Buttercups in Brockwell Park & Bee Pods in the garden.

Hello!  The sunny weather has come and brought with it flowers and bees aplenty.  I have spotted lots of different types of bee in our garden in Herne Hill this week.  Its such a pleasure to see them buzzing about, foraging for pollen and nectar. Still, it is pretty late in the season for them to be coming out in numbers.  I believe this is because of the cold spring and perhaps due to lack of forage for them.  As an amateur bee spotter it is exciting to see the sheer variety of bees in our garden.  Here are some of the bees I've seen so far this year: Bombus Hypnorum (the Tree Bumblebee), Bombus Lucorunum (the White-Tailed Bumblebee), Bombus Pratorum (the Early Bumblebee), Bombus Lapidarius (the Red-Tailed Bumblebee), Osmia Rufa (Red Mason Bee) and Apis Mellifera (European Honeybee).

 Here I am looking at Red-Tailed Bumblebees foraging on buttercups in the meadow of Brockwell Park.  I counted 8, so I expect the nest was nearby!  Click here to see an ID image of the Red-Tailed and other bumblebees to help you spot them in future.


Below are some photos of the coloured porcelain Bee Pods I placed in my garden as part of my ceramic series 'Offerings to the Insects.'  As you can see they are almost disappearing in the undergrowth and spider webs!  I will be exhibiting larger, indoor 'Offerings to the Insects' installations at New Designers 2013 from 26th-29th June

                 
                   Orange porcelain Bee Pods                                    Yellow porcelain Bee Pods with snail!                                       

                             I love that these blue Bee Pods are almost encased in spider's webs.

 Buy tickets: NEW DESIGNERS 2013 Ticket exclusive!  2 for 1 earlybird tickets for Thurs 27th, Fri 28th or Sat 29th June:

Standard Day Ticket – two for one ticket offer at £14.50, saving you £13.00*.
Please quote NDEXHIBITOR1 (only valid any one Thurs – Sat).

This beautiful photograph of the solitary bee Andrena Flavipes turned up on the billboard under the Herne Hill train line (Norwood Road) over the weekend.  What a great way to bring wildlife to the public as this bee is probably only a couple of centimetres long.  You definitely can't miss it!  This is part of the Green Up Community Festival in Herne Hill today.  See www.theurbanwildproject.org for more info.

'Offerings to the Insects' in the garden - 'Bees in Trees'

As you may know, I am currently on the 5 week count down to New Designers 2013 which takes place at the Business Design Centre, Islington from 26th - 29th June.  At the heart of the 'Offerings to the Insects' concept is my urge to protect insect pollinators, especially bumblebees, and to demonstrate this I put some of the small bee's pods in a tree hole in Brockwell Park.  These pods were designed as spaces of refuge in coloured porcelain for insects, and I photographed them every few days to measure their progress, posting the results on the Amy Mae Ceramics Facebook page.  These pods were taken away by a passer by, who obviously couldn't resist them, so I decided to start the project afresh in my garden.  Here are the results in 4 different locations.  Some of the pictures below feature on my new website www.amymaeceramics.co.uk.  Please do have a look and let me know what you think :)
Photos by Georgina Rodgers.  Designs and concepts (c) Amy Thornley Heard 2013

27th April Amateur Entomologist's Society Members' Day, MShed, Bristol

Snapped by Joe whilst setting up!

 All ready to go.

 Centre back: 'Handle with Care', June 2012. 

Front left: Red and pink 'Bee's Pods,' April 2013.  

Far right: Colour graduation 'Bees' Pod Boxes,' (contains 5 bees' pods) April 2013.

 Left front and back: Orange and Pale Violet Graduations 'Bees' Nest' wall sculptures, April 2013.  

Centre back: 'Handle with Care' small frames, November 2012.  

Centre front: Multi-coloured freestanding 'Bees' Pod Group', April 2013.

 Chatting to visitors.

Just wanted to post some photos of my stand at the Amateur Entomologist's Society Members' Day and thanks to the organisers Dafydd Lewis, speakers and other stall holders for their great company and kind comments about the 'Handle with Care' and 'Offerings to the Insects' work I had on display.

This time I didn't pluck up the courage to hold one of the stick insects, but I can see that if I am going to continue in the field of entomology I will have to face my insect handling fear head on!  Joe got full marks for handling and identifying British slugs during the morning workshop.  Now there's a creature I can not hold!

March of the Beekeepers

 In Parliament Square

 The 'Mountain of Evidence' - scientific studies done into 

the effects of pesticides on bee populations in Europe

 In Parliament Square

Today I took part in the march in Parliament Square to try and sway the vote in Parliament next Monday on banning certain pesticides from farming practice in the UK.

As the Soil Association outlines in its leaflet 'Keep Britain Buzzing' published in 2012 to raise awareness of the decline of bees in the UK:

"1990's Neonicotinoids such as Imidacloprid and Thiamethoxam are in routine use.  Scientists are now discovering that even very low doses of neonicotinoids, well below what many used to consider a 'safe' level of toxic chemical, can disrupt bee behaviour."

Needless to say, bees and insect pollinators play a huge role in our food production and it is for these reasons that I am making the 'Offerings to the Insects' collection of sculptures.

Something old, something new

A little late, but here is some information about student achievements at Kensington and Chelsea College. I'm in there too if you can spot me following the link below!  Blush

Kensington and Chelsea Facebook Learner Awards

This is where I am currently studying Professional Development for Designer Makers.  The atomosphere is fantastic with successful and experienced artists such as Akiko Hirai, Lisa Marklew, Kelvin Birk and Mizuho Koizumi providing excellent tuition and guidance. 

Some of my very talented colleagues on the above course won prizes and were selected to exhibit for the V&A Inspired by... competition 2012.  These include jeweller Zara Ahmed, glass artist Arturo Serrano, ceramicist Dennis Groenhuysen, whose totem piece 'Home' won him the Access Prize and contemporary jeweller Neelakshi Vidyalankara won the Benefit of Learning Prize for her ring entitled 'Parallel Tension.'

V&A Inspired by... winners 2012

You will be seeing and hearing more from us over the coming months as we prepare to exhibit at the UK's largest graduate show, New Designers 26th-29th June this year.  More information and tickets are available from the link below:

New Designers

401 1/2 2012 Open Studios new photos!

'Trilobyte' and 'Ammonite' brooches displayed on an Amy Mae Ceramics apron - logo designed and handprinted by Bristol based illustrator and printmaker Lucie Sheridan.

 

Above: new 'Handle with Care' chrysalis frames now available

Below: new 'Snowflake' Christmas decorations made using 

original crochet by Amy Mae Ceramics

 

Above: Detail of 'Button' coaster, hand imprinted into clay.

Below: Close-up of components of original 'Handle with Care' installation (2012)

 

Photographs by Rabia Ahmed

Amy Mae Ceramics is delighted to be showing and selling crafted creations in their new space at 401 1/2 Studios, Wandsworth Road this weekend.  All are welcome to the Preview on Friday evening 6pm-9pm and on both Saturday and Sunday 12pm-6pm.

Looking forward to seeing you there!  Please click on the link below for travel information and opening hours:

www.401studios.org  

End of year exhibition at Kensington and Chelsea College

Thank you to everyone who came to our end of year exhibition at Kensington and Chelsea College.  

'Handle with Care' (below) was my piece for the final major project.

Ceramics, wood and MDF found display case, wood, jute string

Women’s bodies and chrysalises go through irreversible changes during a child’s and butterfly’s development and birth. The Chrysalis is left as an empty shell when the butterfly has formed and flown away. The woman’s body is also a changed vessel, although it regenerates and reknits. ‘Handle with care’ is an instruction to the viewer and but it is also an invitation to consider the perception of women and their integral role in containing and creating new life.

 

 'Period Treasures' entered in the V&A Inspired By... competition

Ceramics, satin fabric, velvet ribbon, acrylic ribbon, padding, card, crochet yarn.

Alex and Phil's blue and white porcelain wedding hearts

 

2nd June 2012
I had a honour and pleasure of working with Alex and Phil on creating porcelain hearts, which doubled as name tags for their wedding breakfast and beautiful favours to keep as a reminder of their celebration.
Made of elegant porcelain and decorated with deep blue details, these hearts matched perfectly with Alex and Phil's blue and white colour scheme.
Congratulations to the happy couple.  Long may you be happy and prosper!

An amazing year!

                                          'Period Treasures' by Amy Heard, 2012

The last year at Kensington and Chelsea College has been an exciting and energising one as I have learnt so much and been given the freedom to let my imagination run loose, whilst keeping within the project set.  My tutors, Lisa Marklew, Akiko Hirai and Chris Bramble, and fellow students have helped me discover what conceptual and technical themes and processes are really at the core of my work.  Thank you for your support and patience.

For our first project on the BTEC National Diploma we were asked to make a piece inspired by items at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.  It doubled as an entry to the V&A's 'Inspired by...' competition for adult craft learners.

The piece I made in response is called 'Period Treasures' and is inspired by a brass lock from the 1700s.  The concept comes from a play on the meaning of the word 'period'.  The V&A is a huge learning resource, housing all manner of period decoration and embellishment on ceramics, glass, jewellery, furniture, interiors, garden ware and much more.  Periods are an aspect of womens' lives which is sanitised, simplified and hushed up.  Even today they are something we joke or complain about and I wanted to create a beautiful and luscious space for the reclamation of menstruation as a positive reminder of womens' ability to create life and regenerate each month.

I have done so by making a keep sake box for the essential items I use during menstruation.  Intricate decals decorate the surface of an ibuprofen packet and porcelain tampons, which have deep red strings allowing them to be used as necklaces.  These sit on luxurious red satin cushioning. 

The sun shone, the rain fell and a good time was had by all!

Lambeth Country Show was lots of fun and thank you to all who came to see me and my pots over the weekend.  Pot buyers were out in force and many were invited to this weekend's Open Weekend and Sale at North Street Potters at the shop in Clapham.

Here are some pics of me demonstrating.  Many curious onlookers asked questions and a few younger ones helped put slurry on the slabs ready for sticking together.  Perhaps I converted some new potters...

5 fun things I did at the show:

1. Watched my friend Anna win the scarecrow competition

2. Ate churros.  Mmmmm.

3. Gazed at the falconry display and saw a real Bald eagle!

4. Drank cider from a milk bottle.

5. Danced along to Horace Andy

Amy Mae Ceramics @ Lambeth Country Show

Lambeth Country Show
 
16th & 17th July

Who? Amy Mae Ceramics

What? Demo of impressed planters (also for sale)  

When? THIS WEEKEND! Sat 16th July 4pm-7pm and    Sun 17th July 11am-2pm

Where? Brockwell Park, North Street Potters' stall

How do I get there?  

Tube: Victoria line to Brixton then 15 minutes walk 

Buses: from outside Brixton Tube station 

3, 37 and 196 alight at Brockwell Lido or Herne Hill Station stops

or 

2, 432 and 415 alight at Tulse Hill stop and walk back down to the cross road and turn right down Brixton Water Lane.  The park entrance is on the right.

Train: South Eastern trains to Herne Hill

To find out more about Lambeth Country Show go to:

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Country-Show/index.htm

To find out more about North Street Potters go to:

www.northstreetpotters.com

Chloe's lanterns and new Open Allium planter

Exciting news!  The new 'Allium' range is well under way and here is a picture of the first out of the kiln:

 'Open Allium'

(large -20cm high, 28 cm wide)

'Open Allium'

(large -20cm high, 28 cm wide)

And...as promised Chloe's garden lanterns:

New planters available at North Street Potters, Clapham

Welcome to amy mae ceramics...

Hello arty, crafty people of the world.  amy mae ceramics is a small, clay centred venture in Clapham Old Town, London. 

A little info 


amy mae ceramics produces functional and sculptural pieces for your home, garden and loved ones.


Website: www.amymaeceramics.co.uk


The current range of garden planters, 'Naturally Inspired' is based on plant sepals (the green 'flower'  the bud forms under the flower when it opens).   

History 


A childhood spent on a Devon dairy farm has given Amy Mae oodles of natural inspiration.  She loved playing in the meadows, fields and hedgerows on long summer days, inspecting and dissecting plants and watching small creatures go about their business.  Celandine and Buttercups were her favourites back then along with Yarrow, where teeny tiny black bugs would swarm and sweet scented Lily-of-the-valley at the bottom of the garden.
Little did she know at the time that those images and scents would leave her with an indelible curiosity for plants.

Amy Mae's first experiences with clay were at secondary school, where an inspirational teacher, shared her love and enthusiasm for ceramics and art, and help her feel confident in the medium.


She went on to complete an A Level in Ceramics (3D Design) at East Devon College where she learnt throwing and handbuilding techniques, explored the use of different clay bodies and mixed and used her own  glazes.  Her projects were based on modernism, Scandinavian design, African art, underwater landscapes,Giorgio de Chirico's paintings the history of ceramics.


Amy Mae continued to practice ceramics from the age of 18, when she went to Bath University to study French and German.  This was at various workshops such as Bath Uni Arts Barn, Riesa Efau in Dresden, The Folkhouse in Bristol and City of Islington College, London.
Finally she decided these flirtations with the squelchy stuff were not enough and sought out a studio.  She found one in Clapham Old Town. 


And this is where the story of amy mae ceramics begins...