rachelceramics

until next summer

Until next year goodbye to the gorgeous peonies in my garden, sorry bees I’ve picked them all!

my friend Rachel's vase all the way from Hong Kong to Glasgow — my friend Rachel’s vase all the way from Hong Kong to Glasgow

The albertines [hardy, scented, climbing roses] are still there so the bees aren’t totally deprived of resources. This has been my first summer in Glasgow for three years and it reminds me how much I enjoy gardening, off to Beijing on Wednesday so the weeding will have to wait…

skye road

everyday beijing – floating willow seeds

not necessarily what might be expected of Beijing but it’s quite magical here now – the sun is shining, the air is clear, the trees have exploded with colour and the sky is filled with a gently floating snowfall of cotton wool

amazing old building in our apartment compound, looking gorgeous in pastel shades — old building in our apartment compound, looking gorgeous in pastel shades

marsh mallow pink — marsh mallow blossom

the snow that's made of fluff — the snow that’s made of fluff

I remember cotton wool and you remember sneezing

handmade and vintage pots, lilac from the garden and linocut — handmade and vintage pots, new leaves from the garden and linocut

everyday beijing – bees bicycles chairs children catkins

like hyacinth flowers to bees the Jue creative market on Sunday proved a magnet to image conscious Beijingers, many sporting matching bicycles… bamboo and string

I can hear the bees buzzing through the double glazing kite flying in the carpark knitted creation in the Hutongs children honing their marketting skills according to Robert Macfarlane, the 2008 Oxford Junior Dictionary excluded this list of words “catkin, brook, minnow, acorn, buttercup, heron, almond, ash, beetroot…gooseberry, raven, blackberry, tulip and conker”

blue wall

Hong Kong’s pierced concrete patterns merge with surface designs from 1970s’ tableware in many of the pieces I made whilst living there – not always an easy fit. Now I live in Beijing and vintage elements can be spotted around the city.

Denby jug and linocuts — Denby jug linocuts

Here’s a favourite Hong Kong building – a church in Garden Road – quite hard to photograph on a busy uphill dual carriageway.

According to Jonathan Adler, “the reckless disregard for convention…is completely liberating…When I’m feeling restricted by pottery dogma…I think of the organic, rule-breaking forms…and I feel inspired.”

Some baby blue concrete in Beijing.

this is the garden wall of the embassy of Somalia here in Beijing's diplomatic quarter — this is the garden wall of the embassy of Somalia here in Beijing’s diplomatic quarter

Cylindrical earthenware vessel with pierced holes, scraffito, stencilled coloured slip and copper and cobalt oxide.

Beijing street cat, this one’s pretty cool!

cat in the sunshine

there are so many great vintage pieces of design to inspire – ceramics, textiles, crafts – I guess it’s a subliminal nostalgia thing – I’m drawn to explore the retro theme, to respond with my own work and experiment with juxtapositions that reflect the changing nature of contemporary life and new opportunities and influences…

this Lisa Larsson cat has travelled from Glasgow to Hong Kong to Beijing along with the Hornsea plant pot — this Lisa Larson cat has travelled from Glasgow to Hong Kong to Beijing along with the Hornsea plant pot

the Japanese love Scandinavian vintage design and they publish tons of books and magazines on the subject — the Japanese love Scandinavian vintage design and they publish a plethora of books and magazines on the subject many featuring enticing looking shops as if we need another reason to visit this fabulous country

every cat enjoys a sunny spot, our local coffee shop cat is no exception – it is a friendly and possibly slightly unhygeinic accompaniment to the amazing New York style cheesecake they bake on the premises

ceramic patterns

With plans for studio Beijing, in the year of the goat, to be up and running soon I’m looking over images of some formative pieces as inspiration for the future and a reminder if what’s already been achieved…

sushi plate with fish for Ubi gallery, Beijing

G.O.D. video

Florette website

A very early work from my GSA degree show reappears in Florette's beautiful garden — A very early work from my GSA degree show reappears in Florette’s beautiful garden

bird tiles waiting for some legs to make a coffee table, vintage style circa 1960s

tiles mono-printed with Hong Kong pigeons and gate detail

JCCAC 5th anniversary exhibition - note to self - always put work on a plinth - someone walked backwards into these whilst taking a photo and smashed them like skittles ! — FIVE – JCCAC 5th anniversary exhibition, December 2013 – note to self – always place work on a plinth – someone walked backwards into these whilst taking a photo and smashed them like skittles !

fracturing the concrete rhizome - Unit Gallery , September 2012 — fracturing the concrete rhizome – Unit Gallery , September 2012, I have many macrame plant pot holders waiting patiently for plants in pots to bring them to life…

beijing spring

There’s a tangible sense of excitement in the air here. The skies are clear and the pollution is absent, for the time being at least.

clear evening sky may not last long unfortunately — clear evening sky may not last for long

New Year’s Eve in China

Fireworks exploding in the street – misrule is the order of the night – lit by cigarette. Loud bangs definitely more important than visual display. Fire engines and street cleaners kept constantly busy. The local security guards all posed with fire extinguishers for a photo-op at the start of the night as we live within a historically important – and mostly built of wood – location.

one of the security guards observes fireworks across the road from our apartment on the street — security guard observes fireworks across the road from our apartment

Snow fell and settled briefly, a rare sight in Beijing and evaporated quickly, no lingering ice on the roads, thankfully.

cycling in the snow, hard to spot, you need to squint a little

snowy landscape seen from the airport express — snowy landscape seen from the train

lamma temple flags - the few million people left in Beijing congregated here on New Year's Day — lamma temple flags – the few million people left in Beijing congregated here on New Year’s Day

street crochet outside or apartment — street crochet outside our apartment

As if being on the back of a bicycle in Beijing wasn’t quite hazardous enough, it seems that children sleeping on the way home from school are taking things to a new level, although the traffic is slow and the road surfaces are smooth you really need to have your wits about you as there are no traffic rules here when it comes to cycle lanes.

sleeping child balanced on the trip home from school

The Spring Festival ends with the full moon and of course another full night of fireworks!

a glimpse of the full moon that rounds off the spring festival

And finally some more lanterns…

jingdezhen

The following images are from my visit to the world famous porcelain city in July 2014. Just a short flight away from Shenzhen, we had a great time and saw so much that it’s hard to pick just a few pics that give a small taste of what we saw. Jingdezhen is a truly amazing place that embodies living history not just for China but for the whole planet as ceramics is one of the oldest human activities and there’s a real sense of this in the town. China was obviously way ahead of the curve making ceramics on an industrial scale. I recommend the trip for anyone interested in the making process, not forgetting Britain’s own industrial heritage at Stoke on Trent.

At the ancient kiln museum all the workers are [sorry!] ancient. Here is a carving demonstration, this pot has not been fired so this is a very skilled job, hence the age perhaps.

Yes it's translucent. — Yes it’s translucent.

more intricate carving on a dry infired clay body, this can take months so not making amistake is quite important — more intricate carving on a dry unfired clay body, this can take months so not making a mistake is quite important

moving pots [yes unfired] by manual labour

the tile maker's studio — the tile maker’s studio

making giant pots, connecting sections requires a team of workers [usually topless men with cigarettes]

performers preparing to demonstrate the porcelain orchestra

in the YHA computers speak a universal language

the brush shop owner and inspector of brushes, another revered expert

the "antiques" market, best to get there at 4am if at all possible, we made it at 7 — the “antiques” market, best to get there at 4am if at all possible, we made it at 7

a view of the hills from the pottery workshop

everyday beijing

It’s getting warmer

here but before the ice melted ice skating was enjoyed on this frozen river in the city centre.

Knitting

has become a new fascination for me as a way to explore colour combinations [thank you Kaffe Fassett] and I have discovered a local wool shop where the aunties who run it seem to know which ball of wool I want when I point and speak very rudimentary putonghua. They are no doubt bemused by the fact that I buy one ball of wool in each colour with no reference to type, thickness etc. Some images of knitting in Beijing…and thanks to Joe’s photos of the giant ball of wool xmas tree near Tiananmen Square I have at last made the link and see that it’s appropriate that I have taken up knitting in the year of the sheep!

A ceramic structure at a nearby historic park – the Temple of Heaven- and a luminous green foil car/tin can. Yes there’s a colour connection but so far I haven’t found shiny metallic fibre to knit with.

Spring Festival

is almost here – the local Hutong where we buy most of our veggies has emptied out considerably, many of the usual stalls and restaurants have already closed a week before the event. We have had some debate around whether it’s the year of the goat or the sheep as the word in Chinese is the same, no consensus has yet emerged amongst those whose opinion we’ve sought. There are posters appearing near our flat warning of the dangers of fireworks whilst at the same time a large stall selling fireworks has been erected outside the Workers’ Stadium. More to come on this subject in the next blog.

proliferating numbers of stalls selling fireworks on street corners in Beijing — there are proliferating stalls selling fireworks on the street – yes I am a little worried about what’s to come!

The first image below is of Sham Shui Po, Hong Kong, showing sheep/goats [lama?] or possibly recycled horses from last New Year’s traffic island display and the second gives a taste of red lanterns in Beijing creating a sense of anticipation for the festivities ahead.