May...or may not!

 Well April was dry...and now May is wet, windy and cold.

But even so the hidden garden at The Potters House Penketh is blooming.

The cherry tree has excelled itself with blossom...the hope is ripe cherries in June...as long as those pesky birds don't pinch the lot.

Although I curse the ever expanding plot of bluebells in June when the leaves turn slimey after the bells have seeded......nevertheless in May when they glow in the evening golden hour...I'm always glad that they are still there. 

Forgetmenots and bluebells...they grow themselves.

And that's a good thing...as I'm not the world's greatest seed sower.

Carole Klein may say.."Just throw them in...they want to grow"...I must be buying the wrong seed packets!

However I must have done something right as the Japanese chocolate vine has also rambled into an even more wonderful concoction of twisting stems and branches over the wood shed...I suspect it is even responsible for holding that old structure together!

I'm not sure if this is Walt..(wall brown) or Woody..(wood brown)...but I love how they dance together in May. 

Almost always seen in pairs...may be just brown but oh how they can dance.

"Let nothing trouble you...Let nothing scare you...All things pass"!...St. Teresa of Avila

Ceramic Sales...David slays Goliath/ NHS slays coronavirus19

The year 2002 was quite a year for us at The Potters House Penketh.

Alan's dad..Sydney Snape died.

We bought an old guest house in Morecambe 5 minutes from the beach.

We went to Spain for the first time and stayed in the beautiful apartment owned by our niece and nephew... up the hill from Marbella.

Alan made this large bowl with his typical comic aproach to some of the Bible stories.

I loved it.

I didn't want it to go.

He often stashed it on the top of a storage cupboard in the back studio.

In that way ...it wasn't going to sell.

Until today.

The buyer asked about Gath...was it local?

So the potter told the story of the small David and the great big hulking giant Goliath.

She'd never heard it before.

I think Goliath is "coronavirus 19" and David is little NHS...that defeats it.....chops of it's head!!

This year...back to Morecambe one day soon I hope.

Next year back to Spain..I hope!

November 6th Snape Maltings on the river Alde.

It's no wonder that Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten choose Snape to set up their music festival in the old malting buildings.

It's a magic place and I love that we have to go regularly to take the potter's ceramics to the gallery. 

I've taken pics every year for...oh it seems for ever.

and these are a combination of several years of photography. I've picked out my favourite ones.

The ones that take me back there when I look through the photo files.

Day Seven Art Challenge Alan Snape Potter

..and so we reach Day Seven of The Art Challenge for the potter...Alan Snape...

At the closing exhibition of his time studying art at St Martins Lancaster...every piece of work apart from two which we still have...sold! 

At that time Alan was working in wood, metal and ceramic. He was creating wall pieces with burnt wood and metal or clay..... big powerful pieces of art.

 I was always sorry that teaching at Penketh High...stopped all that influence. Too much else to think about...apart from family growingup etc!! 

So the commission for a wall mounted work to be placed in the foyer of the Oaks Centre  in Penketh was welcomed. 

The piece is composed of oak beams burnt in the bonfire, down the field, until charred to his satisfaction. Then formed into various sized crosses and three pure white ceramic balls placed within the sculpture.

If you ask him what it means you will receive a gentle shrug and...

 "what do you think?"

I'm adding this early pic of Alan's car....the beloved Nelly...car...circa 1967...in Rochdale with a friend from St. Martin's College Lancaster, the lovely sister @Rosiemcclellandart and yours truly...how glamorous, how young, how innocent we were!

I kept slim by pushing Nelly to start her most days!!

 

Day Four Art Challenge....Alan Snape

Day Four...Alan Snape's Art Challenge and this Penguin is proudly showing off her/his Venetian crown. 

We spent many happy hours at The Brighton Arts Festival at The Open House of @AnneliesClarke for some years. 

She asked us to consider a Venetian Theme and this is what the potter came up with and very happy we are that he did. 

You can find them in the galleries that supply his ceramics as well as here at The Potters House Penketh......... there are other less theatrical penguins available ........!!

The Rhinoceros

The potter has an uncanny knack of being ahead of the game.....the word game I use lightly!  No football meant.
He produced his first penguins a few months before "The March of the Penguins", arrived on the big screen. The polar bears before the global warming fears were played out on the small screen each night.
The latest animal to emerge from the heat of the kiln...is the rhinoceros.
She...for it is she....is ready for a night on the tiles with nails painted red as she sashays out into the big wide world.
The great white rhino is all but extinct ....I believe only five exist in the world today and they are all in zoos...how sad that man's greed....sale of the magnificent horns...will mean generations to come will not have the joy of knowing this armour clad beast in all her grandeur.

This magnificent creature will be on display at The Gallery Bank Quay House, Warrington from tomorrow in a new exhibition there.

As will this photograph of The Old Girl's Grammar School Palmyra Square Warrington. By your's truly!

 Open until 20th April.....

Five Day Art Challenge....Alan Snape ...potter

Last day of The Five Day Art Challenge for the potter.....
I couldn't let it go by without the penguins marching over the post!!
They have travelled far and near and are still l;eaving the studio on a regular basis!!.....Thankyou Penguins!!

Five day #art #challenge...day three...pelicans!...by the potter..Alan Snape Warrington, England

A pretty pair!!

Blue-booted Camels

...these fine ladies came out of the kiln this morning and into the sun ...

...all-singing...

...all-dancing...

...blue-booted...

...what more could we ask of them!!

...a swing to the left.... 

...curtsey to the right...

...and altogether now with a good ending!!!

Thankyou Ladies!

Ceramic Workshop ...

Today was the first of the summer workshop's...and the sun shone...hooray!

We were able to eat lunch in the garden which is always a treat...

...and the finished work was great. The potter had a few ideas ready for those who were first timers.
But the others came through with lots of creative thoughts...that's what makes the group more and more exciting to work with.

...Anne...

...Bibu...

...Denise...

...Gill...

...Gwen...

...Jim...

...John...

...Barbara...

...Margaret...

...with a little bit of input and advice from the potter!!

...hmm?...blankets?

well it is the north of England..

we are just thankful for the rain to stop and the sun to shine!!!