We have a winner!

Below is a report from the wonderful Philippa Abbott of Phileigh's Cakes. Phil is the best friend a gal could have, she sent me this knowing that I would be going crazy not knowing what was happening at the degree show. Enjoy her account of the night, I know I did.

Hi Lil!
Well we arrived to find a mass of people in the foyer of the Glass
Centre which was not what we were expecting. It was jam packed!
Unfortunately we missed all of the talk about how amazing you all are
and missed you getting your prize. But Daniel told us all about it and
I have to say that I was not at all surprised! You deserve it! We
walked through the glass history exhibition not really knowning where
we were being taken but were amazed when we saw the room! It was
beautiful, and full of amazing art.
I told my Mam to "Look out for terracotta" to which she immediately
responded "There!" and there were your lovely little men on the floor
sitting in their circle. We were totally amazed at them and spent so
much time looking at all their faces. We wondered what was going
through your mind when you did them but as soon as we read the little
blurb about it in the catalogue we totally understood it! It wasn't
long before I saw people pointing and commenting and taking loads of
photos! My Mam was a little worried about them getting hurt because
they were quite vulnerable on the floor, but her threat to kill anyone
who knocked them didn't have to become reality! We met your Mam who we
chatted to, and as usual my Mam told her how lovely you are and how
much we loved your piece. Then we saw Daniel who told me all about how
poorly sick you are, which made me sad. But I was plesantly surprised
to hear that he seemed to be taking very good care of you which made me
a lot more settled.
I recognised some of the names on the pieces and some of the faces I
saw around and about. Some of our other favourite pieces were Alice's
birds, Helen's wall piece with the black pictures on clear glass, Emma
Hollin's piece, Emma Evett's piece which we decided we would like as an
ornament and Julie's pots and jars were also lovely. However, all of
you clearly put a lot of work into your pieces and each was fantastic
in their own right.

It is safe to say that all your efforts and hard work paid off and
everyone was amazed at the work you guys had produced and were
thoroughly enjoying themselves. You did yourself and everyone else
proud! I appologise for not being the best photographer on planet earth
but I hope you can see that your piece looked amazing and that there
were a lot of people there to see it. Well done Lil! Love you! xxxxx

I think it's only fair to say that Philippa obviously wins one of my little men for her sheer awesomeness. Today and tomorrow are the last days you can see the show, get on down to the National Glass Centre!

Big day

Tomorrow is the big day; my degree show. Under ordinary circumstances I'd be excited. I'd have an outfit picked out and I'd have my magic clipboard with all the jobs I need to do outlined on it.
All that changed on Sunday. I had to go to hospital because a pilonidal abscess I was diagnosed with last Thursday started giving me far more pain than it should have. Hours of discomfort later I was admitted over night and expecting surgery in the morning. Everything went well and I came back to Daniel's on Tuesday ready to recover.
Part of the healing process is that everyday the packing in the wound has to be changed. This mostly leaves me a quivering wreck for the rest of the day.
I'm only really comfortable lying down. But mostly I'm upset that I won't be able to go to the opening. I worked hard for this show, I helped raise the money, choose the invites, publicise it and put my work in it. And tomorrow I won't be able to celebrate all that work. We had a little party on Friday when all the work was installed but I was in too much pain then to really join in. I can't imagine being in better shape tomorrow.
So- I need photojournalists. I need bloggers. I need tweeters. I need anyone with a smart phone or a good memory to go to the opening night tomorrow at the National Glass Centre from 6 o'clock and tell me what happened. Best tweet, facebook status or blog about the event wins one of my little men. If you tweet it use the hashtag #gac2012, if you're facebooking it pop a link on the event page and if you're blogging it send me a link through the comments or to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk .
Have a look at our facebook event or check out our website.

Meet and Greet- Amy Edmondson

This weeks Meet and Greet is Amy Edmondson, Amy is new to our class and has flung herself into it, she's a considerate little soul and (I think) that's what makes her work so haunting.

Use five words to describe your work

Representative

Laborious

Personal

Fragile

Technical

How do you make your pieces?

In autumn I collect the fallen sycamore seeds like a crazy woman, scratching around in the leaves. Once they're dry I systematically hang each one up and coat it with my own blend of porcelain paper clay slip. I then remove the seed pod from the bulb and place it on a tile to be fired. If they're going to be glazed I drop very watery glaze inside them and put them in sand to stop the glaze sticking to anything. 

What makes your work different from everybody else’s?

This work has really gotten to the heart of a lot of things in my life. While I've been working on it, a lot of things have changed but it couldn't be more current or appropriate. I never wanted to make a piece of work which was personal but that is definitely what makes the work different from everybody elses. Rightly or wrongly, I've put 22 years worth of feelings into it meaning it has more aspects to it than I care to remember! It deals with issues from when I was much younger to things which bother me daily. I hope when the work is complete and constructed I can accept the inspiration  behind it.

 If you had to work in any other medium, what would it be?

Pen and paper. No question. Although not in terms of writing but drawing. I love how permanent a drawing in ink is. When you put pen to paper you and truely committing your vision to paper without being able to easily alter it like pencil allows.  Drawing is so portable, it's a beautiful tool, allowing you to record places and events in a completely unique and deeply personal way. 

What is the biggest challenge you face with your work?

I had the idea of porcelain sycamore seeds long before I knew whether it was possible. I spent months figuring out that porcelain paper clay was the best medium to cover them, then started making my own ratios of porcelain to paper pulp.  Once I'd deduced the best ratio I experimented with the number of layers and application method. I tried different firing temperatures and positions in the kiln; small changes here made all the difference. Finally I needed to engineer a way of getting the glaze inside the seed and preventing it from sticking to the shelf during firing. Although the early stages of the work were by far my biggest challenge I preservered and either over came or found ways to work around all the teething problems. Although frustrating at the time I am incredibly greatful for them. I have an appreciation for the tiny seeds I don't think I would have gained any other way.  To many people this might sound like the most dull process but I work in quite a scientific, structured way and it couldn't have been better suited to that.

The personal aspect to my work is something I'm not used to and as such I've found it quite hard to deal with. I've shyed away from talking about the real meaning behind my work and in a lot of ways I still am. I know very shortly I'm going to have to put it out there to either be accepted or over looked as another bit of conceptual rubbish. 

 How do you want people to react to your work?

I suppose it's the obvious thing to say but I really want people to consider the work in order to deduce its meaning (in that case maybe I should've made it more clear). I whole-heartedly believe everyone could take something from the concept behind the work. Although its very personal its important people look beyond that at how it can affect and hopefully improve their life rather then how it fits into mine. 

Check Amy's work out at our degree show site and visit her blog for more info. Don't forget to see her work in person at our degree show from the 15th of June at the National Glass Centre.

Going, going, gone!

The silent auction is over, if you won, someone will contact you to let you know. Thanks for all your bids and support, we all appreciate it. We raised enough to make sure all the students fundraising can pay the stand fee so everyone will be at New Designers with bells on.

Thanks to everyone who bidded and everyone who donated pieces, we're very thankful and very lucky.

Lot 31- Mike Holden

This piece was donated by Mike Holden a level three student who (although fundraising for New Designers by himself) kindly donated this blown bowl to our silent auction. Ta Mike!

Mike is an amazing hot glass artist, whether he's working in the hot shop or in lamp-working his work is full of thoughtfulness and awareness of design principals. He'll be exhibiting at New Designers so if you don't get a chance to snap up this lovely bowl check out his work then.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk
 Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 25- Leah Dennis

This piece was donated by level three student Leah Dennis. Leah will be exhibitng a collection of slip-cast pigs heads with her signature labour-intensive prints enammeled onto their surface.

This print is a brilliant example of Leah's attention to (and love of) detail.


If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk
 Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 24- Julie Cox

Lot number 24 was donated by Julie Cox. Julie is a level three student who isn't showing her work at New Designers but was generous enough to donate this piece, a small ginger jar.

Julie has a passion for conservation in the arts and her work reflects an admiration of past makers and an interest in new techniques and technologies.


If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk
 Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lots 19-23- Chris McHugh

Lot 19- Chris McHugh

Lot 20- Chris McHugh

Lot 21- Chris McHugh

Lot 22- Chris McHugh

Lot 23- Chris McHugh

These pieces were donated by Chris McHugh, currently undertaking his PhD Chris's work is an amazing combination of elements that these luggage-tag sized pieces show off wonderfully.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 18- Colin Rennie

This lot was donated by the inimitable Colin Rennie. Colin does a thousand jobs in the Glass and Ceramics department, along with introducing the students to hot glass, 3D modelling and innovative ways of wearing t-shirts (once both inside out and back to front) he's also mentored nearly every student in the third year. His real title is Programme Leader but let's just call him Yoda.

This piece is entitled Negative Entropy and is a print based on Colin's piece in the National Glass Centre show Kith & Kin.



If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 16- Phoebe Gasston

This piece was donated by Phoebe Gasston, a level three student who specialises in hot glass.

She'll be exhibiting work from this collection at New Designers, it's entitle Breathing Spaces and is inspired by the calm and chaos found in nature.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 15 & 17- Alice Thatcher

Lot 15- Alice Thatcher, porcelain paper crane, 2012

Lot 17- Alice Thatcher, folded paper print, 2012

These lots were donated by Alice Thatcher a third year student at the University of Sunderland. If you want to read my interview with Alice you can do so here.

Alice's love of origami and porcelain means her work is this wonderful combination of graphic imagery and technical know-how. She'll be exhibitng her porcelain paper cranes at New Designers in June.

Lot 14- Lily Daniels

Lot 14 is by me! A wood-fired salt-glazed figure with oxide details. It's from this firing and is entitle Up. 


I'm gonna be exhibiting this work at New Designers and am stupid amounts of excited.


If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 13, 26 & 27- Jenna Barcroft

Lot 26, Jenna Barcroft Autumn Leaves, print on paper with frame, 2012

Lot 27, Jenna Barcroft, Cool Leaves, print on paper with frame, 2012

Lot 13, Jenna Barcroft, Button shoes, ladies size 6 shoes with buttons, 2012

These pieces were donated by Jenna Barcroft, a level three student. Jenna's work is bright, vibrant and not at all limited to glass and ceramics.

Lot 26  Autumn Leaves is similar in form but not content to lot 27 (the second image ) Cool Leaves. These multi-layered prints are similar to the bulk of work Jenna will be exhibiting at New Designers.

Lot 13 are a pair of shoes with buttons embellished all over them, they're a ladies size 6 and completely wearable.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 11- Jack Dawson

This piece was donated by Jack Dawson art history lecturer at the University of Sunderland. Jack's love of design and hatred of Ikea has inspired his students and we're massively thankful for his donation to our fundraising efforts.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lots 8, 9 & 10- Christopher Wharton goldsmiths & Tricia Green

These two pieces are the ring (lot 8) and the earrings (lot 9) pictured above. They were kindly donated by Christopher Wharton goldsmith. They are sterling silver and really quite exquisite, if you need accurate measurements or more details get in touch.

Lot 10 was donated by the lovely Tricia Green who is just about the loveliest person ever. I'll see if I can't get a better picture of the necklace and upload that, this one doesn't do it justice.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 7 & 12- Wearside Glass

This pieces were kindly donated to the auction by Wearside Glass Sculptures who are based in the National Glass Centre.

What these guys don't know about lampworking! Master craftsman and gentlemen if ever there were any. Lot 7 is a lovely model of the Angel of the North and lot 11 is a wine bottle stopper.


If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot 6- Amy Edmondson

This piece was donated by Amy Edmondson, a level three student who joined our team this year and has launched herself into life in the National Glass Centre.

Amy's work is incredibly intricate, she works with imagery from nature and turns it into something truly stunning. This botanical print is such a beautiful example of how she works. Next week Amy will be my Meet and Greet interview, so if you like it, bid on it and come read what she has to say about her work then.

She'll also be exhibiting her piece Where we Fall at New Designers.


If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lots 4 & 5- Alice Hounslow

These pieces were donated by level three student Alice Hounslow who works with kiln cast glass. Alice will be exhibiting at New Designers with The Forgotten Heroes a collection based around the suffering of war horses.

These pieces are quite small and very intricate, if anyone came to last years Dry Run you might have seen them then.

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot number Two & Three- Helen Stafford

These pieces were kindly donated by level three student Helen Stafford, you can read more about Helen's love of print and the antique on this very blog in an interview Helen was kind enough to partake in. 

I want to point out that Helen isn't going to New Designer's, she's just a lovely person who was kind enough to donate some work. 

If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Lot number One- Jeffrey Sarmiento

This piece was kindly donated by Jeffrey Sarmiento, you can also see his work through the Bullseye Gallery site.

This piece was made using fused and waterjet-cut glass (of which, Jeff is the king).
 To the international glass scene Jeff is important, to the students at the University of Sunderland, he's the lecturer who inspires you to not only go the extra mile, but once you've done that, kick the mile's ass, print on it and slump it in a kiln.

 If you're interested in this piece either comment below with your contact details and your bid or email the same info to lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk
 Like all the work on sale, the proceeds all go to getting level three students to New Designers in London. Happy Bidding!

Silent Auction

This June a group of twelve students from the University of Sunderland Glass and Ceramics BA course will be exhibiting at New Designers. It's a massive deal for us, it's our first exhibition outside of university and means we'll have a chance to showcase our work to hundreds of people.

Like all things, it doesn't come cheap. For the most part, we're putting our student loans to task and funding things ourselves, but the reality of the situation for most is that they can't do it by themselves. We've put together a silent auction with work from our class and work donated by UoS practicing artists. If you can't get along to this amazing event then here's a chance to get involved.

Lot no. 1-Jeffrey Sarmiento- Police, waterjet cut glass

I'll be posting images of work for sale through our silent auction here, and if you're interested in bidding, email me at lilydaniels@hotmail.co.uk with which items you're interested in, how much you'd like to bid and your contact info.

Wanderings

I've been playing with my little people! Thanks to Sarah Jeffs' skills as an intern I've been able to produce nearly all the figures I wanted for the degree show. And on Monday I had a chance to figure out how they'll look in the degree show.

I'm thinking it'd be great to have a space people could stand in and be surrounded by the figures, a couple of people tried and got fairly freaked out. Roll on June 15th!

Meet and Greet with Fran Aggio

How do you make your work?

I coil the body of the vessel using stoneware and then apply detail using porcelain paperclay. The contrast of the two clays and how they react to each other during firings works really nicely and fits in well with the theme of my piece.

What makes your work different from anyone elses?

I made it! No, its different due to its personal nature. This work, to me is putting my feelings about many things in my life into a vessel and presenting it to the world. Essentially it is a self portrait, even though this was unintentional.

There are so many artists using the human form, especially the female form in their work, but this feels more like a kind of homage to me (and I mean that in the least self obsessed way ever, because thats totally how it sounds) which, again, was never the intention. It helps that when you make a large scale piece of work, people automatcially try and relate it in terms of their own physicality. 

If you had to work in any other medium, what would it be?

I think maybe metal? i'd love to see what could be achieved using rusty steel and bits of old junk, arranged in a similar way. 

What is the biggest challenge you face with your work?

Admitting that this work is about me. I have put a lot of my life experiences into these pieces, good and bad and the idea of telling others what it is actually about terrifies me. I see this as weakness and cant help but be slightly ashamed by it.

How do you want people to react to your work?

What I want and what will happen are two completely different things. I want people to relate to the idea of struggle and entrapment and sexuality and all of the other things that this work is about, but what I actually think will happen is one of two things.
1 - people will see my work, read my statement and go, oh thats about bondage, she must be a weird sex freak or

2. People will see the work, and go, riiight, two pots with rope on...I don't get it. Oooh there's some shiny glass over there!!!

Meet and Greet

nterview with Lois Maude Blacklock, ceramic artist and history buff.

Lois Maude Blacklock talks to me about her work and inspirations.

Use five words to describe your work

Fragile, Emotive, Vacant, unpolluted, melancholy

o What makes your work different from everybody else’s?

I guess everyone is always surprised when I explain the concept behind my work. The last few years my work has had a recurring theme of Tudor history. This is not something that is explored necessarily in modern art and certainly not ceramics. I also enjoy bringing other materials into my work, I don’t like to be tied down to one material, I find that far too limiting.

o If you had to work in any other medium, what would it be?

Before I specialized in ceramics I had my heart set on textiles. It has been my main focus throughout school and college. This stemmed through my love of fashion, although I quickly found that having an interest in something and pursuing it as a career are two completely different things! I found that I was better as an admirer of fashion rather than a maker.    

o What is the biggest challenge you face with your work?

The themes of my work are quite unusual by modern art standards. I tend to take inspiration from historical events, particularly anything Tudor. I find solace in history, particularly English history. Everything was a certain way, there is a definite action. History is sturdy, art is not. I guess this juxtaposition makes my whole process a little more palatable, the concept will always be definite, the representation in ceramics is the challenge.

o How do you want people to react to your work?

I want them to be genuinely interested. A big ask for a stuffy theme, but I hope that my work has enough of a fresh outlook that people will want to know the back story.

Lois will be exhibiting at the National Glass Centre from the 15th of June to the 21st of June. Find more about her work through her blog at crazyclaylady.blogspot.com

Drawing

I've mentioned it before, but I truly loath drawing. Mainly because I can't draw. Or, to be more accurate, I can't draw how I'd like.

 If I could draw how I liked this blog would be full of intricate, smooth, graphic illustrations. 

It is not. It is full of chicken scratchings and cave-drawing. 

Over the past three years I've came a lot closer to making peace with that. But another thing I hate about drawing is white paper. I had a thoroughly un-helpful art teacher who once told me "It's not art if I can still see the paper."

The pressure to leave no white left just freaks me out, so, over Easter I've been playing with using other materials. Brown paper and terracotta tiles to be precise. 

Much happier work spews forth! Off to the reclamation yard to get more yummy tiles.