Blog - Nick Membery Pottery

Throwing Courses 2013

November 26, 2013 Posted by : Nick

2013 has certainly been a very memorable and important year in many ways. Looking out of the window this morning with just a brief flurry of snow – perhaps a momentary glimpse of a hard winter ahead. The autumn has indeed offered a plentiful bounty of nuts and berries and the colours still clearly visible are resplendent. The summer too was memorable this year as unusually for South West Wales it really was dry for much of the time.

It is on reflection of the summer months that my mind is cast back to my first year of hosting pottery courses here at Waun Hir. It has been a long held ambition to run courses and three were held one in May, June and July.
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Nature’s Wonder Drug

April 19, 2013 Posted by : Nick

April 19th is National Garlic Day. The pungent bulb is definitely one of my favourite ingredients for savory dishes and is always close to hand while cooking, stored on the window sill in one of my garlic pots. I have enjoyed making these jars with holes for as long as I’ve been making pots. Garlic pots are available from the kitchen pottery shop in two sizes. Dark and airy storage for either two or four bulbs.

Chicken Pie and the First Signs of Spring

March 10, 2013 Posted by : Nick

I didn’t spent a great deal of time in the pottery January and February this year – finally knuckling down and concentrating on sorting out the kitchen and a few other jobs on the house. We’ve been here for 10 years in June and with bookings for my first course in May the house really ought to be welcoming and homely!

Now we’re into March and the first signs of spring are definitely in the air. It’s very quiet here at the pottery and the dawn chorus has been my alarm clock for the last few mornings. The garden has been blooming with snowdrops for some weeks now and the first daffodils are just beginning to wink glimpses of yellow.

Today is Spaghetti Day

January 4, 2013 Posted by : Nick

January 4th is National Spaghetti Day in the USA. I’ve decided to celebrate it here at Waun Hir Pottery too. Previously I wrote Lasagne for Dinner, today’s Italian classic is spaghetti in the latest in the series pots for food.

Spaghetti is the Italian plural for spaghetto – a diminutive of spago which means thin string.

The pasta dishes like the one shown here are a favourite at the pottery, available in two sizes to buy online from the Kitchen Pottery shop.

Busy Christmas Time

December 20, 2012 Posted by : Nick

As I sit down to write this I have just turned off the gas for the last biscuit firing of the year. I will be glazing tomorrow and firing again on Saturday – the kiln should be cool and unpacked by the evening of Sunday 23rd December. With quite a few people relying on the fruits of this firing for their Christmas bounty it will be all fingers and toes crossed! On several occasions previously I have vowed to be more organized in future and not leave it all to the last minute. In truth though I think I probably thrive on a bit of adrenaline fueled hurry and flurry. Continue Reading…

Ceramics in the City

September 12, 2012 Posted by : Nick

I’ve just thrown the last few pots for next week’s trip to London. That gives me seven days to finish, dry and fire twice – not the best plan in the world, but some how it always seems to be like this with the few deadlines each year that I can’t move! (Shows, Christmas and perhaps the odd wedding list or two). Thankfully though I’ve actually got plenty of pots already, I just can’t help making a few more.

Lasagne for Dinner

July 28, 2012 Posted by : Nick

Following on from Salad Days in May, the next date on the food calender which goes hand in hand with a pot made regularly here at Waun Hir Pottery is National Lasagne Day. Celebrated in the USA tomorrow July 29th. I love lasagne and cooked it for dinner tonight. I first made rectangular baking dishes while at college. I have always enjoyed making pots that are thrown on the potters’ wheel and then altered in shape. The lasagne dishes available in three sizes from the Ovenware section in the Kitchen Pottery shop employ this technique. The thrown wall is made without a base and altered into a rectangle which is then joined to a rolled slab base.

It Only Takes a Couple of Minutes

July 22, 2012 Posted by : Nick

I often get asked, “how long does it take to make a pot?” My usual perhaps somewhat flippant reply is a “couple of minutes.” This of course isn’t really true and is somewhat misleading.

Annually at this time of year I make Commemorative Mugs for the year six pupils leaving Teilo Sant, the primary school in my home town Llandeilo. Unlike my standard mugs though this particular batch are personalised with names and a date, they also have an additional transfer firing. I regularly throw a board of mugs at a rate of about twenty an hour – not excessively fast for a repetition thrower but never the less quick enough. It is this throwing twenty in an hour that I am referring to when I casually remark “a couple of minutes.” Here I will explain in more depth what the whole process actually entails.

How long does it take to make one of these special mugs?

Salad Days

May 29, 2012 Posted by : Nick

Recently I discovered a calender of food events that are commemorated in the USA. I decided it would be fun to adopt a few here in the UK. Almost everything I make is intended for the rituals of eating and preparing food or drink. I can’t think of a better way of demonstrating why I make what I do, than inviting friends to join with me and my family to share home cooked food, served on the pots made here at Waun Hir Pottery. Salad bowls both large and small can be seen in the Tableware section of the Kitchen Pottery shop.

May is the month of salad – unfortunately much of the month was cold and wet though – not really salad weather. But now on the contrary, the last week has very definitely been salad weather – so before it’s too late here is my little tribute to all things green and leafy.