21st February 2012
We have just had such a good week-end. We visited The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman exhibition (so thought provoking yet playful) for which Grayson Perry has selected items from the archives of the British Museum collection and displays them alongside some of his ceramic work and his designs in iron, plastic, mixed media and textiles.
www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/grayson_perry.aspx.
Then a two and a half mile walk through the streets of London, (with a minor detour into an occupy protest camp where I thought my husband had been kidnapped but he was only having a chat – well he just disappeared, what was I to think?) led us to Atlantis (on the second floor not under water) www.atlantisart.co.uk/ to buy canvas and gesso for a very large painting I am doing as a birthday present. (I’ll take a photo and post it if it’s any good!)
By then we were hungry and enjoyed an excellent Bangladeshi lunch in the Preem and Prithi restaurant followed by a quick visit to Whitechapel Art Gallery where we gazed at a Rothko – forever hoveringly calm.
What a wonderful Eucharist at St John’s Wood on Sunday www.stjohnswoodchurch.org.uk Thank you every one who contributed to the service, especially the singers – individually amazingly talented – heavenly synergy.

3rd November 2011
My ceramics are now at the centre of a triple award winning Community Woodland!
Rob Taylor, Chair of the Merthyr Tydfil and District Naturalists’ Society, and I travelled to London’s Covent Garden to receive an award for Rebuilding Biodiversity from Biffawards http://www.flickr.com/photos/biffaward/sets/72157628082942549/
The other 2 awards were collected in July, at the Royal Welsh Show, both for Best Community Woodland: the Gold award and the Meirion Davies Memorial Perpetual Challenge Cup. It is great to be a volunteer in an organisation that gives so much back, not just to the community and the environment but also to its volunteers.

October 27th
I am making another award. The focus is an indoor climbing centre http://adventures.rockuk.org/centres/summit-centre that is just about to have a major refurbishment. I always make 2 awards in case of mishaps and kiln failures. They are both looking good. I have taken inspiration from the weird and wonderful curvy shapes of the handholds that are strategically placed on the metres high wall. I visited the Summit Centre last week and was too scared to try the practice wall centimetres from the ground!
Visit www.galerieimagine.fr/galerie. Steve uses basic raw materials with such creativity.

‘The faces were heavily inspired by my friend Alison Richards, a wonderful potter from Merthyr Tydfil – visit her at www.alisonrichardsceramics.com . They will happily hang on a garden wall – ‘a garden angel’ for the home! ’

Thank you Steve. The dish you made us, that stands on impossibly long legs, still delights and amazes us.

September 20th. Another good firing! Phew! My brother commissioned 3 bowls each with a different quote added to the outside. I took them from the kiln on Saturday, he collected them on Sunday. The deadline was tighter than comfortable!

29th July. I am pleased that the 'thinking heads' have survived the rigors of the kiln's intense heat - so many angles and joins. The Architectural Stoneware clay from Scarva is great to work with - be prepared to build slowly: three or four coils per day. For me, coiling is a great wind-down at the end of the day, I love it!

June 29 Two more customers from the Merthyr Tydfil Business Club awards last night! Fantastic evening with Roy Noble as compere and fabulous live music. We danced until the small wee hours!

I love working with the chocolate brown clay to create gentle sculptural curves. The curved, pierced, upright edge of the dish is inspired by the 14 arches of Crawshay's viaduct which marches acroos the Taf Valley. When the clay is fired it has the appearence of darkly coloured beaten iron. The halo of white in the centre is made by spraying glaze through a pierced pebble pot. I have sold this dish with it's accompanying pierced sphere and am enjoying making two more.

I have now completed the four head sculptures. They are drying quietly in my dining room which has a cave like environment whatever the weather: excellent for the slow drying of large sculptural pieces.

I recently completed a commission for Wirral Boys Grammar School, the "Book of Knowledge". I am creating a new sculptural form that is a development of the Garden Angel sculpture.

I am back working with clay after three months of support for the Merthyr Tydfil and District Naturalists. We have been working to develop woodland near to Merthyr Tydfil: Penmoellalt a woodland lost in time. You can see some of our achievements on the website www.merthyrnats.org.uk