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

Love hearts, for every season apparently!

I do love making these love hearts!  The raffia is a perfect natural match to the texture of the glazed earthenware. I had thought they would be great for Valentines Day, and for wedding favours..turns out those two events are good for love heart purchasing, but also people have bought them to hang on their Christmas trees.  I hadn't even thought of that..!!  I have since hung a couple on the tree, and I must say it does look rather lovely!
On that note...may I take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful festive season, and may 2017 be a year filled with health, peace and prosperity.
With love,
Kathleen xxx

My love of love hearts and pretty things.

Emptying the kiln the other day, the love hearts were still too hot to lay anywhere but the edge of the kiln, I like the pile up of hearts balancing and cooling on the edge! Using raffia to loop through the hearts is a satisfying job too...the bag of it looks not dis-similar to my hair in the morning...and actually, throughout the day too my "look" isn't kept exclusively for mornings!  I have sent samples to a couple of galleries, and I'm thinking that the small love hearts would make lovely wedding favours.

If you'd like to find out about getting your hands on one, two, or many of the love hearts drop me an email on the link to the right hand side and I'll give you all the information you need!  

"Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul." - Alice Walker

The Influence Of Childhood

This piece of earthenware makes me smile!  As I child I loved to "take my pen for a walk" and then colour in the design that was left. I really enjoyed the making of this piece, each section hand painted with two coats of yellow under glaze, and then finished with two coats of clear glaze.
It was quite a relaxing, meditative experience that took me back to my childhood when hours would pass in the blink of an eye as I was so absorbed in my art.  I love the peace that engulfs me when I'm working with clay.
"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." - Thomas Merton