The year started with burst pipes and frozen clay stocks; easier to mend pipes than remix all the clay, which separates into veins of ice and hard clay, thawing to a..mess!
The roads were unusable at times, requiring a hike over the fields to reach the studio. You're not always alone in the snow...
This has been a time for work at the wheels, once the clay body was revived by pugging, and experiments with altered thrown forms continue. The rectangular troughs (See a picture in 'Our Work") are promising shapes elevated on various types of feet. Mixing new glaze batches precedes a long glazing session in preparation for packing the first firing of 2011, when we will aim for the ideal soak temperature of 1360 degrees C (Cone 12 flat). Pictures of results to follow...

Tags: Clay Forms Glazes

We have made these high-fired tiles for a client's kitchen. The challenge was to keep them flat during drying and firing. The client wanted warm vibrant colours, so I think these work pretty well.

Another hot firing, with Orton cone 12 flattened after a long soak to 1360 degrees. I'll include a picture ofd these pyrometric cones before and after a firing next time. Here is how this month's kiln looked on dismantling the bricked up door;

We've put some views of these manipulated jars on the Gallery page. They were particularly well fired, which means all the glaze layers had the time and temperature to fuse into an intriguing surface; better in this case than anticipated.

In addition to launching our new website we have been unpacking the latest kiln and inspecting the results. It was a hot firing, soaking at 1360 degreesC, and these hot earth colours seem to relish the heat treatment. New flat jars are an innovation; photographs will appear when we learn how!

www.glynnthomas.com
A gallery of etchings by Glynn Thomas, full-time artist and printmaker living in Capel St Mary, Suffolk.

Been there done that.org.uk
Photographs and interesting historical information about 'Suffolk's prettiest village', Kersey.

Suffolk tourism
A brief description of other historic villages in the area, for anyone planning a day out in Suffolk.

Holiday cottages
Places to stay in Suffolk.

Here is our new web site. We hope you like it.

Our friends at Come Hither Design have put it together for us.

We will try to keep it as up-to-date as possible with our new work and projects.