Fragments
One of the pleasures of our workshop being situated at Carry Farm is proximity to the sea. Constantly dynamic and inspiring, sparkling, grey and blustery, the tide refreshing and sculpting. Our Aunt Mhairi used to live on the shore side at nearby Rhubaan and the beach there was covered with sea worn pottery. When Mhairi died we ‘inherited’ a huge collection of these treasures that she had squirrelled away in her back bedroom.
The process of making ceramics can be nerve wracking. Experience can help reduce disasters but not entirely eliminate them. Opening a kiln after a bisque firing can be disheartening if work has cracked or even totally blown up. The second, or glaze, firing can be the most frustrating however, when a piece appears perfect and then you notice a hair line crack or glaze bubble. This renders the work useless and it has to go under the hammer. A painful experience.
During beach walks I occasionally take a few favourite fragments and leave them at the mercy of the tide, shifting sand and stones. Its satisfying to think that these brightly decorated bits of ceramic might catch the eye of fellow beachcombers.
Maybe future archeologists will find evidence of the location of a pottery, in the form of these sea worn artefacts in the bay, in much the same way the historical processing of shellfish in the nearby fishing village of Tarbert has created “Shell Beach’, covered in beautifully coloured clams and queenies.
We have a selection of new mugs in our website shop. I will try to resist the temptation of the hammer, however the leaf, flower and moon designs would look just perfect joining the 100 year old ‘willow pattern’ shards amongst the periwinkles….
