Taking up the suggestion by tutor, Wendy, I am trying out engobes. She suggested that they might work well on my pinch pots. Linking my colourful patterns on the outside to a colourful inside. What have I got to loose? Thus, with Wendy's help I mixed two colours: black and blue engobes. I was astonished by the ratio she mixed them at: 50% blue stain to 50% engobe and 25% white stain to 75% engobe. To me that seems a lot of stains but as these were Wendy's materials and her recipe I assume that the ratio is correct. Stains and engobes are by ATC colours, Stoke. Not sure I would be able to afford this on my own budget. Anyway, she suggested to apply the engobes to bisque ware but I decided to

What a day packed full of images and impressions! Firstly, I was dreading the train journey across the country from Preston to Creswell in Derbyshire which involved a bus, four different trains and a taxi ride. But due to Pam’s expert organisational skills (HUGE thank you) it went without a hitch and we got there for 11 o’clock. Even the weather was with us on the day: no rain but also not too hot and sunny. Perfect! As said, so much to see and take in with over 120 stands mostly showing the works and wares of different potters. During the limited time of one day I could only take in some of the great stuff on display. I probably missed many potters and their work which didn’t grab me for so

This figure was the first to start this series of three but turned out to be the last to finish. Thus, this figure informed the making process of the others while profiting from what I learnt from the other two during their the later finishing stages. In the end, I think I like this, Figure 1, the best. Anyway, for the sake of consistency and continuity I'd better continue describing the making process from where I left off. After the design liners were set during a second bisque firing I masked out area which I intended to leave unglazed by painting on liquid wax resist. I made sure that the areas on which the figures sits on the shelf were left unglazed. To make sure that I got the correct

Because of the problems I had with glazing Figure 2 where the wax resist got covered with the sprayed on glaze I decided to try out latex to mask off some areas before glazing for this Figure 3. I used Windsor & Newtons latex resist, which is intended for watercolours. Even though it is much more expensive than Copydex it is nicer to apply as it is more liquid. However, the areas where the resist areas touched the board underneath it was standing on have the annoying tendency to stick to the board and lift off. Not a huge problem but rather annoying as it may affect its effectiveness at masking out areas. Instead of spraying on the glaze this time I decided to brush on the clear glaze in the

​After the assessment I was feeling a bit empty and so decided that it was time to take a little break. So, the timing was great for our family to leave the North-West and head down to Cornwall to visit a friend, who we aim to visit once a year. This was exactly the sort of break I needed. Staying with Mary always provides a great balance of rest and inspiration. The view over the Tamar valley is great, her house is filled with wonderful paintings, prints and lots of pottery and we are close to all sorts of great places to visit. I purposefully did only very little pottery related activities except for browsing through her late husband's pottery books, telling her all about my experiences on