Design: painted chair

A Canadian client of mine, an interior decorator in Vancouver, British Columbia, had a comfortable wooden office chair which she thought needed livening up. She told me that she had been a puppeteer for a while, so I painted the chair with a pair of figures from Punch and Judy plays.

Here is a close up of the Punch and Judy chair seat,
and beneath you can see the original unfinished chair.

Punch and Judy chair. 2000

Acrylic paint, acrylic varnish on wood.

Fabric design: T-shirt

This motif was part of a custom order. I only remember vaguely that the name of my customer had somehow to do with a toad. Toad and water lilies were cut out from linoleum, carved and inked up with fabric paint, then printed on top of a hand dyed, hand painted T-shirt. The eyes of the amphibian are emphasized with gold paint.

Toad on Water Lily. 1997.

Setacolor fabric paint and Procyon fabric dye on cotton

Drawing: Pastel

Last year I took a pastel drawing class at the excellent Chapel Cottage Studio in Llanddewi Rhydderch near Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, Wales. Our teacher, Shan Egerton, let us choose and arrange items for a still life drawing. I liked the juxtaposition of this light blue enamel pitcher and the burgundies and oranges of a bunch of grapes. The pitcher reflects the strong light of a sunny autumn day, contrasting the dull pewter tankard.
 

Still Life with Blue Pitcher. 2012

pastels on paper

50 x 50 cm

Design: painted table top

This small table was a custom order for a client in Vancouver BC, Canada. The lady had painted a yard sale find in this beautiful rust colour and then felt unsure about how to accentuate the table top. The piece reminded me of a gambling table, so I came up with a decor of squares like a board game.

Wood, oil paint, artists oil paint. 2001. 

Work in progress: figure group

The first figures formed on the workbench in my new studio: a group of three, mainly slab built. They are leather hard by now and should be bisque fired soon.

Upper Class

Scarva Earthstone E/S 60 smooth textured crank

40 x 15 x 15 cm

Work in progress: new studio

After looking around for a long time my potter colleague Phil found the perfect studio near Blackwood, Caerphilly in South Wales. It is brand new and just big enough for two people. It's unit #2 on the photo:

Phil's throwing wheel was the first implement to be installed, then an old book case to display new pieces or to store greenware on until we've bought proper storage shelves.

A friend of mine, John Wells, built a formidably strong work bench for me. I'll be using it for most of my sculptural work with clay, and hopefully also for printmaking if we manage to keep dust levels low at the studio.

Just recently Phil's big kiln arrived, a second-hand Cromartie in great shape. Here you can see the owner polishing his purchase. A few days ago it was connected to the power supply.

Painting: Watercolour

This is one of my first attempts on still life in watercolour. I wanted to see how transparent objects can be rendered. And how to make apple skin look vibrantly red. In this case I resorted to using wax crayon on top of the watercolour paint.

Fruit Bowl

SAA watercolours on Bockingford NOT 300 gsm. 2011.

28 x 38 cm