Trees, their bark and clay.

I'm very lucky to live in a beautiful part of the world, with a garden full of mature plants and trees...lots of trees!
All my life I have found great comfort from the stability and familiar texture of trees.  Growing up I lived near a woodland and would often wander off the well worn path and lie down among the trees gazing in awe at their strength and beauty.
Now, in my relatively "new" life as a ceramicist I just love creating texture on my artwork. Clay is such a wonderful material to work with, currently I'm working on an idea involving making impressions in the clay from the living trees in my garden and firing them into ornamental pieces.
I will update you as this idea becomes a reality!
"Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind.
Their leaves are telling secrets. Their bark sings songs of olden days as it grows around the trunks.  And their roots give names to all things.  
Their language has been lost.
But not the gesture." - Vera Nazarian.

The Calm After The Storm

There's a storm brewing in my head. In order to quieten and make sense of the chaotic churning up of my creativity I need to take time to write down my thoughts and make plans.

I'm still finding my particular creative style...but what I'm certain of is this:

I love ceramics and wool.
I love texture.
I love taking photographs of the world around me.
I love silence.

So I'm going to combine all my loves into my creative life.
The desire to create is driven by a need to express myself without words - because words have always been the only  way I expressed myself or felt understood.

And now it's time to work silently instead.

"The starting point for creativity is silence...the creative soil of silence, where can be found the seed-states of all things." - David Spangler

My Button Love

Who knew that making buttons would be so much fun?! There's something special about knowing that what I'm creating is going to be a small, but crucial part of something else.
I was really excited to be asked by Marj from Highland Celtic Art ( www.highlandcelticart.co.uk ) to provide some large buttons to be used on her beautiful tweed handbags.
I'm using my ceramic buttons on crocheted and felted cushions....a work in progress, and yes of course I'll upload photos of them when they're finished...just try and stop me!
The photo opposite shows the colour range..so if you need buttons for your favourite cardigan, or if you want to up-cycle an old coat, drop me an email kmkceramics@gmail.com and I'll get the right buttons made for you!
Love, Kathleen x

My Love Of Clay & Wool

I'm managing to combine my love of clay with my love of wool by adding my handmade ceramic buttons to my handmade crocheted cushions.  A splash of colour against the natural wool from my friend Mary's sheep on the island of Islay. I'm loving bringing both elements together.
I'll post a photo of the finished product on here soon!
Today I've been working on building my website, but my goodness just when I think I've  mastered the process I hit another stumbling block - but I'm not deterred, truth be told I'm not deterred because I have a support lady called Dorothy who will call me on Monday to talk me through what I need to do to fix the hiccups!
I'm hoping the website will be up and running within the next week or so...fingers crossed.
Wishing you all a happy, creative, fun, fulfilling weekend!
Love, Kathleen x

A New Year: Letting Creativity Flow

First of all....Happy New Year!  May 2017 be filled with health, prosperity and as much arty / creative content as you desire!
I've decided to build an online shop through my Facebook page...see link at the side of my blog.  It's a work in progress, but really easy (for me!) to build bit by bit.  If you wanted to buy something from the on-line shop you'd just email me on kmkceramics@gmail.com or send me a private email message on my Facebook page.
Having been in Canada talking with my lovely friend Lindsay (she's also a rellie..one of those cousins twice removed, sunny side up, my Grannies brother was her Great-Grandad concoctions) I left feeling inspired as we chatted over ideas on developing my new life as a ceramicist.
I'm really excited about the twists and turns that lie ahead as I get myself settled into a daily routine of creativity. Thank you for joining me!
"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." - Maya Angelou