Sunday

Alan Peascod, drawings and bottle at the National Art School Gallery
Today....
Danie Mellor presented a thought-provoking speech on the political implications of the decoration on Spode transferware of the 19th century.

The intellectual presentations have been thought-provoking and (sometimes!) fascinating but one of the really valuable things we get from conferences is the opportunity to hear artists speaking honestly and directly from the heart about what they do and why. Geoff Crispin's talk about the hidden supporters of both his career and ceramics generally was one such talk.

The art world involves a lot of front and often our eyes are directed only to the successes, the prizes and the resolved final works. To see the process that a mature artist has undertaken emotionally ,physically and creatively is invaluable. While it is essential for us as artists to have the public persona when engaging with the world of commerce it is really important, especially to emerging artists to see a rounded picture of a creative life.

The tender and beautiful drawing on the interior of Merran Esson's piece.