kath cooper

New Christmas range at local craft market

2011-11-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

This saturday I took part in the monthly Arts and Crafts market at The Cross in Gloucester. This was the first stall to have all my new christmas stock this year. Here are some photos of my stall and some of my new work . Thank you to all my regular customers for coming to say hello and supporting me ,it is much appreciated !

If you want to find out which events I will be attending in the run up until christmas and my stockists please look on my "about me " section on my website . Come and say hello !

I will be at the Bathroadmarket ,Cheltenham sharing a stall with alic@studioone next saturday , where there will be lots of tea and lovely cakes from of the other stalls and lots of chat !

Bye for now xx

New Local Market

2011-09-11T07:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my lovely friend(www.alicorder.blogspot.com) and I shared a stall at a new market which is going to be open on Thursdays,Fridays and Saturdays with Farmers markets ,Local Produce,Arts and Crafts ,vintage and retro Stalls.

There was lots of lovely fruit and veg ,fresh fish , bread , hand made chocolate ,cupcakes, organic sausages etc on offer too . If you want to find out more go to www.bathroadmarket.co.uk

Two lovely ladies Julie and Kristina also known as Yarnit had a beautiful stall with their knitted handmade delights and vintage collectables . They also run a lovely knitting group which I don't go to often enough !

I also met a very talented Textile designer called Alice Megan England, who also sells at other local fairs. I love the simpicity and freshness of the designs and the bold colour palette . To find out more about her work go to www.alicemeganengland.co.uk

Well that's all for now .It's that time of year when christmas stock must be made so I will be very busy making in my studio in the next few weeks . Also I have joined http.//www.notonthehighstreet.com, an online selling marketplace which is very exciting . I have to take lots of high quality images for it before I can start selling . I will post a blog about it soon when it is ready to go live .
Bye for now xx

Finished Canal Art inspired designs.

2011-08-14T12:20:00.000-07:00

New designs fresh from the kiln ready to be glazed.

Glaze firing ready to unpack with all the new designs.

This plate is my favourite ,the lime green background seems to work really well .

I love the tiles especially the green one again!

The new bird designs fit well on the tiles .

New heart decorations.

I had a stall at an arts and craft market at the weekend and had a positive reaction to the new designs. I sold the blue bowl and some of the heart decorations.

So I'm off to my workshop to make some more !

Bye for now xx

Folk and Canal art inspired new designs

2011-08-09T01:14:00.000-07:00

I have finally had some time in the workshop to try out some ideas that have been in my mind for a while . I have always been interested in traditional crafts and being involved in the arts and crafts centre near the docks I have seen all the canal boats coming through the lock outside. Also I have met a lovely lady called Pat Wannell who lives on a boat and does traditional canal painting on her boat and decorates metal buckets ,enamel mugs ,jugs etc with enamel paints . She sells her work at the Gloucestershire Arts and crafts Centre in the Lock cafe .

The British Waterways Museum in the Gloucester Docks also has a huge collection .I bought this little lantern too because of the colours and its folk art feel .

The technique also reminds me of the traditional english slipware pottery which has always influencd my work . I wanted to do my own take on this using my own colour palettes and enjoy experimenting. These are the first attempts and the painting will need lots of practice to get the flowing confidence needed .

I have already tried a few samples using the traditional rose and also have been looking at other folk art from across Europe . This is how the flower is built up in stages and is a very skilled technique .

I have been trying out some of the flowers on some hearts and also in the photo you can see a painted wooden spoon from a local charity shop for extra inspiration !

Here they are finished in rows ,how satisfying!

With these hearts I am keeping the background white to see which work the best . These photos show how I build up the design in stages .

I really like the finished result ,but the may look different when fired .

Now I have practised on the hearts I tried the designs on some larger pieces , it was really good fun to do something freer than I normally would do . I like the strong background colour too .

Again this one will be on a white background.

I think this one is the most successful , the colours work the best and the edging is bold .

I have some tiles ready for decoration too ,some will be the new designs and some the new scraffitto bird designs .

These designs have worked really well on the tiles ,I can't wait to see them finished and glazed!

Bye for now I will be back with the finihed results soon xx

Visit to Art in Action Oxford

2011-07-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

I have just spent the day with two lovely friends looking around Art in action at waterperry Gardens ,Oxford .It was a perfect hot summer's day and we enjoyed seeing lots of the best inspiring art and craft in the country . Here are lots of photos of all the exciting things that caught my eye !

Iris Milward Poetry tiles

Mirka Golden-hann

"Interactive colour play" You were encouraged to re-arrange the colours however you wanted !

Barbara Gunter-Jones "Ghost Grass" This was a beautiful blue colour with delicate stitching .

Juliet walters "Containment " The two sections fitted together like a Russian doll .

This work was by probably my favourite ceamicist of the whole show Gwen Bainbridge .

Anna Hamburger's Lace gauntlets made of porcelain .

A detail of Jill denton's felt Wrap,it had beautiful colours and pattern.

I love anything in rows . Lovely mugs and bottles by Richard miller.

I can't remember whose these are unfortunately , the colour of the turquoise melted glass was amazing !

More work by Anna Hambuger . Love anything with buttons .

These bowls are also by Anna Hambuger ,they remind me of batik fabric designs .

We had a great day out ,especially a lovely lunch finished off with cake in the shade on a very hot day . We watched a great Raku firing demo too photos to follow soon .

Bye for now xx

2011-07-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have been to the Gloucestershire Arts and crafts centre today in the Glos Docks where I sell my work . This is where I held my Open Studios week in June from Studio one . Usually I am working inside and don't take the time to enjoy the views so I had my lunch out here on a bench and took some photos . It is a lovely place to visit if you are in the area . For more information look on their website www.gloucestershireartsandcraftscentre.co.uk

Off to Art in Action at the weekend ! Bye for now xx

2011-07-17T12:31:00.000-07:00

Firstly here's a couple of photos of my kitchen window which is giving me lots of pleasure with the lovely colours ! I put one of my birds on sticks in the flowers and really pleased with the result .

Now for the process of the new designs . These bowls have been made in a slab mould and dried slightly . Then I have applied a layer of coloured slip ready for decorating .

This is the very best bit and why I love doing what I do ! I scratch through the layer of slip using various sharp tools to reveal the clay body underneath . You have to be in the right confident frame of mind to do this ,as you cannot rub out any mistakes and have to have a steady hand .

Then I add some slip-trailed spots of white slip to finish the design with a raised effect .I put some spots all the way around the edge too to define the edge . I almost love how it looks at this stage more than the finshed result.

They have now been through the first bisque firing and are ready to glaze. After glazing they go back in the kiln for the second time . You learn to be patient as a potter and have to wait another day and a half to see the work finished !

Opening the kiln is the exciting bit and seeing the final result all glossy and colourful .

Here are some other designs in the kiln too .

My completed new bird designs .Lovely all my favourite colours .

I am hoping to visit Art in Action at Waterperry Gardens in Oxford this weekend so may have some photos of some inspirational work to show next week .

Bye for now xx

2011-06-27T05:19:00.000-07:00

Hi I have just spent a lovely weekend attending the local Summer Community Craft and Music Festival organised by Cheltenham Connect(for more information visit their website www.cheltenhamconnect.co.uk).

The weather was lovely , a bit windy the first day and Sunday very warm!! It was great to catch up with lots of other stall holders and listen to all the live bands playing in the pub next to the fair .

Here are some photos of the view from my stall .

Also took some photos of my stall which I usually forget to do .

I have been doing Fairs and events every weekend for the last six weeks so looking forward to a free weekend this weekend! I will be busy now making more work to replenish my stock and for the shops I sell through. I will be taking more photos along the way and be back soon xxx

2011-06-05T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy getting ready for an Open Studios Week .It has started this weekend and will be on until the 12th June . This is a studio I share with two lovely friends and it is a workshop/ gallery /Shop . I mostly sell from there as clay is a bit messy . It has been great to have a permanent space to display work . Also it is great to keep changing it around and we have got abit carried away with fairy lights etc in the past but "such fun"!!

So here are lots of photos of the studio ,hope you enjoy them!!
The lovely cards in this photo are made by Ali Corder and they are a range called "Random Ransoms" and they will be available soon on www.notonthehighstreet.com soon .

I have lots of craft fairs and events coming up soon ,and lots of outlets to supply too ,so I can see lots of late nights on the horizon in the coming weeks .I will take some photos of the making of my new bird dishes when I make my next batch soon .

Bye for now

Kath x

New bird decorations

2011-05-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited about my new bird decorations I have been designing ! I thought I would show you the making process from start to finish ,there are a lot of stages and they are quite time consuming but worth it for the finished result ! First I have rolled out the clay and cut out the shapes with a cardboard template I designed.The edges are smoothed and sponged for a good finish . Also I have added some impressed decoration with stamps that I have made .

Next I have attached a paper wing and stuck it down with water ,which will act as a resist when slip is painted on .

Various coloured slips are then applied and the paper resist is then carefully removed .

More impressed decoration is added using a metal tool to give the effect of stitching around the wing. White spots are added using a slip trailer ,which is a bit like an icing bag .

The birds are then left to completely dry out ready for the first biscuit firing .

Here are the birds after being biscuit fired .

The birds are now dipped in a transparent glaze ready for firing.

They are carefully placed in the kiln not touching so they don't stick together. They are fired again which takes a whole day to reach the right temperature ,then another 8-12 hours to cool down .

This is the most exciting bit about pottery ,opening the kiln . I have been doing this a long time and it still is a thrill to see how the work looks finished !

Some for the birds are turned into hanging decorations and some I have tried as decorations on sticks for putting in plant pots .

Really pleased with these new designs ,hope you like them too !

I'd love to hear what you think too !

P.s These are my own designs and they have taken a lot of work to get right so kindly please don't copy these images or designs to sell Thanks!

I am busy working on some new ceramic designs using more coloured slips and some more burnished smoke-fired pieces for an open studios week in June . Will be taking lots of photos

along the way and look forward to sharing them soon xx

new crochet project

2011-05-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have been playing around with a few different granny square patterns using some lovely coloured King Cole Bamboo cotton I had .

I have been inspired by a great crochet blog MeMeRose .She is making a spring blanket with a lovely pastel colour palette . Having some time off over Easter hols from the usual busy making of the clay variety I had some fun with some crocheting.

I decided to make a large spring blanket of my own .I am using Stylecraft Special which has a good colour range for a more budget wool , as it's going to take alot of wool !!Here are the colours I am using.

I make the coloured centres first then do the white border and join as I go with a method of joining with a slip stitch instead of a chain between each cluster (find this on Attic24 blog).This method is great as the blanket grows as you make rather than all that sewing together at the end!

Here is a sneak preview of the first section I have completed ,it is 10 x 5 squares which is an 1/8th of the whole blanket which is abit daunting!!

I'm really pleased with how the colours look together ,I hope I have the staying power to finish the whole blanket ....

kitchen makeover

2011-04-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

We had a new kitchen about a year ago but some of the finishing touches needed doing and I had an idea what I wanted ,but was searching for certain things in thr local furniture charity shops .

One lucky day I found an antique pine dresser top ready to put on a worktop which saved my other half from building it from scratch ! Also I hankered after a country style kitchen plate rack by the sink and also found one of these . The dresser top was £30 and the plate rack was £25 bargain!! All they needed was a coat of paint and I'm very happy with the result .

Also my other half as built lovely panelling instead of tiles around the worktops and left a gap for me to make a tile splashback ,which will be revealed later !

This is the plate rack looking abit old and scruffy !

This is the finished result very lovely!

This is the shelf in situ before painting, with "lovely" orange antique pine . In my minds eye I imagined lots of storage jars in rows and a collection of some of my handmade pottery I have collected over the years .

Freshly painted !

Finished result so much better .

Now to the tiles ,here are some ready to be biscuit fired .

In my workshop after being fired ,all 40 of them!

After much re-arranging on the table ready to be stuck on and grouted .

The finished result ! Well worth all the effort .

Hope this little makeover gave you gave you some joy and some inspiration.

Will be back soon with some new bird designs to share ,very exciting (well they are to me anyway!) x

making biscuits

2011-03-12T04:51:00.000-08:00

I have been making biscuits of the ceramic kind .

These jam rings ,jammy dodgers and jam tarts are drying ready for firing .

Party rings ready for firing .

Biscuit (!) fired biscuits glazed and ready for firing.

Jam tarts ready for firing .

Starting to pack the kiln for glaze firing .

Finished batch of biscuits!!

Lovely colours and love them in rows !

All these biscuits will be turned into brooches soon .

Look on my website for where to buy them .

Coming soon making tiles for my kitchen ...

2011-02-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of my work at the Gloucestershire Arts and Craft Centre.

For more information and to visit go to

www.gloucestershireartsandcraftscentre.co.uk

Happy Valentine's day! Lots of lovely hearts ....

Loveheart heart

Smoke-fired heart

Button heart

Crochet heart brooches

Papier mache hearts

New design heart

Ceramic tile heart

Knitted hearts....xxx

I like doing a theme this might become a regular spot !

Bye for nowKathx

more photos of what I've been making!

2011-01-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

I bought this painting at Christmas by artist rosie Lomberg. It has beautiful textures and colours and is a joy to look at every day !

Bootees for a new born baby!

2011-01-14T08:55:00.000-08:00

Hi I'm back in blogland after a long time of a very busy few months of making and selling ! Hope to start the year with more blogging and sharing photos of what I've been making. First of all here are some photos from last year .

2010-05-03T04:51:00.000-07:00

Hi, I have been doing a local Food and drink festival over the weekend and selling my work in the Craft tent .

I shared a stall with a lovely lady called Jenny www.littleoaktree.com who makes gorgeous work out of wood.

Here is a photo of our stall which we were very proud of!

Also, here is a finished project from the knitting club I run . This is their first knitted square

turned into a bag ,with the strap made from finger knitting . They are now making a teddy bear.

Next week I am going to be doing some smoke-firing of some clay hearts , so photos of this process to follow soon!

bye for now x

2010-03-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

I had to take a photo of all the lovely things I bought recently at a lovely shop in Cirencester called lexi Loves... It's like a sweet shop full of ribbons, jars of buttons, fabrics ,books ,as well as lovely gifts.

Also I had to buy yet another box to sort all my spotty buttons in which gave me much pleasure !

I also bought something called a yo-yo maker which makes suffolk puffs ,more on this later with some photos .

bye for now Kath

Easter goodies!

2010-03-29T06:55:00.000-07:00

Hi , just thought I would show you what I have been making for easter. I have made far too many for my pre -easter fairs and have lots left so it looks like my home will be very over decorated!!!

I'm planning to decorate a wreath and a vase of twigs ,photos to follow soon....

2010-02-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

I have been making lots of knitted and crocheted cakes inspired by cakes in the lovely book One Skein by Leigh Radford. I have been using some rowan cotton dk and bamboo cotton which is great to use. They look great in groups and I gave one wrapped in cellophane with ribbon and a label instead of a birthday card to a friend.

I have altered the size of the pattern to make them smaller . Hope you like them as much as I do ! I have started making some into pin cushions and they might end up at my next craft fair .
Bye for now, I'm off to make another batch!x

2010-02-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my blog ! Just wanted to share some of the things I spent my day making . I am a potter but also love crochet ,knitting and baking .I love finding out what other like minded people are getting up to so thought I would show and tell too!
My latest obsession is making cakes of the woolly kind ,which might stop me eating (and baking )the real kind.