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!

Mural for my cousins nursery

My cousin is expecting her first baby in about August time, she found out she's going to have a little baby girl ...so planning has begun!

All the nappies and little outfits are piling up, next thing was to start planning the nursery. As she's expecting a little girl of the course the colour theme has to be pink!

My cousin decided she'd like to decorate the room with a pink blossom tree, I thought it was a lovely idea as its suitable for years as she grows up. Being the artistic one in the family I obviously offered to help.

I began with sketching the tree freehand on the bedroom wall

That's me sketching away, photo courtesy of my cousin

Whilst I was preparing to get started on the blossom flowers her cat (who had been around our feet the whole time, very interested in the commotion) seemed to think the tree was real and sat considering a way to climb up it! At least it shown I can draw a good realistic tree!

After drawing the blossoms cascading on the tree I started painting them one by one, I had a helping hand as the blossoms ended up taking an entire day!

 Day 1 of painting complete, all the blossoms are painted nicely using an array of hand mixed paints, I think it looks great! Just the tree to paint next!

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