Made in the Middle exhibition now on at MAC

These were glass disks by Stuart Akroyd on the wall at the exhibition - very beautiful, this photo really doesn't do them justice at all!

Snowdrops at Staunton Hall

We had a super weekend with all the Mums and Dads visiting Staunton Hall - which only opens once in every four years to show off their banks of snowdrops and aconites in aid of the local church. It was super cold but beautiful, bright and sunny! And of course there was cake and tea too!!

Crowns

Fresh from the kiln - some dinky little crowns - now do I add lustre or not?

Bacteria timelapse

Here's a link to a higher resolution vid on youtube.

We're gearing up to do How clean is your mouth? at the NEC's science event for youngsters - The Big Bang on 15th March. As well as looking at plaque bacteria we're also preparing posters and video displays, which I hope will include this one. Its been devilishly hard to make work - the agar kept drying out - but finally it looks like we have something, though as Mr H says its not really thrilling - I'll have to add some stills I think for a longer sequence with a bit more pizazz!

balloon bowl & stand up teapot

I've had these sat on the side for a couple of days - the results of a little experiment or two. The blue balloon bowl was moulded over a balloon - in fact there were originally two but only one made it through the firing (my first major catastrophe involving the buying of a new kiln shelf!) The others are a  little teapot which is 3D and can stand on its own and a little teacup. I tried making some new glazes for all these which haven't been as successful as I might have liked but its all a grand experiment!

Bacteria brooches

I have managed to create some badges from the watch glasses that I posted about recently. I'm fine pleased - now available in the shop!

Claire Hutchings at the Kitchen Garden Cafe

 

On Monday night we had a real treat - we wen to the Kitchen Garden Cafe in Kings Heath to sample the cooking of Masterchef runner up Claire Hutchings. It was great to see ( and taste) local talent on her own patch! We had a leek & potato volute with caviar, cucumber cubes and leek match sticks, followed by smoked mackerel with soy jelly, sesame brittle, celeriac and avocado, then braised ox cheek with truffle mash, chestnut mushrooms, roasted onions, bacon and celeriac. Dessert was lime cheesecake with a basil syrup and dark chocolate sorbet, and there were even mini cupcakes and coconut truffles (like mini bounties) with tea and coffee! What a great evening - even if it was a tad chilly on the way home!!