hand painted coffee tables - Page 2 of 2

Introducing Thelonius

November 11th, 2013/1 Comment/in clay, hand painted coffee tables, pug mill /by Peter Arscott

slab pot and tables at the Courtyard

Before introducing you to Thelonius, belatrova would like to invite you to the Hereford Contemporary Craft Fair. Please come and see us and the work of 59 other selected makers of contemporary craft exhibiting over three days at The Courtyard (Hereford), where you can commission a piece of original work or buy direct from makers. It is open 10am to 6pm Friday 15th and Saturday 16th, 10am to 5pm on Sunday 17th November. The Courtyard has full disabled access and a café and restaurant that serve excellent locally sourced food and drink. Entry is £4 (free access for carers) and visitors can win a belatrova piece by just entering the daily Prize Draw at our stand by simply leaving their names and email addresses.

belatrova’s mighty pugging arm

belatrova’s other arm

Now, Mrs belatrova has recently remarked on the amazing muscularity of Mr belatrova’s right arm, and the strange contrast it offers when seen alongside his other rather weedier left one. This can be easily explained. It is the result of being right handed and having to thump the daylight out of lumps of recycled clay in order to “pre-process” it to get it to a smooth consistency before it can be used again.

In order to correct this imbalance, and to stop belatrova looking like a gangster with a bulging holster under his jacket, a decision was taken to invite a new member to the team who would take on the sole task of pugging.

Thelonius’ first day at No 9

Allow us to introduce Thelonius Pugmill; he’s from Essex and has until now spent his working life at a school in Colchester.

A pugmill is like a large mincer or sausage machine with knives on the screw fan principle that cut and knead the recycled clay, pressing it out of a smaller aperture (3″), smooth and even in texture, and ready to be used.

Most pug mills require you to process the clay to get it to a relatively tight range of consistency before going in. Dry clay has to be soaked in a bucket and wet clay kept wrapped in a plastic bag so that it is just right for the mill. The clay is squeezed out in long tube shapes called “slugs”, which are carefully stacked and wrapped in plastic until required.

The following images will give you an idea of how it all works:

a lump of clay

clay soaking

the clay is fed to Thelonius

image of pugmill lever being used to squeeze clay

squeezing the clay through

image of clay slug coming out of pugmill

Thelonius makes his first slug

image of two clay slugs or tubes from the pugmill

voilá, two lovely slugs, ready for use

image of pugmill with Peter Arscott and Staurt Houghton

the team

If you want to follow belatrova’s progress via Facebook or the blog, and unless you have already done so, just click the tag at the bottom right of your screen that says “follow” and you will get notifications everytime the blog is updated with news. We will be opening at No 9 for Christmas – details in the next blog.

Perfidious Albion in Barcelona

June 3rd, 2013/1 Comment/in art ceramics, art furniture, bowl, design, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

Barcelona, like the rest of Spain, is going through hard times. Unemployment is on the rise, specially among the young, many of whom are leaving for jobs abroad if they can get any.

Paseo de Gracia and Diagonal with Pedrera building in backgropund

The distinctive roof of Casa Milá in the background

It is also a vibrant city associated with art, architecture and design, not least with Gaudi’s Parque Guell that overlooks the entire city and the sea beyond, and his “Casa Milá” with its singular rooftop – you can see it in the background in the photo taken from the top of Paseo de Gracia.

The capital of a culture that has produced Miró, Dalí, Casals, that nurtured the young Picasso, that gave us Catalan Modernism, that developed its own distinctive cuisine and arguably the best football team ever, is unlikely to take things lying down.

Four red bars on a yellow background represent Catalunya

Catalan flag

Next year is the 300th anniversary of Catalunya’s loss of independence to Spain after the Treaty of Utrech and so I was reminded that this culture and language have had to survive many difficulties, and the growing feeling among many in the city is for separation and independence – the Catalan flag was everywhere we went.

By the way, we Brits can hang our heads in shame; despite an agreement with the Catalans we abandoned them in 1714 to the tender mercies of their foes while we got Gibraltar and Menorca in return.…perfidious Albion.

Anyway, enough history.

belatrova walked everywhere, visited galleries and design outlets, and used the efficient and smooth metro and buses to go further afield. We really liked the Room Service Design Gallery, run the day we visited by Jordi, and which displays furniture by the Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek – sustainability, efficiency and social responsibility are his guiding principles, and his stuff is visibly hand made, using mainly recycled material.

Piet Hein Eek chair at Room Service Design

The gallery also takes seriously the promotion of young designers and has a section for graduates to show their work. Drop in when and if you’re there; the MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona) is a block away and the neighbourhood is part of the city in which anybody could easily spend a day walking, drinking, snacking and rubber necking. Which is what we did.

table displayed at Room Service Design Gallery

ceramic table by Piet Hein Eek

the MACBA building

By the way, watch out for skate boarders zipping past as they are encouraged to use the open area in front of the building.

Here are two close-up shots of tapas that we thought might inspire some new colour combinations in our ceramics. Or perhaps not.

yellow white red and black

black white green red

Monumental window, part of an early 20th century building on the Diagonal, where we went to see how our tables looked away from home and asked two of our customers to allow us into their homes to take a snap or two.

Monumental window with balcony on the Diagonal Avenue

Victoria and Josep Maria’s table

Victoria and Josep Maria keep theirs in a space filled with greenery and the effect is lush and fresh. Veronica and Alberto have theirs nicely set off by the dark floorboards and deep green of the furniture.

Both tables are getting a lot of TLC from their owners.

Veronica and Alberto’s table

belatrova’s top 6 favourite things to do in Barcelona:

Go up onto the roof of Casa Milá (also called “La Pedrera”)

Visit the geese in Barcelona Cathedral’s cloisters

Have a coffee at Meson del Café off St Jaume’s Square

Take the No 14 bus from Calvet/Fransesc Maciá down to Siete Puertas

Eat stuffed squid at the Bar Neutral (Ganduxer 26, Barcelona)

Visit the Fundació Miró – a quick trip inspired belatrova to make a tripod ceramic bowl.

hint of Miró?

relocation

May 16th, 2013/0 Comments/in hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

No 9 Bankside

Most people find relocation stressful and will experience symptoms such as irritability and exhaustion. Psychologists say that those who find ways to establish security and meaning in their new situation, and who regain a sense of perspective, will suffer less. Well, belatrova has broad shoulders and has taken the move from Bishops Frome in Worcester to Ledbury in Herefordshire in its stride.

Unfazed by the hugeness of the new space, walls were painted white (this took a week), new racking was put in place, heavy kilns were transported and hooked up, the floor painted, a new glass entrance fitted, and, of course and very importantly, a small fridge connected for that Friday evening special: the belatrova dry Martini. We find that this is one way to regain a sense of perspective.

new double table rack

sit and relax

The new address is:
belatrova
9 Bankside Industrial Estate
Little Marce Road
Ledbury
Herefordshire
HR8 2DR

wall of ceramics

Anyway, we are already in production, concentrating mainly on tripod bowls and lamp bases. Both kilns are behaving, and the new space is airy and light, with a whole wall given over to our ceramic dishes. Everything is looking good and belatrova is brimming with ideas and projects.

Roger Payne on his mobile at No7 Bankside

You want how many?!

By the way, a possible reason for liking the previously mentioned cocktail is surely the shape of the glass: another design classic (see previous blog). And it looks so good on a belatrova table.

Here’s our version of a Dry Martini:

1. Pour the amount of gin required into a shaker or any robust container that withstands freezing temperatures. Use good gin, of course.

2. Pour in a bit more gin (when very cold the gin contracts).

3. Add a few drops of Dry Vermouth (roughly one drop per glass)

4. Put in freezer at least 2 hours before consuming.

5. Place Martini glasses in freezer.

6. When ready, pour out Martini from shaker into glass.

7. Spear 2 (or 3 if you’re feeling generous) green olives with a toothpick and put in glass.

8. Serve immediately – it should give your tongue and throat a pleasingly cold sting, and set you up for the weekend.

belatrova is always open to experimentation – send us your favourite unwinder and we might (might) try it.

Good Design is…

March 15th, 2013/4 Comments/in design, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

belatrova is a collaboration between a painter, a potter and a musician, so each one of us brings his particular slant to any discussion during the Tuesday morning meetings. To our surprise, we often agree on a number of issues, and this week we ended up in general agreement about “good design”.

table / painting

Good design (we three nodded) has to strike a balance between commercial imperatives and aesthetic ones. A customer buys the product in order to use it, its design clear and understandable, and good design points to this whilst also highlighting the product’s aesthetic value. And design must be honest, in the sense that the product should “do what it says” and not be weighed down by details that only confuse. Another more recent definition has become part of the debate, and that is that good design ensures a product achieves positive results for all involved, while having as little impact on the planet as possible.

Personally I have always had a soft spot for the Coca Cola bottle: its shape is the perfect invitation to grip it, and it shows its content openly. When it first came out in 1916 it must have been perceived as futuristic, its contours a contrast to the straight-sided bottles that preceded it.

Nowadays, of course, it is considered a “classic” and probably associated with the 50s more than any other decade. Unless it is recycled after use, though, I am not sure that it fully fits into our description of good design.

I naturally assumed that Josh of Josh Thomas Design House (www.joshthomasdesignhouse.co.uk) would agree with me, specially since he favours the fifties look. But I was surprised when he told me what summed it all up for him: the Bic pen. Why? Because it hides nothing. It says to the customer: “I am for writing, I am easy to hold, I am cheap, you need not worry about loosing me, you can throw me away”.

throwaway

By the way, is there a way to recycle the Bic?

And what product design does it for you?