Digging on gravel pits by the thames.
Walks with Thomas F Rosin.
(happy birthday yo)
Lighter moments from my travels.
Kinder Scout
Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. I’m not usually into the christmas thing but this place was flippin magical.
tsingy de bemaraha national park, a unesco world heritage site in western madagascar, is home to lemurs who, with thick pads on their hands and feet, navigate this six hundred square kilometer labyrinth of three hundred foot tall razor sharp limestone pillars.
photographer stephen alvarez remarked, “it’s an unbelievable experience to watch them [as] they jump like acrobats from the sharp pinnacles” — a feat made more remarkable given the vast chasm bellow.
in the malagasy language, tsingy means “where one cannot walk barefoot,” and alvarez noted that given the difficulty of the terrain, it takes an entire day to walk half a mile.
lemurs, like ninety percent of the species in madagascar, are endemic to the island, and, thanks to the isolation of this near impenetrable refuge, have evolved into tsingy’s eleven distinct species, including the decken’s sifaka seen here.
looks like a fluffy little astronaut
QUALITY
Since reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance I have been fascinated with the idea of quality. It comes up a lot as I research definitions and understandings of Craftsmanship. Today I came across this quote by John Ruskin:
"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, the cumulative experience of many masters of craftsmanship. Quality also marks the search for an ideal after necessity has been satisfied and mere usefulness achieved."
“Above all, she went on thinking, she understands life because she is not sufficiently intelligent not to understand it.”
Started reading Near to the Wild Heart yesterday after a long day walking around the peaks. I can feel my lifeblood being restored.
“She felt like a dry branch, sticking out of the air. Brittle, covered in old bark. Maybe she was thirsty, but there was no water nearby. And above all the suffocating certainty that if a man were to embrace her at that moment she would feel not a soft sweetness in her nerves, but lime juice stinging them, her body like wood near fire, warped, crackling, dry.”
― Clarice Lispector, Near to the Wild Heart
Hanging out with the guys
Now the plates are pressed and have had a bit of an airing it's time to turn them on the wheel and make them all trim and proper. I'm working my way through them, nine done 21 to go. So many podcasts needed for this project, but by the end i'll have all the plates and bizarre facts needed for a helluva dinner party.
Project: Hang Ups
Currently working on a plate display project, making hangable plates! I've been Throwing lots of different forms and now i'm having a go at using a hydraulic press. It's such a great piece of kit!
Here are some pictures of my first thirty hot off the press. I'm trying out an architectural body thats very groggy, a stoneware, white earthenware and terracotta. Tomorrow i'll be turning them on the wheel ready for the first firing!
Came home after a day of shooting around the kent coast and found so many pictures of railings. they are particularly good railings though no?
Washed out Whitstable, 2015
Studies, Whitstable, Reculver and Westgate Bay. 2015
Reculver 2015
IGHTHAM MOTE. 2015
Patches of rare winter light.
PATHWAYS TO THE SEA.
Whitstable 2015
CLICK HERE to support Close-Knit: A Documentary Film →
Some friends of mine are trying to raise funds to make a documentary about the textile industry. They also made this short film about growing clothes from sctach in London, its really inspiring stuff.
workshop dream light
plates in progress