Peter Arscott Ceramics

Here comes the Sun

That huge ball of incandescent plasma at the centre of our solar system that provides all the energy we need for life here on Earth – in the depths of winter, on cold and overcast days, we miss seeing the old sun shining down on us, stimulating our pineal gland deep in the brain, and […]

Resilience (ελαστικότητα)

belatrova, art for living, and “a good half of the art of living is resilience” (Alain de Botton). With austerity uppermost on European minds our thoughts turned to contemporary Greece and the hard times its citizens are going through. And because our minds often drift in the workshop, we started thinking about ancient Greeks, and […]

golfing for muralistas

Winter is closing in, but thoughts of warm Mediterranean weather have been circulating in the collective mind of belatrova. As well as making lamps and coasters for next year, we have been commissioned to create a ceramic mural for a house in Spain, and have been given a generously open brief. Conventionally, a mural is […]

belatrova Christmas opening times

belatrovians may well want to know what the Ledbury viaduct has in common with our Christmas opening, and the answer is: clay. Built in 1860, the viaduct was constructed using 5 million bricks made on site from the clay dug out for the foundations; and clay is what brings together a cluster of Ledbury ceramicists. […]

Tegestology

Coasters, specially ceramic coasters, have become desirable designer acquisitions in recent months, partly in response to the growth in interest for cocktails – something in which we at belatrova have had a hand (you need only go back to earlier blogs to see our recipe for the perfect Dry Martini, and others). Of course, you […]

belatrova at the Panto

Leading figures from the world of design and fashion are coming together to raise money for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) by performing in “Peter Pan and the Designers of the Caribbean” at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre, who describe the story as follows: “London is grey and drab. All the […]

the art of commissioning

            A commission in art was at one time only the privilege of the rich and powerful. Rulers and governments commissioned artists to design pieces that often glorified the kingdom or state. During the Renaissance, the Church became a regular patron of the arts commissioning such great works as The […]

belatrova bash

Though we do not have the photographic evidence, jiving and dancing took place at belatrova’s h.Art party on Saturday 6th. This is a first for the workshop; seeing his working colleagues eating, drinking and overnight sleeping are what he is more used to, but Thelonius the Pugmill had never witnessed a spontaneous ballet of belatrovians […]