Saturday, May 7, 2011

Exhibition: The Potters' Process


One of my assignments this year was to work on a student exhibition. I chose to do this module in order to learn valuable curatorial skills and what organizing an exhibition actually entailed.

I chose to be part of the marketing team, but we were all collectively responsible for the exhibition as a whole, as well as our individual cases, so it was a very inter-disciplinary assignment.

We worked in Paisley museum, selecting pieces from their collection of twentieth-century studio ceramics that we felt fit our objective. For all of us it transformed our conceptions of what studio ceramics really were (on the whole we had the 'brown pot' tradition in mind). We learnt about the significance of the audience and labeling and how these were to be interpreted depending on the institution you worked in.

Paisley Museum holds the largest collection of studio ceramics in Scotland, perhaps Britain.

Our exhibition The Potters' Process opened on Thursday last, the 28th of April, the culmination of months of hard work.

Installation -






Completion -







(Introductory cases, including the key piece from the exhibition, James Towers' Shell Form)




Example of labels.


The Potter's Trail, conceived for children, to interact with the exhibition


My case covered the decorative technique of incising the ceramic. It contained pieces by Bernard Leach, Lucy Rie, Jason Shackleton and Ian Pirie.

Opening -

It was so warm in the ceramics gallery that some of our nibbles couldn't stand the heat and fused together!



I was quite busy at the opening, so I didn't take many pictures.

I am relieved its all over now though, a lot of stress! I had two reports to hand in on the exhibition yesterday, they probably weren't very good, the assignment had vague guidelines. BUT its over!

Here is the link to The Potters' Process, including information and directions, if you're in and around Glasgow or Paisley this summer!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Royal Wedding


Friday the 29th was a day that millions, including my friends and I had anticipated for weeks! On my part it was because I began a whirl of buying any royal merchandise I could get my hands on.





I began my drinking green tea from my Wills & Kate mug, watching the arrival of guests on the BBC.



We arrived at my friend Theo's for 10.30am to settle down for the ceremony at 11am. We dressed appropriately in wedding attire and fascinators for the occasion. Once the bunting was up we settled down on the sofa, glasses of cava in hand and awaited the pageantry that was to unfold.


I baked Wills & Kate fairy cakes for the occasion, whilst my housemate baked Will's favourite, fridge cake.



After the festivities ceased and we all squealed over the balcony kiss, we watched some trashy tv, including the awful William and Kate movie, we ate lots of crumpets, some of us (Ahem) drank lots of wine. We generally just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves whilst the highlights played out on repeat on the tv in the background.




Getting a bit carried away with the euphoria of it all.



My housemate has some wonderful photos that I may post at a later date, my point and shoot is just not up to scratch on that account.

Now I'm currently experiencing the Royal Wedding blues, and searching for the M&S royal wedding shortbread tin that is sold out near me (would be perfect for bulging postcard collection!)