Weather proofing has begun!

This winter is predicted to get really cold, my workshop is a loglap cabin, well insulated with heat/cold proof protected plaster board and insulation lining; I pulled out all the stops to keep my workshop warm and weather proof.

I'd done well, until this November temperatures have dropped and the glazes which are in air tight plastic tubs are covered in condensation and tiny ice particles are showing in the liquid!

Weather proofing has begun!

I've brought some plastic storage boxes and to make the contents safe from the weather I'm lining them with insulation roll; it’s actually used for insulating attics, it keeps cool in summer and warm in winter.

I used 'ThermaWrap Loft Insulation' and Clear Packaging tape from Screwfix.

First I did the easiest part as it involved less cutting, The lid was easy only using one large piece, making sure that once stuck the lid still fit securely on the box.

I lined the three largest sides with one long piece; then I taped around every edge with clear packing tape to seal each edge and attach in place.

Next I cut out the two end pieces, overlapping the sides by an inch so there was no box showing; they also got taped into place.

Heat / Cold / Damp proof storage box finished! Just another 5 to go!

How do you protect your materials in the warm summer/cold winter months? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Autumn Walks in Laughton fields

Its Mid October its my favourite time of year, the leaves starting to fall from the trees, the scatter of conkers, the autumn chill in the air, so peaceful!

Its the perfect time for making use of the great outdoors and do a bit of foraging!

Laughton fields are picturesque and you can hear the animals, its surreal how quiet it is, it takes me back to when I visited there as a child.

We went out searching for chestnuts but we came across these lovelies, Sloeberries ...I think some sloe berry gin is in order and it will be ready just in time for Christmas too!

I think we were a little too early for chestnuts ... they were so small and shriveled! It should be peak season October - November but maybe the seasons are running late this year ...I guess we'll try again in a few weeks.

They were very prickly!

The poor shriveled chestnut ... 

It wasn't a wasted journey though, its always nice to walk in the picturesque fields and I got lots of nature inspiration to try out some new ceramic ideas!

                             

Addicted to glazing!

Glazing is my absolutely favourite part of ceramics, the making process is fun but I just find glazing itself so relaxing! I'm not much of an academic person but there's something about doing all the calculations, testing this and that, take a bit away, add a bit of something else.

  I always practice safety in my ceramics workshop, I wouldn't have it any other way! Apron, gloves and mask are an essential part of work wear safety when working with hazardous materials.

As you can see below, I use digital scales, precision in weighing is key, I have the sets of scales;1 for large quantities, 1 which measures to two decimals and another which measures to 3.

My latest testing unintentionally turned out to be smiley faces!

As you can see ...I never get enough of testing! 

So many glazes so little time!!!

Christmas Ceramics Workshop

This November I'll be running a large group Ceramic Workshop, in which we'll be creating a handmade Ceramic Christmas decoration. 

If you have any questions or would like to book a place please contact Katherine

at Conservative Club Function Room, The Conservative Club, The Lilacs, Fairfield Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, England, LE16 9QQ

*You don’t need to be a Conservative club member to attend the event, feel free to invite friends & family!

To check out some of the decorations made in our previous workshops please visit the Facebook event page!

https://www.facebook.com/events/604318426383233/

Made with Katherine Fortnum Ceramics Workshops

Craft & Gift Fair, Lamport Hall, Leicestershire, October 10th & 11th 2015

This October I'll be selling my handmade ceramics at the historic Lamport Hall, it should be a fantastic weekend full of handmade goodies, gifts, food & drink!

There's lots of lovely things to see so make sure you come visit! I'll be in the stables so come say hi!

Once again the Gift & Craft Fair returns to Lamport Hall.

With over 80 stalls showcasing jewellery, decorative glassware, jams, chutneys and fudge, and other gifts, visitors are able to browse a variety of indulgent treats for themselves or seek inspiration for some early Christmas shopping.

The fair has been a yearly fixture for over twenty years, and is sure to be a great day out for all the family. 

Refreshments including coffee, mulled wine, mince pies, hog roast and more available. Parking is free. 

£3.50 for adults, £3 for concessions, and £1.50 for children aged 11-16

Lamport Hall, Lamport, Northamptonshire, NN6 9HD

New Creations!

I felt a bit stuck in a rut keeping making the same old trusty home wares, the usual ...coasters,vases. So I decided I'd stretch my imagination and try something I'd never made before.

So as I sat at my sketchbook I began designing, fingers twitching to get making asap!

I've seen them everywhere and they're so pretty, luminaries! There's just something so magical about the way it illuminates the room, the patterns dancing around creating shadows.

Ceramic Luminary in process Greenware Stage, Hand built White Stoneware, Katherine Fortnum 2015 , photograph by Katherine Fortnum 

So the process began with a slabbed vessel then I used a variety of specialised ceramic tools to cut out holes, the beginnings of a pattern began to emerge...

The full process of creating the finished piece took all day, here's the finished piece (at green ware stage) ...far from over but its looking good!

Ceramic Luminary Greenware Stage, Hand built White Stoneware, Katherine Fortnum 2015, photograph by Katherine Fortnum 

Fresh out of the kiln, the colour transformation in the clay body becomes much lighter as the moisture has been removed from the clay during the drying process and the bisque firing.

Ceramic Luminaries, Hand built White Stoneware, Katherine Fortnum 2015
photograph by Katherine Fortnum 

I'm so pleased with how they turned out I'm tempted to keep one for myself! 

I had a really busy next few weeks with preparing stock for upcoming (dare I say the word!) Christmas fairs, it took me nearly a month to test them out! Here's the finished pieces in all their glory!

The way they illuminate the patterns around the room is just magical! I'll have a variety of different patterned handmade luminaries to purchase at my upcoming Christmas Fairs, I look forward to meeting you there :)

(upcoming Christmas fairs listed on my website)

Ceramic Luminary, Hand built White Stoneware, Katherine Fortnum 2015
photograph by Katherine Fortnum 

Organising my Ceramics workshop!

I love saving all my favourite images all neatly listed in folders on Pinterst (as everyone does) ...dreaming that one day I WILL BE ORGANISED and have a beautiful ceramics workshop, where I knowwhere everything is!

Well I decided it will happen!

It all started with a sketch, I will regain some storage room!

I already had heavy duty wooden shelves in my workshop but I wanted a way to hide away all the stuff whilst orgsanising and utalising space, so I decided I'd add deep wooden doors to the shelves and store things in them!

Once tested they fit well I had to take the doors off again as it was proving fiddly to get things attached while vertical!

I designated a space for each tool ...well as many as I could fit on at least! 

Soo many tools!

The finished door all hung up, that's one side down, door 2 to go!

An insider glimpse

I thought I'd share an insider glimpse into how I create my ceramics.

I create my pieces using a range of hand building techniques, exploring details on both large and small scale. Every individual element is constructed one handed!

Here's a collection of images showing the beginnings of pieces in creation.

Each unique piece is extremely challenging and time consuming to make as every element is individually constructed.

Katherine attaching an individual spike to the body of a piece in the progress

Here's a finished piece 'Natural Series #2', its part of the Natural Series Collection, consisting of 11 pieces inspired by delicate structure in nature. 

To view the full collection please visit my website, if you have any inquiries about purchasing or displaying any pieces please get in contact via my website.

Natural Series #2, hand built stoneware, 2013, 25 x 5 x 24 cm Katherine Fortnum, photograph by Nigel Essex

Newly listed on Etsy

Freshly out of my latest glaze firing! First piece to be photographed using my new studio photographing set up! What do you think?

(will post details about photographing booth set up soon)

Newly listed on Etsy, have a look :) 

Untitled, Hand built stoneware, 2015, 

3 x 13 x 15.5cm, Katherine Fortnum, 

photograph by Katherine Fortnum

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/234365268/ceramic-bowl-handmade-unique-nature

New Workshop is finished!

The new extended workshop is now finished! ...on the outside at least!

I've given it a few coats of paint so it matched all over, you'd never know they were two separate!

I absolutely love seeing solar lights in gardens they are so pretty and make any garden more homely and welcoming, so I brought 30ft long solar lights to reach the length of my workshop. I think it looks quite pretty during the day as well!

As a little finishing touch I got a path joining from the patio to my workshop. Its a lot more practical than walking over the grass; especially if its raining! 

My Nanna calls it the yellow brick road!

New extended Ceramics Workshop

My current workshop was very cosy but it was quite small, which is quite a big problem for a hoarder! My workshop is for my ceramics only but my collection of tools, various clay's; continues to get bigger every day! Plus as most creatives do, they spread! A 20ft table would still be insufficient!

So here it is, the beginnings of my new large workshop, I extended my current workshop, it came delivered very handy in flat packed form ready to join onto my current workshop.

My lovely dad and brother were kind enough to construct my workshop for me.

Below images show the end of my old workshop has been taken off so the new part of the workshop can be joined on the end.

(The pole in the middle is holding up the ceiling so it doesn't collapse whilst being put together)

Side views of the construction. You can see the old and new sections from the colour difference.

The end is now being added on after the sides were put up. I was so excited, seeing the size of my new workshop, I knew I was going to be in heaven working away in my (not so little) workshop! 

Just a coat of paint so it matches the other side and a lot of work on the inside to go!

*Next post I'll show you the finished studio!*

*So keep posted!*

Large group workshop for fundraising for Women Vs Cancer!

I was contacted and asked if I could run a large group ceramics workshop in aid of fundraising for Women Vs Cancer charity. 

Here's how it went!

I demonstrated and helped people make a hanging decoration for the house or garden. A large group of 27 people attended, most who had never even experienced clay before! It was a fantastic evening, attendees loved getting their hands dirty with clay; with a cheeky glass or 2 of bubbly!

I had a stall of handmade ceramics to purchase.

The pieces were left to dry out for a week before they could go into their first firing, the first firing clay goes through is called a 'bisque or biscuit firing', this turns the soft clay into hard durable ceramic.

Here they are ready to be loaded into the kiln ...along with a few of my ceramic mushrooms!

Here are the lovely pieces created at the Ceramics Workshop charity evening! 

Some attendees chose to have their pieces glaze fired (finished pieces below). You can see the difference in finish between the unglazed and glazed finished pieces, they are the exact same colours applied, but with glaze the colours really pop and become much more vibrant!

I had a nice surprise during the evening when the local paper came and took some photos for an article!

Surprise article in the Harborough Mail

(That's me second from the left)

 Are you looking for activities for an event? 

Please get in touch!

Revamped my old desk

I decided to have a decorate and revamp my old "office" desk; yes I'm a ceramicist and spend half my like in my workshop, but the other half is spent at my desk ...doing the boring stuff - accounts, online shop etc. And who wants to spend their time sitting in an ugly workspace? So I indulged ... it's amazing what a transformation you can get with a coat of paint! What do you think? :)

Heres how I revamped this desk- - I removed the handles using a screwdriver - so I wouldn't paint them! - I painted 3 layers of plain white over the entire desk as a base coat to cover the wood colour - letting each layer dry between coats. - I painted 3 coats of cream paint over the entire desk - again letting each layer dry between coats. - Once dry I could start adding colour, I painted the first coat of the lighter brown on the upper and lower drawer front. - Then a dark chocolate brown on the middle drawer. - Each drawer front had 3 coats. - I let it dry for 24 hours before the next step, I applied lots of coats of clear lacquer spray to the desks top, this gave it a nice glossy shine; it also makes it easier to wipe clean for those tea spillages! - Last step was to reattach the handles. And Voila! If you have a go and revamp your furniture using these steps I'd love to see!