Ceramic Exhibition at Scot-Art
Alina with her self-portrait!
Stevie Cavana's "This is not Content".
Exhibition layout including my own work.
Niamh Finnigan's work.
A closer view of the wonderful characters Niamh creates.
26th June 2026
After receiving a heads up about an open call for a ceramic exhibition in Edinburgh, I applied and was excited when my AI piece was accepted!
The opening was on Friday 26th June and my friend and I attended. There was a good variety of work, some which I particularly enjoyed were from Lea Harris, her fish and buttons were joyful. Ellis Robertson's piece Venus(Gillette) was nicely made and appealed to me. The curator Alina Litvinova had some really nice scraffito pieces displayed and I was excited to see Niamh Finnigan's work which I had see previously at the RSA.
It was of course an opportunity to chat with some of the other artists about their work and creative process and to talk about what they thought of my work. Interesting conversations regarding human trafficking were had with Adriana Smabrano and on a lighter note the depositing of profanity buttons on certain MSP's desks at the parliament.
Another exhibition was running in the gallery room next door which allowed a mix of painters, drawers and ceramicists to mix and enjoy each other's work. There were some pieces in the art exhibition which I found interesting such as Stevie Cavana's This Is Not Content.
Generally it was a positive experience and up to that point I hadn't been aware of what the Edinburgh Palette seeks to achieve or the Scot-Art organisation. I think it is a great initiative and something I would be interested to be more involved in in the future.
Ellis Robertson's "Venus (Gillette)"
Lea Harris' fabulous fish!
Summer Holiday Sketching
Use it or lose it!
17 June 2026
As the holidays started, I found my sketching had been neglected after an end of term ceramic push. To get back into the groove I chose a flanger pedal as my muse to draw and print it until I got to know it properly. Included in the choice of media was fine liner, pencil, ink and a stick, lino print and oil pastels. I then added in some other items and created a larger still life to add in some perspective challenges. This is something that will span the holidays as part of a wider drawing and painting challenge to myself. When the new term starts the first unit is Life Drawing so I feel that "keeping your eye in" is important to make the best progress possible and not start from a "rusty" position.
more drawing
Ford Pottery Festival
Small but perfectly formed
14 June 2026
The tiny village of Ford in Northumbria was an unexpected location for a pottery festival, but it was worth the visit. There were two main exhibition sites and both pottery and sculptural ceramic works were displayed. Of those makers, I particularly enjoyed the work of Lee Mace who creates work based on Roman dodecahedrons and petrographs and Margaret Nowak whose work connected with the landscape.
Although it was a small festival there was a great buzz and the Ravn Clay studio offers taught sessions, bookable studio time, community firings and some raku events. Hopefully this event will grow and see a broader range of ceramic work exhibited in the future.