Potfest is the best!

It was "Potfest in the Pens" on 6 August and I couldn't wait to get in my car and do the 1 1/2 hour drive to Penrith. I LOVE Potfest because there are over 100 ceramic artists selling their lovely, tactile pots, each pot shouting "buy me"! (and I did).

But this year I had another reason to go to Potfest and that was as an intrepid reporter for 

UK Handmade, the on-line magazine and blog that supports designer makers and hand made artisans. So, with camera and voice recorder in hand(s) I spent  merry day talking to my favourite people - potters. 

One of the most exciting attractions of Potfest is the competition, sponsored by Craft and Design Magazine, where potters submit a ceramic piece on the theme of Altars, Shrines and Markers. I took some pictures of my favourites below. 

Jan Lewis Eccleston - "Cod Above"

Stef Storey - "Shrine to Love" Teeny tiny hearts and wafer thin porcelain - gorgeous!

Jackie Needham - "Pilgrimage" I loved this so much that I bought a little bird. 

I interviewed four of the potters for UK Handmade - John Hudson, Sue Candy, Ben Nicolson and John Townsend - so please click HERE to read the interviews. 

If you are passionate about ceramics then Potfest is well worth visiting for affordable and original pottery. 

Glass for Ceramic Artists & Potters

Aside from fusing glass I also make stained glass decorations for fun. As fusing glass is so very expensive I save every scrap and every disaster to make frit or re-fuse to make glass blobs. But cathedral glass, which is used as stained glass, isn't really suitale for fusing. This is because I don't know the co-efficiency of this glass and it costs too much to keep firing up the kiln just to experiment. This leaves me with a bag full of scraps that are too small to copper foil!

So what's the answer? Well this glass makes ideal frit for pottery when smashed with a hammer. By placing a layer of small pieces in the base of a pot the glass fuses to the base to create great effects. I use it with porcelain, stoneware and earthenware and finds it behaves in different ways in the kiln. It can crackle or, with finer frit, make a smoother, denser colour. I have used it on unglazed pots and also on slip and even coated it with a clear glaze. (See my example test pots below).

I have some of this scrap for sale here and am selling 200gms for £5, which is a lot of glass and will last for a few pots. I have mixed colours or colour themes and all glass will be safely posted wrapped in bubble wrap in a cardboard carton.

To see more scrap glass visit my Folksy Shop.