February 17, 2008

Make Way For Chickens


Yesterday, after posting that print of Mike's I realized that there is some sort of bird thing happening around here. Could it be that I'm a bird watcher? If you're a potter and bird watcher too, kind reader, do you use bird imagery? Please leave your comments. I love hearing from you and tell us where you're writing from. Here's a picture of our aracana hen, Silky.

14 comments:

  1. There's a bit of a botany thing going on too - with your leaf and flower motifs.

    I'm not sure I count as a potter, as such, but I am a birdwatcher (not a particularly good one though), and a bit of an amateur botanist, and I like birds and plants on pots, so I can have the fun of working out what on earth they might be.

    I like Mike's print - and your marked pots too.

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  2. Hey Potterboy, you're way too modest, you make great pots. Michael, I spend all day being distracted by my bird table and I have drawn birds on my pots in the past although not often, who knows, maybe this week with the scratching thing.

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  3. Just thought, I've been doing chicken moneboxes recently, all these chickens, I reckon we're all going clucking crazy

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  4. BawwwK, Bok, Bok. Rave on lunatic potters. We have to be a little crazy to be making pots in these times. I just keep loving the spin I'm in.

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  5. Hi Michael -- I'll chime in and say I've been using some birds in my work: chickens, actually! I just found your blog thru doug's (which is great reading as well) - you have a lot of interesting things to explore! It's wonderful the way blogs allow birds of a feather to find each other and learn about so many interesting approaches to clay. I'll have to look out for your next clay contest and check back on your new studio construction...

    -Kip O'Krongly (from Pittsburgh these days)

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  6. I think I meant not a commercial potter.

    Cluk cluk cluk cluk...

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  7. I like to watch all the birds we have around here and they have worked their way into my pots a little, mainly on the animal jars, then they sort of generic representations of the birds I see.
    I guess have been drawing birds in my journals for a long time. The chickens are fun. We don't keep any at this time but are talking about getting some.
    I've enjoyed working the drawings into the earthenware pots I'm trying.
    chirp, chirp

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  8. Oh and I've made a few bird figurines that were certainly inspired by Shawn Ireland.

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  9. Kip, thanks for chiming in, it's good to hear from you. Shawn has made some really nice bird candlesticks.
    Doug, what's a monebox?

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  10. They used to make them in the country potteries here in the nineteenth century, if you scroll back on my blog to 2nd Feb you can see one of mine complete with chickens

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  11. I remember that pot now. It's really a particular pot. I find it interesting that to get the money out one would have to break the pot. I guess you can use a knife. Have you seen some old ones? Are they chipped around the opening? Are there any on the web you could direct me to besides yours?

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  12. There's a wonderful one in Liverpool Museum that has three chambers, like three onions on top of each other, for pounds, shillings and pence. I've just made two that are going in the next firing. I've got a couple of little 19th century country pottery money boxes but not with chickens on. I guess the expensive ones were treasured and the cheapy ones smashed.

    I found one on the web, they weren't a fiddly as mine. I'm glad I looked because there are some other lovely pots on this site too.
    http://www.finanandco.co.uk/April2002.htm#ceramics

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  13. I really love that form, I've added it to my list of pots to make for my next "burn". As soon as I get out of the infirmary. We've all come down a horrible flu bug. Thanks for that link.

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