Time out foraging amongst the hedgerows

Yesterday afternoon Katherine and I went for a walk to Ocean View Beach, and then came back and picked a bowl of blackberries from the bushes along the banks of the creek. Somehow the fattest and juiciest berries are always just out of reach!

Wild blackberries amongst the hedgerows bordering the property

One of my celadon bowls, full of shiny, juicy berries.

Ocean View beach looking towards Blackhead Quarry

Recent Work - Terracotta and Raku

We've had a busy week in the studio now that the weather is hot - Katherine and I did two raku firings over the last two days, with mostly successful results. For the first one, we used long dry grass for the reduction - you can see the pattern it left on my white crackle pot here:

We also used a couple of green copper-based glazes which gave some great 'copper penny' colour flashings. For the second firing we used dry pine needles which put out a lot of dense smoke and turned the unglazed part of the pots a deep black:

I've finished two large terracotta amphoras now and have started on another two - these ones have a rounded shape, including the rims and handles:

One of the great things about working from home at Brighton is taking your lunch break at the beach! Here I am yesterday checking out some of the rock pools and natural swimming holes on the coastline, just a couple of minutes drive away:

More photos on our Flickr photo stream, here.