scottish Landscapes work on sale this year...including my new shallow dishes with little ceramic spoons. The perfect set to serve up dips and antipasti this Christmas!

As autumn kicks in, it’s good to look back to the summer and the Ceramic Fairs I showed work at. First, in early summer, was Earth and Fire, an International Ceramic Fair in the grounds of the beautiful Rufford Abbey, Nottingham. Sales were really good and I sold most of my large sculptural pieces on the Friday morning. It was a lovely show and very friendly with many European potters over to sell their work. This was my first time showing work there and I was really impressed how well the show was organised. A minor downside to selling so much work so quickly or ‘hot from the kiln’ was that I didn’t manage to take many photographs to record the collection.
 
The next fair, in mid-summer, was Potfest in the Park, at Hutton-in-the-Forest, Penrith where [having learnt my lesson!] I managed to get some lovely images of my work, particularly my competition piece, 'Birdbath'. This piece is 140cm high and made in 3 pieces. For those of you who haven’t been to any of the Potfest shows yet, every year there is a theme for new work and this year’s theme was ‘Birdbath – Flight of Fancy’ [scroll down to the bottom to see some images].

Last years show theme was 'Biblical', have a look at the Potfest Flickr page to see the range of work, here are some lovely images of my entry for last year, 'Forbidden Fruit'.