Made with care, to be given with love.

One of the methods I use to select my Christmas stock is to ask myself if my daughters would like it. Naturally I only select items that are handmade with care and demonstrating an obvious level of technical skill. But the clincher is if I could imagine myself giving that particular item to one of my "girls"- without it disappearing into a drawer, never, ever to emerge again . 


Collectively they have Arts degrees in Performance Costume Design, Fine Art and Film Making so have a surprisingly wide range of skills themselves and are very discerning about what they wear and use.... So for an item to pass their scrutiny it has to be a little bit special. But I think the following items would pass the test.... 

Fragrant handmade soaps

Artist made glass snowflake "wall or tree hanging" 

Copper, glass and glazed ceramic necklace

Copper, glass bead and glazed ceramic brooches and necklaces

Padded fabric cases for iPods, iPads and Kindles

Brass ear rings with glass or gemstone beads (Gold plated fittings)

"Love Birds"

I trained originally as a potter- Degree course at Manchester Metropolitan University (or Poly as it was way back then), followed by a baptism of fire working for studio potters Joe and Trudi Finch at Appin Pottery in Argyll for 3 years, then 15 years of brushwork decorating at Kolonyama Pottery in Lesotho.  


So even though I love everything about painting on canvas, sometimes I have an overwhelming urge to play with clay for a while. Nothing too ambitious, demanding or even large, as my studio is surprisingly compact. Just something lighthearted and enjoyable. This time I decided to make some "Love Bird" wall hangings as "stocking fillers" for family members, because we all create a large proportion of our gifts. So I designed, cut,  decorated, and glazed these little birds and some Hearts too for good measure and fired them in my potter husband's kiln. Simples!  

I made a few extra ones- which are now for sale at £9.90 each here in Crown Studio Gallery or £11.40 by post. The large Hearts are £7.90 here in the gallery or £9.40 by post. The small hearts are £2.90 each.