Commissions Progress Report

Im getting used to the plaques now, it seems as though Ive done a lot lately. They are a headache though, getting the damn things to stay straight whilst drying then into the kiln and who knows what shape they will go in there, Ive had a few go bendy which is so disappointing!
Ceramics should come with warning signs which go something like "Not for control freaks" or "expect the unexpected!" because thats all it really is. I don't feel like I have much control after loading it all into the kiln, its just going to do what its going to do, happy accidents and not so happy ones.
Well this is one that didn't come out looking tortilla shaped!

I am super pleased with this one, nice and flat and the leaves are just lovely.
I hope they like it!!

This is the plaque just after scratching the initial lettering.

More house signs, this one is for someones gate

and a larger one for their house.

I thought I had divorced myself from this kind of work,
 but clearly not yet.
A few years ago I made the fish at the top along
 with two others for a lady
who wanted one for each of her children.
Then she had another one and wanted another plaque for Lailey.
Fortunatly I still had the tool to make it and a bit of the clay
used and the same glazes.

Kiln Fresh

I am finished making Christmas things now. 

I scaled down a lot last Christmas and decided to just make a few christmas related items that I liked making and using as gifts and hanging on my own Christmas trees as I was beginning to feel like a christmas making factory, and a conveyor belt of things I got fed up with making came spilling out of my workshop, not to mention how much space they were all taking up.

 So scaling down has been definitely a good decision to make and well, I cope with Christmas orders better and just like it a whole lot more again.

This is what I have been making this year.

White clay stars
Folksy Shop

White clay bird tags
Folksy and Not on the high street

Blue print block ceramic tiles
Not on the high street

Terracotta Christmas trees
Not on the high street

Scandinavian Dala Horses
Not on the high street

Folksy



And this is it!!!

Commisions before Christmas

Here are some of the commissions I have been working on over the past few weeks. They have mostly gone to their new homes now so its a bit of a delayed blog. Here are the plaques anyway.

This is a lace impressed porcelain bowl with the lettering of  a newborn baby girl.

These are room plaques which are designed to hang on doors.

This commission was an interesting one, the lady it was made for was forever being woken up during the day by delivery companies, cold callers and the like and needed something to hang on her door that she could just turn around when she wanted to sleep during the day.

I have made many of these over the years, they are little ceramic tiles measuring 4cm x 4 cm with tiny writing with the name date and time of the babies birth. I don't do these very much now as the frames are harder to source, but this was for someone who bought one before, so I couldn't refuse. I have decorated the inside with patterned papers.

There is a story behind this one, the photo below shows why. Originally I made Sharon's shed but since then Sharon's other half has slowly taken over her shed and now houses Adrian's bike amongst his other things. So Sharon has asked for it to become Adrian's shed, hence why Sharon's name has been crossed out!
Sadly though this commission developed a hairline crack at the bottom which annoyingly just cracked on the surface and not right through.
So aggravating!
For more house plaques and commissions click here.