I am taking advantage of the gallery being quiet and getting on with new work on the kitchen table as usual now it's too cold to sit in the pottery.  The kiln controller was reading -1 degree the other morning although it was about 5 degrees outside!
Here are some photos of what I've been working on for the Scottish Trade Fair in January .... lot's of ideas flowing at the moment.

New Work drying on the Rayburn

A Shelter of Sheep

A Trip of Hares

I really hope these and the other new work I'm doing will tempt the buyers at the SEC in Glasgow.

AS SEEN ON TV!

Last summer Maya and Tom Conway ,as part of their massive refurbishment of the old Boscean House Hotel near Cape Cornwall in St Just, sought out local artists to place art work in the guest rooms of their Boho Cornwall retreats.  They have two beautiful holiday properties available in the grounds of this beautifully situated house, Umber and Ochre.
Ochre can be seen at www.boutique-retreats.co.uk and I am delighted to say some of my ceramic animals have been chosen to dress out the house!

Even more exciting though - one of my hares can now be seen on TV in the final episode of Lisa Faulkner's programme Holiday Home Sweet Home which features Ochre in the Cornish part of the programme.
If you are curious it can be seen (again a magnifying glass would be useful) at 3.20 minutes into the programme and again at 40.39 minutes in.
Wonderful St Just is also featured with a welly wanging session in the famous Plen an Gwarry.   Lots of local friends managed to get in on the film too!

Above is a sneaky peek at what the accommodation looks like.
Thank you Tom and Maya - your guests have already started to visit the gallery - and I wish you all the very best in the future.

I am delighted to have been asked to display 5 paintings as part of The Patchwork of Paintings on behalf of The Plen Project fundraising effort.for a new hut for the Plen an Gwary in St Just! They will be displayed in the window of the gallery and other galleries in the town...part of the fun is trying to guess who has painted which.

The idea is you buy a £30 voucher and then on the night of Sunday 18th November at St Just Town Hall you win one of the 100 paintings donated by the artists.  You could win a 10" x !0" canvas by a Cornish Artist who is already famous or a canvas by someone who is going to be famous soon- or famous in another 10 to 20 years - it's the luck of the draw.  The paintings are to be randomly numbered on the night with scrupulous fairness....just keep your fingers crossed  - I will be doing so!
I CAN'T GIVE THE GAME AWAY AS TO WHICH PAINTINGS I AM DISPLAYING BUT THERE ARE SOME BY ARTIST WHO ARE ALREADY FAMOUS....COME AND HAVE A LOOK AT THE GALLERY WINDOWS TO JUDGE FOR YOURSELVES!
See The Plen Project website for more detailed plans of The Knut and for other ways of donating.

Now that we're in the last days of the 'season' I like to give the gallery a new autumnal look and exchange the turquoise blues of the seascapes that sell so well in the summer for something a little more autumnal....
We have just received a lovely selection of paintings by Heather Howe from Porthleven and they are already attracting attention.

We have also recently become stockists of Welbeck Tiles - the small square chintz ones as well as the postcard ones - and these are being snapped up for all sorts of uses - not just to tile walls!

 

 

 

The post card tiles are fabulous for gifts having delightful old images of local scenes - here showing St Michael's Mount and Cape Cornwall.
I have discovered a new maker called Eve Lepper who is producing wooden bangles with decoupaged vintage maps of the St Just area especially for the gallery in her Field Trip range - these are really innovative and unusual and are retailing at  £11. I am looking forward to these being snapped up!

 

 

The Gallery is taking part in the "Paint St Just Pink" week in aid of Cancer Research and there is a treasure hunt to enter - looking for clues all around the town.  There is also a Ladies Pamper Evening at the Commercial Hotel featuring a range of fantastic therapy tasters - I'll be first in the queue!!

 

 





 

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now that we're in the last days of the 'season' I like to give the gallery a new autumnal look and exchange the turquoise blues of the seascapes that sell so well in the summer for something a little more autumnal....
We have just received a lovely selection of paintings by Heather Howe from Porthleven and they are already attracting attention.

We have also recently become stockists of Welbeck Tiles - the small square chintz ones as well as the postcard ones - and these are being snapped up for all sorts of uses - not just to tile walls!

 

 

 

The post card tiles are fabulous for gifts having delightful old images of local scenes - here showing St Michael's Mount and Cape Cornwall.
I have discovered a new maker called Eve Lepper who is producing wooden bangles with decoupaged vintage maps of the St Just area especially for the gallery in her Field Trip range - these are really innovative and unusual and are retailing at  £11. I am looking forward to these being snapped up!

 

 

The Gallery is taking part in the "Paint St Just Pink" week in aid of Cancer Research and there is a treasure hunt to enter - looking for clues all around the town.  There is also a Ladies Pamper Evening at the Commercial Hotel featuring a range of fantastic therapy tasters - I'll be first in the queue!!

 

 





 

Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's September 1st and now things will start to slow down a little bit after what has been a surprisingly lively two weeks.
I am delighted to say Kara managed to get 4 A's, 5 B's, 2 C's and a D in RE - so she starts her A levels at Penwith College next week.
It hardly seems a moment since she was a baby......
I have some kind of horrible flu virus which narrowly missed killing me in the night...so am not feeling 100% today - not like me at all!

It did stay fine for Lafrowda Day which was the best yet so far - AND neither Kara nor any of her friends got arrested.  There was an Ab Fab moment when she snapped a photo of me sipping from a can of lager whilst sitting on the grass watching the band in the Plen at 7pm....
Business continues to be brisk - despite there being far fewer visitors this year.  Where are they all and do they know what they're missing?  Cornwall is a fantastic place to be at the moment.
It's my favourite month and the Cape Cornwall School  Arts and Crafts Show is on until 17th where artists from all over the area - professional, amateur and in between enter work for sale at 25% commission in aid of Cancer Research.  Tens of thousands of pounds are raised and I bought some fantastic pieces - for me or for the gallery....a tough call!
Fred Poulter makes 'constructions' from driftwood of the sea cliffs, birds and boats - see below
He has promised to bring some more for me to exhibit - if he has any left after the show.













I also bought a delightful little painting of a cat by Gabrielle Hawkes who is well known in St Just having her studio just up the road at Turn of the Tide on Fore Street.
You can really tell what this cat is thinking...


 
I like to look out for up and coming people and this year spotted  Alex Titley - (more cats) who paints onto box canvases in a contemporary style - I'd like more of this work soon....
There was some brilliant jewellery and I liked this the best 'Hand Made by Choughs' with resin and a map of St Just on the back - I hope to have some of this work for sale soon.

I have been tempted by this beautiful Owl by John Maltby - a birthday present to me from me...isn't he magnificent...

New work by David and Louise Salsbury has arrived - lovely hand painted tiles framed in driftwood of puffins and chickens... very reasonably priced at £19.95!

My work has gone a bit Egyptian - back to my roots in fact - and I'm working on a new range now - the first lot are on display in the gallery ...






I hope to get chance to get in the pottery some more - but am going 'up North' to join my Aunt Vida for her 90th Birthday next weekend - what a fabulous age to be!