What you need to consider when using porcelain

We talk to New Brewery Arts’ Ceramics Technician Rhi Jarman to find out all we need to know about porcelain, its properties and why its worth experimenting in our studio.

How is porcelain different from other clays? 

Porcelain is different from other types of clay—such as stoneware and earthenware—due to its: 

• Composition – it’s made primarily from kaolin, a very pure, fine-grained white clay

• Firing temperature - it fires at the highest temperatures, where it becomes fully vitrified, meaning it is non-porous and glass-like even without glaze.

• Workability – it’s smooth and fine-textured, but it has low plasticity, making it more challenging to work with—prone to cracking, collapsing, and warping.

• Final characteristics - porcelain is creamy white, translucent when thin, and extremely strong and durable, even though it appears delicate.

Why should people (beginners/experienced potters) come and do a porcelain workshop with us?

Avoid the messy and expensive home pottery setup, come and do a workshop at NBA instead! Attendees will receive expert guidance and hands-on instruction from ceramic artists and professional potters to spark creativity, and to help realise ideas.

With access to high-quality materials and equipment, NBA’s workshops provide professional-grade porcelain clay, tools, and studio equipment, including high-temperature kilns suited for porcelain firing.

What will they learn? 

NBA’s programme includes porcelain specific workshops, from hand building and sculpture, to throwing on the pottery wheel.

Attendees will learn how to prepare and handle porcelain – moisture management is key! – as well as design principles, surface decoration, and the essential techniques, tips and tricks to get to grips with this beautiful but tricky material.

Why wouldn’t they be able to do this themselves?

They would if they have the space, tools and equipment, but there would be a steep learning curve – especially for beginners. Porcelain is expensive, and self-teaching sometimes means wasted clay and failed pieces.

With support from one of our experienced tutors, attendees will learn how to get the most from the material, with less trial and error, to have the best chance of success. 

Check out our upcoming porcelain workshops:

Figurative Porcelain Sculptures - Sophie Woodrow
(Sat 29th Mar, 10am - 4pm & Sun 30th March, 10am - 3:30pm)

Porcelain Throwing (2-day) - Qian Liu
(Thu 10th & Fri 11th Apr, 10am - 4pm, £240)

Porcelain Throwing for Improvers - Qian Liu
(Sat 10th May, 10am - 4pm, £120)

Porcelain Throwing for Improvers - Qian Liu
(Sat 19th Jul, 10am - 4pm, £120)

Porcelain Jewellery - Rhi Jarman Sat 27th Sep, 10am - 4pm, £95)

Q&A: Jilly Edwards, Weaver

We are excited to welcome legendary weaver Jilly Edwards to our Gallery this month (Jilly Edwards – Woven Tapestries: Follow the Thread, 10 Aug- 12 Oct). Jilly will be on hand on opening day (10 Aug) to meet and chat with visitors (2-5pm) in our Gallery, but in the meantime we picked her brain about her career in tapestry. 

How has your appreciation for weaving changed over the course of your career? 

Of course interest and appreciation in woven tapestry has improved over the years. Exhibitions such as the Woven Image exhibition in the Barbican in ‘96 and more recently the Anni Albers’ exhibition at the Tate in ‘18 have widened the audiences.  

I’ve always been appreciative of textiles. As a post WW2 child - and in a largely female family all who sewed, knitted and crocheted - I was given a loom at six and I just loved it.  

Can you tell me a little about your creative process? 

I always have sketchbooks/journals on my desk and in my bags when I go out, so drawing, writing and photography are my first point. Then, back in the studio, I collate the information into more ideas, many drawings until I know that one drawing says something to me and that it’s worth trying to translate the marks.  

What inspires you in your work? 

A word - a glimpse - a sound - a feeling - a memory. 

Who inspires you? 

Theo Moorman - Paul Klee were early inspiration - Mary Farmer - Bridget Riley - Patrick Heron and many more in many disciplines. 

“Get sound business help and learn to talk about what you do and what inspires you - clients love a story. ”

— Jilly Edwards

Moonshine 1919, Paul Klee: Klee is an inspiration of Jilly’s:

What advice would you give to people beginning their weaving journey/career? 

Like a lot of creative careers, it’s not about instant success, so make sure you know as much about the technical side as well as its creative side. Get sound business help and learn to talk about what you do and what inspires you - clients love a story. 

Jilly Edwards – Woven Tapestries: Follow the Thread will run in our Gallery from 10 Aug-12 Oct 2024. Jilly will be in the Gallery on opening day to chat all things tapestry (2-5pm).  

A lovely little half hour to myself just drawing.

Our gallery is usually a rather quiet, reflective space, but not this Saturday. This Saturday our gallery was full of activity and full of drawing.

Our exhibition ‘Georgia O’Keeffe: Memories of Drawings’ presents 21 drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe from key moments throughout her career, many of these were completed early on.

“I was going to begin to make drawings. I thought, well I have a few things in my head that I never thought of putting down. But nobody else taught me. And I was going to begin with charcoal and I wasn’t going to use any colour until I couldn’t do what I wanted to do with charcoal. And went on from there,” said O’Keeffe.

Taking a lesson from O’Keeffe’s passion for drawing with charcoal and the possibilities of expression through the medium, we invited drawing tutor Claire Sandars to spend a day in the gallery and to get people drawing.

Armed with paper, charcoal—thank you so much Daler-Rowney for supporting the day with a ready supply of willow charcoal—and a range of O’Keeffe inspired drawing prompts (flowers, shells, animal skulls and even an antler) we got to it and drew.

“I went along as I saw that [New Brewery Arts] was holding a charcoal workshop, and I haven’t picked up a piece in probably a decade; so I had a lovely little half hour to myself just drawing.”

We also smudged, looked and were expressive. One person made their drawing into a crown, and a family drew in a far more ‘performative’ way than we’d ever imagined.

Like O’Keeffe, drawing with charcoal freed up the drawing style and took us away from the still-life and towards more abstract shapes. But also like O’Keeffe, there is still more we want to do with charcoal.

Georgia O’Keeffe: Memories of Drawing runs until 15 June 2024. The touring exhibition comes to us from the Hayward Gallery at the Southbank Centre, London.

A visit to Birmingham (or not)

Birmingham is famous for jewellery and metal working, in the 1700s and 1800s my family had brass founding premises throughout Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter making metal buttons. In the heart of the Jewellery Quarter is Birmingham School of Jewellery. This month there is plenty of making to see there, and far more exciting than brass buttons. 

Meanings and Messages. Kristy Lewis​, Self-Love Brooch​ - Carnelian, silver and steel

First - visit the Meanings and Messages exhibition at the Vittoria Street Gallery. The touring exhibition shows brooches by members of the ACJ (Association for Contemporary Jewellery), the exhibition focuses on the brooch as they form the ideal jewellery archetype for conveying meanings and messages. Brooches can be subversive and are often used by people in the public eye, by political figures or sovereignty to convey important messages. These messages may be hidden, subtle or occasionally more of an overt protest! 

But you don’t have to travel to Birmingham to see the exhibition as it comes to Cirencester in the spring (4th April – 18th June 2023). 

Then switch on for BBC’s All That Glitters filmed at The Birmingham School of Jewellery. The second series of the bake-off style jewellery competition starts on the 25th August on BBC2. Each week the eight makers will have their skills and creativity challenged. "From spinner rings to mismatched earrings, engagement rings to hairpins, each episode of All That Glitters sees the jewellers face two real-world challenges: The Bestseller, where they are tasked to design the latest must-have piece that everyone will want, and The Bespoke, where they create a one-off piece for some very special clients from all walks of life." - BBC. Judging the jewellers' work are two of the biggest names in the business, Shaun Leane and Dinny Hall, and it’s up to them who will be named jeweller of the week and who will be heading home. 

Again, you don’t need to head to Birmingham – episodes will be available on BBC IPlayer.  

And of course, if the glitter of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter just doesn’t grab you, but jewellery making does that’s fine. We have some great ways to get your sparkle-on here in Cirencester.  Our Beginners’ Silver Jewellery (5-week course) runs throughout November, and our autumn workshop programme is filled with silversmithing, enamelling and jewellery making with found objects or pearls and stones.

Make Your Own Silver Pendant - Charlotte Duckworth 
(Sat 3rd Sep, 10am - 4pm, £90) 

Setting Found Objects - Hayley Kruger 
(Thurs 29th Sep, 10am - 4pm, £90) 

Make Your Own Necklace - Stina Richardson 
(Sat 1st Oct, 10am - 1pm, £55) 

Roman Inspired Torque Bangle - Hayley Kruger 
(Sat 8th Oct, 10am - 4pm, £90) 

Kiln Fired Enamelling Weekend - Katie Sanderson 
(Saturday 22nd October - Sunday 23rd October, 10am - 3pm) 

Kiln Fired Enamelling - Katie Sanderson 
(Fri 25th Nov, 10am - 3pm)