Slip sliding

Mrs Mabel perusing the clay hoard

Bone dry clay/Slaking clay down in water

Sieving the resulting slip

A tub of sieved slip

Some of my designs lend themselves to being made via slip casting rather than throwing methods. I have gathered quite an amount of porcelain clay (from throwing and turning) that needs to be reclaimed.  At over £20 per bag of clay, I am not going to throw the used clay away. Therefore, I've been trying to make my own casting slip from it. Making the clay into slip is the easy part, the hard part is making it into casting slip. I  have done some tests but still haven't found the right amount of sodium deflocculant to use yet (this helps to keep the clay in suspension and fluid but not be saturated in water).  The photos above show how to make slip from dry clay.

Bird Room

Blue tit porcelain tile

Birch trees porcelain tile

Blue tit porcelain tile

Bird door panel

Bird door panel

Bird door panel

Bird door panel

Finally, I've finished the door panels for the other bedroom.  This room has been inspired by the bird wallpaper that you can see in the later images.  I chose a blue tit as the featured bird.  We have a gang of them that visit every day.  They are tiny in comparison to the other birds yet they are confident and cheeky!  This year they seem to be very dishevelled and I blame the strange weather we are having.

Bramley and Girtwistle Go On A Trip

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.
Photograph  Simon R Leach.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 4.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.
 Photograph  Simon R Leach. 

Bramley and Girtwistle - 5.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.
Photograph  Simon R Leach. 

Last week, I took Bramley and Girtwistle for a professional photo shoot.  I chose the excellent Simon R Leach to shoot the work. He has shot older work of mine and I have always been impressed with the quality.  He is very good at lighting the pieces.  My work can be quite hard to shoot with contrasting textures, reflecting surfaces and extreme light/dark areas.  I think he has done a fine job at showing the detail and capturing the mood.  Check out more of the images at 'Bramley and Girtwistle'.  You can also compare them to my amateurish offerings. I hope you  like them too!

Bramley and Girtwistle - 5

Bramley and Girtwistle - 5.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - 5.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012. 

Bramley and Girtwistle - 5.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012. 

Another favourite!  This is 5 and not in the same box format as the other 4.  In each circle of 5 there will be 1 piece made from a found object that explores a different aspect to the series.  I found this log of pine in a skip.  It has a lovely burnt shine and has a fragrant smoky smell.  I like the way the pieces can be moved around and be played with.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 4

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 4.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 4.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 4.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012 .

This is one of my favourite boxes.  I really like the layering as you can see in the first image - the wood, the red, the aqua.  It also gave me the opportunity to burn wood - great pastime and very effective for my work.    The piece includes some of my hair from when it was shaved off ages and ages and ages ago.  It's grown back now and as a consequence of having to live in a world of non gingers seems to be getting darker.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 3

Bramley  and Girtwistle - Box 3.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley  and Girtwistle - Box 3.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley  and Girtwistle - Box 3.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

This was the hardest box to make!  I got there in the end though. I really like the side end view as seen in the last image.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 2

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 2.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 2.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 2.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 2.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Bramley and Girtwistle - Box 1.  Copyright Beverley Gee 2012.

Over the next few days I'll be introducing my new work, Bramley and Girtwistle.  It is a series of five sculptural mixed media boxes featuring the fantastical world of guardian birds and curious cats.

Box 1 is the most enclosed of the boxes, the red wedge can be removed to glimpse at the mysterious glazed object hiding inside.  All the pieces on the lid are moveable to create different scenes.  The series uses a limited colour palette - white, black, red and my distinctive aqua glaze.  These colours have been prominent throughout my ceramic career.  For more images, please check out my improved and updated website.

Helena Seget

Helena Seget - 'Rebellious Shelves'

Helena Seget - 'Irena (the left handed) chair'

I came across the work of Helena Seget whilst roaming the internet.  I was intrigued by her use of porcelain as furniture.  Interesting, innovative and beautiful.

Birch Room

I have made some much needed panels to go above a door in my house.  Originally, the door had an old fashioned glass panel above it.  I took umbridge to the lack of design and four years later came up with my own design.  The theme of the room is birch, therefore, I designed and made porcelain tiles with birch decoration to be fitted into the panel.  I am happy with the finished piece.  It is very much in keeping with the birch theme and has the added advantage of letting less light into the room at night.

Empty panel

Porcelain tile with handrawn detail

Porcelain tile with ceramic transfer

Porcelain tile with blue slip

Porcelain tile with handpainted detail

Wooden frame

Door Panel - hall

Door panel - reverse

Detail - hall

Detail - reverse

Whilst working on the tiles, I designed a tile with handrawn birch detail.  I used ceramic crayon and drops of my aqua glaze.  I thought this piece worked really well.  It has a delicate quality to it and could be a lovely gift.  I now sell these pieces as personalised porcelain pictures through my shop on 'Not on the High Street'.

Personalised Porcelain Pictures

Next Bird Room - hope it doesn't take another 4 years!