Exhibition opening today at Peter Potter Gallery, Haddington

http://www.peterpottergallery.org/PETER_POTTER_GALLERY/Home.html
I have just installed 140 small porcelain bone related fragments on large shelving at Peter Potter Gallery, as part of the group show, 'Return to the Earth' exhibition opens today,
I am also giving a talk on 19th Aug , 6 to 7pm about the piece and my ideas and inspiration for my work.

Progress with concrete pieces and Open Studios at Coburg House

I have returned from the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop with a very tall concrete piece which I will finish in my studio.I will be polishing and sandblasting  the surface so it becomes erroded, and similar to the the bowl form texture.
Both pieces can be seen at the Open Studios at Coburg House from 5th to 7th August
 see http://www.coburghouseartstudios.co.uk/ for more info

Project Space and Open day at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop

I am spending 2 weeks using the project space at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop to experiment with new large pieces of work. This has been funded by a Craft Makers Award from City of Edinburgh Council .
I am exploring the use of environmentally friendlier concretes to produce work on a bigger scale than so far I have made in clay.This is a new area for me and I am learning a lot. I am using bone and erroded rock forms as inspiration, as in previous pieces.
ESW hve an Open day this coming Saturday , 16th July from 11am to 3pm. There are lots of different workshops and activities going on, including a talk with me from 12 to 1pm.

Images from Cockenzie Harbour installation

Michael Wolchover, www.michael-wolchover.com took some excellent images for me during the installation and during a high tide.Piece is now safely down, thanks to help from Yvonne Murphy and friends from 3 Harbours Festival.
It will next be seen at Pittenweem Art Festival from 5th to 14th August, as part of  Flashcraft Exhibition.  http://www.pittenweemartsfestival.co.uk/index.html

AA2A work in progress at Sunderland

I have been working as part of Artist Access to Art Colleges programme at Sunderland University dept of Glass and Ceramics, at the National Centre for Glass. My recent trip down involved making some long bone form with layers of paperclay, porcelain and seaweed mixed together. These will dry slowly and then be fired and sandblasted to make erroded surfaces, before a final high temp firing.

PAPERCLAY- IN AN EXHIBITION AND AT EVENING CLASSES

There is an exhibition opening tomorrow at Craft House Concept, at 31E Minto St, Edinburgh, EH9 2BT, called 'Paper'.see www.livingwithcraft.com
I will be showing some porcelain paperclay vessels, amongst many other more obviously paper related objects from a wide selection of artists and makers.
I use paper pulp in the porcelain pieces I make so that the porcelain has a greater strength whist I am formimg the shapes. Porcelain is a beautifully smooth clay which is very soft but has little strength when dry and cracks very easlily when making. It is a messing and enjoyable process of combining liquid porcelain and torn up paper and water ( paper-mache style) and blending to a smooth paste befor drying out on plaster slabs. The result is a much easier to work material. The paper burns away in the first firing, leaving only the porcelain, and no trace of paper. Paperclay has been used over the last 20 years or so in ceramics and resolves a number of issues to do with fragility when making but not affecting the look of the final piece.
I run Organic Ceramic evening classes from my studio at Coburg House in Leith. Here students have the opprortunity to experience the whole process of making and using porcelain paperclay, as well as the regular clay. For more info please see http://www.coburghouseartstudios.co.uk/, new courses will start in the autumn, please e-mail me if you wish to be informed of next terms dates, info@jennypope.com below are examples of students work , done at previous classes.

Installation at Cockenzie Harbour

Last night I finally installed my large concrete piece, at Cockenzie Harbour, East Lothian, after several months of making. It was a team effort, with several people from the 3 Harbours Festival helping with 2 big ladders and ropes and chains! It was a bit nerve wracking for me to see my piece hoisted up the side of the pillar by a rope but it all went well and done within the one hour window before the tide came in. Michael Wolchover was there to photograph and document the process,
I am interested to see how the limecrete and recycled materials fare in the windy sea environment, and look forward to some weathering and erroding.
The 3 Harbours Festival opens on Friday 27th May and info is at www.3harbours.co.uk. I also have a smaller sculpture and jewellery in the Power Station exhibition.
My piece will be in the Harbour for several weeks before it comes down and then I will look for  new home for it.