So excited to see my acer serving bowl gracing the page of Ceramic Review this issue. Such a shock I nearly dropped my coffee! It’s featured in an advertorial for the British Craft Trade Fair which I’m taking part in next month. So pleased, it’s a new design in my hand painted and sgraffito decorated earthenware range.
As the Crow Flies studio has been busy of late after some frustrating time off with a slipped disc…
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Had the pleasure of going home to Fife for a week last month and took up a load of wares and commissions to show and sell to friends and family. Aside from the excitement of our triple birthday (me, my dad and my brother-in-law share the same date and traditionally blow out our candles together, something I wouldn’t miss for the world), it was great to share what I’ve been doing over the past 6 months with everyone.
Just a quick post to share some images of a couple of pieces of commission work I have recently finished… a great pleasure to make and so nice to have the opportunity to really stretch out the creative juices.
Number one is a bespoke set of nasturtium illustrated earthenware – 2 large mugs and a serving bowl…
Number two some Birds in Flight sgraffito decorated stomeware bowls…
Well, much as I am enamoured of the ceramics world… I’ve taken a step into the unknown and started a collection of illustrated tea towels, carrying my original designs, in time for the Christmas market season.
Very excited about this – my stock is due to arrive from Bryan Franks next week and then I will be getting busy packaging them in the pretty wrappers I’ve been designing ready for the first market of the winter – Stroud Farmers’ market on the 1st November.  Going to have to find some suitably placed aga and do a photo shoot of my new products when they get in… hoping they live up to my expectations!
Below are jpegs of the 3 designs currently in production: Peacock Textile; Harvest Swifts and Squirrels and What the Blackbird Saw… all designs ©As the Crow Flies.
Genesis of a set of flamingo bowls – a really lovely commission and a fun illustration challenge…
Slides show the journey from initial sketching to slip and sgraffito illustration, freehand onto the earthenware bowls I threw; then the bisque ware and the final glazed result.
The prickly Scottish thistle. A fine prickly challenge… and pleased with the results too. Part of a commissioned body of work, a pair of personalised thistle bowls emerged from the kiln a couple of days back. This was their process: A starting sketch, mainly just out of my imagination after scanning through some photos and vintage wallpaper designs. I find it’s better to draw without pictures for direct reference – a more personal interpretation can be more satisfying. After all, it’s what is signified in my mind that matters as I am aiming for decoration and essence rather than photorealism.
The idea is then sketched straight onto the slip painted earthenware, using a build up of coloured underglaze layers…
…and then the image is defined by picking out sharply contrasting sgraffito lines, below.
The finished items, you can see the personalisation in the final picture – this was part of a commission for a family of bowls. A lot of good fun work.
Starting to explore more botanical ideas on my illustrated earthenware. Just enjoying picking up on what’s around me as I walk around the studio, it may be in Barton Hill but there are still loads of spring blossom trees and other inspirations… this is a little apple blossom journey that turned into a couple of mini espresso cups and will be rolled out onto bowls etc if the design works well after glazing…
As the Crows Fly 
