Page 9 – Peter Arscott

three legs good

March 23rd, 2015/1 Comment/in Blog, bowl, ceramic art /by Peter Arscott

belatrova’s Manhattan three legged bowl

An early morning run or walk can be a way to set oneself up for the day – you are out there with the dawn chorus, a hint of Spring in the air, plans assembling themselves in your mind for the day ahead, perhaps a squirrel just out of hibernation crosses your path, you breathe in the clean air of a new day, and then, an unfamiliar experience, the earth beneath your feet is right in front of your face, greeting you painfully on the nose. You have fallen over. Looking around to make sure nobody has witnessed your collapse, you pick yourself up and limp home with whatever dignity you can muster.

bipedalism

“Human walking is a unique activity during which the body, step by step, teeters on the edge of catastrophe.” —paleoanthropologist John Napier

Just how do we two-legged creatures manage to stay upright while in motion, or even when standing still? How can we possibly keep our balance on those flippers we call feet? Come to think of it, we are rather top heavy too, so why are we not keeling over all the time? Apparently it is all to do with voluntary and reflexive, neural, muscular, and skeletal systems collectively coordinating so as to allow us to walk without a second thought. But we shall not go into that; we simply bring it up because it leads us to an important belatrovian issue that we propose to resolve here and now.

quadrupedal thing

Within the tightly knit belatrova team, harmony always prevails. No matter what the weather outside, or the music being played, or the occasional badly made cup of coffee, we all beaver away happily and get along. Tea breaks are relaxing opportunities for discussions on topics that range from underwater basket weaving to why on earth men have nipples, from the benefits of taxation in a functioning society to the lingering suspicion that chocolate may actually not be bad for one. Important subjects for debate, we agree.

However, there is one issue that consistently divides the team into two camps: the tripedalists and the quadrupedalists. Dear belatrovians, are three legs better than four? With the spirit of conflict resolution guiding us towards a hoped-for conclusion, research was undertaken and the results are the following:

Try this at home. With your hand slightly cupped, point your thumb, index finger, and middle finger upwards and then place a flat piece of card or paper on top of them. The card will lie on all three points. Now stick a fourth finger into this experiment (perhaps somebody else’s) to add another contact point. It is now a little harder to exactly fit the paper on the plane.

Conclusion – the triangle formed by the three fingertips is stable because no matter where any of the three points of the triangle lie, they will always define a plane. So, a three-legged stool is guaranteed not to wobble, because the ends of its legs always form a plane. Thus a camera tripod; no matter which height each leg is, you will get no wobble. Even on an uneven floor.

It’s much more challenging to make a four legged table whose fourth point of contact is in the same plane as the first three points. Any point that is added to that plane will make it harder for the plane to be stable. On some uneven floors it may be quite impossible for a four legged table to be stable if it gets moved about. Five or six legs would be even worse.

a perfectly balanced four legged table by belatrova

Quadrupedalistas, graciously accepting this explanation (despite some sarcastic mutterings about making three legged tables, birdbaths and lamps), have come around to the wisdom and logic of belatrova’s decision to make three legged bowls. Place one on any surface and your olives, peanuts or cheese puffs will not roll off due to wobble. What is more, the bowls carry a certain elegance that is a touch retro – 1950s perhaps?

three legged bowl

And talking of retro, MoseyHome are a new London outlet, and they are showing belatrova’s three legged bowls. Pay them a visit if you are in the area. You can also visit our “three legged” Pinterest board.

stability on legs

As for our monopods, our beautiful birdbaths, lamps and slab pots, they will be appearing in the next few months in Country Living and Garden Illustrated.

With only a month to go, we would like to remind you that we are opening the workshop to the public on the weekend of 25th and 26th April. You are most welcome to visit, and try your hand at making a tripedal bowl. We’ll be there with five other makers for this Open Spring Weekend:

Spring Open Studios

belatrova bash

September 8th, 2014/0 Comments/in Blog, ceramic art, jazz /by Peter Arscott

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

laid back cat

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 using the storage and drying area as a dance floor.

The jazz was infectious and beautifully played by the Rushton Rhythm Quartet who gave us 20th Century standards with a modern twist, and not a little feeling. Their playing was tight and sublime, with some spectacular sax crescendos.

The food was magnificent, and belatrova would like to thank Wendy and Lu for all their work in preparing it, Viv and Eily for their help too, and Margo for helping set up and for running the bar. Lu, again, for her cocktail waitressing.

The workshop at No 9 is now open everyday till Sunday 14th, from 10 to 5, as part of Herefordshire Art Week. Just follow the red h.Art signs and you will get to us (Venue 29). There are over a hundred other venues to visit throughout the week, and brochures are available to download here.

birdbath ponder

Feel free to drop in. We have tidied up and it is now spotless – you would never believe one hundred and five belatrovians had a party here. You could also enter the competition and win a ceramic bowl, or just come for a chat and a look-around. See you.

large jazzy platter

flying off the wall

belatrovian baby potter

brushstroke blues display

the art of commissioning

October 1st, 2014/0 Comments/in art, art ceramics, Blog /by Peter Arscott

Ziggy the Christmas spider

Julius II by Raphael

Rex Harrison

God & Adam

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 Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci, and of course, the most celebrated art commission of all time, the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo, commissioned by Pope Julius II, a man who centuries later, as older belatrovians will remember, would be played by Rex Harrison in “The Agony and the Ecstasy“.

top commission

Commissions are all very well when it comes to painting and sculpture, we hear you say; what about ceramic commissions? Well, how about the ‘Frog Service’, a 50-person set intended for dinner and dessert made by Wedgewood in 1773 for Catherine the Great who bought it for her Gothic summer palace built in a frog marsh some miles outside St Petersburg, “Kekerekeksinky“*, would you believe – hence the inclusion of the frog motif.

The service was painted with 1222 views of British landscapes,antiquities and gardens. It cost £2,290 and was intended for occasional use, not for display alone. When the service was nearing completion, the bulk of it was put on display at Portland House in London, so as to show it to the English public before it was dispatched to Russia. At the present time the Hermitage collection includes some 770 items from this famous commission.

part of the Frog Commission

As an aside, belatrova went to visit the Wedgewood Museum and returned as enthralled as ever by Josiah, a man of energy and creativity who along with others transformed society and kick-started the Industrial Revolution. He was born into a family of potters in 1730, at Burslem, Staffordshire, and his father’s death in 1739 led him to an early start working as a ‘thrower’ in the pottery of his eldest brother, Thomas, to whom he was later apprenticed. An attack of smallpox seriously weakened him and in 1768 he had to have his right leg amputated. This meant he was forced to abandon throwing, but he gained a wider insight into the potter’s craft, which led to experimentation. If you would like further insight into this world, belatrova warmly recommends a book by Jenny Uglow, “The Lunar Men”.

mezzotint of Josiah based on Reynolds painting. copyright National Gallery

Why are we telling you all this? Oh, yes… The Wedgewood Museum Trust. It became liable for the £134m pensions debt of its insolvent parent company and after a long battle to prevent the break up and sale of the collection, the Art Fund was given the chance to save the collection for £15.75 million. £2.74 million is still required by November to save the collection from being dispersed: 250 years of history, 80,000 objects – a unique visual archive.

belatrova commissions

Back to commissions. We would like to say that nowadays commissions are much more commonplace and accessible, and that vast fortunes need no longer be spent. Nobody need be a Medici to commission a belatrova birdbath, or table lamp, or platter. In fact, we have been busy fulfilling commissions as a result of so many visits during h.Art (Herefordshire Art week), so we thought we would remind you that with three months to go before Christmas belatrova is the place for that unique gift.

Just give us a ring at the workshop on +44 (0) 1531 634082 or send us an email (info@belatrova.co.uk) or visit our website: http//www.peterarscott.co.uk/dev – we are happy to talk to you about any idea you may have.

So long as it does not involve spiders.

There is one arachnophobe amongst us who finds it hard to deal with the creatures as they start to come indoors with the nights getting cooler –“all I want is a room somewhere / Far away from the cold night air…” they sing. It is impossible to determine in which direction they will scuttle and so they strike fear in the heart of this particular person, who will remain nameless.

Meanwhile, with a little bit of bloomin’ luck, we hope to see you when we open up the workshop over the weekends of November 29th and of December 6th.

* Kekerekeksinky was mistakenly thought to mean “frog” in Finnish, though if you try to pronounce it in a deep voice you will sound a little like one.

belatrova at the Panto

October 29th, 2014/1 Comment/in art furniture, Blog, ceramic art, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

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 interior designers have fled to Never Never Land to escape their client’s bad taste and endless complaints. But with Captain Hook on the loose, how long before the Designers realise they must return colour to London and save the secret to design from Hook’s evil clutches?”

If you would like to join Wendy, Tinkerbell and Peter do click here to buy a ticket. You will rub shoulders with leading figures from the world of interior design and see costumes designed by the most illustrious fashion designers in the world: Vivienne Westwood, Anya Hindmarch, Zandra Rhodes, Thomaz Starzewski, Bruce Oldfield and Anna Valentine.

belatrova will also be there having contributed a striking hand painted designer coffee table (750mm diameter) for the auction that will be held there as part of the fund raising appeal for the NSPCC. It was created in our workshop in Ledbury. It is practical – pull it up to the sofa with a book or a cup of tea on it, or it is low enough for children to draw, paint or write on, and easy to wipe clean. And it is beautiful – see it in a different way each day depending on the light outside or else it might be a particular object on the surface itself that sets off a combination of colours (our coasters tend to do that, but more about our coasters in the next blog).

hand painted coffee table (roseburgh)

To quote Ziggy the workshop spider (see previous blog) ” Looking at this piece of art from above (the ceiling in my case) is different from having something to admire on the wall. The colours, whether loosely stippled, daubed or brushed on loosely, are all contained within squares, rectangles or triangles, and so invoke architecture rather than nature … in my opinion.”

Thelonius says there is a hint of Paul Klee about it.

Dear belatrovians, we know many of you will not be able to visit the Bloomsbury Theatre in London, so we are offering you the opportunity to win a prize as consolation. Guess the amount the table will raise at the auction before Sunday 6pm and you will win a lovely pair of cutting tiles or trivets in the Brushstroke Blues range. Just post it in the “leave a comment” section of the blog and we’ll get in touch. Or if you would rather, send an email to info@belatrova.co.uk

belatrova cutting tile

Toodle – loo.

Tegestology

November 12th, 2014/0 Comments/in art ceramics, Blog, ceramic art, design, oxides /by Peter Arscott

moon coaster

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 may not have been aware of all this, which is why belatrova, always in the vanguard of taste and style, thinks it is important to bring this to the notice of all belatrovians and help them solve the annual dilemma faced by so many: “where can I find that special Christmas gift that is both uniquely attractive yet practical?”

men behaving badly – William Hogarth

Why are they called “coasters“? According to our research, coasters were originally called sliders in the 1700s and were used as a stand to prevent moisture damage to a tabletop and for sliding the bottle of wine along a tabletop from guest to guest after supper when the table cloth was removed and the servants dismissed, leaving the diners (usually men) to fend for themselves. Cue drunk and unseemly male behaviour. These sliders later became known as coasters in allusion to their circulation around the edge of the table. Early ones were made of silver, china or glass, and some were fitted with wheels or with baize-covered wood bases to reduce friction on bare tables.

coaster cornucopia

Some coasters are collectible items. Tegestology is a term coined from Latin (teges, a small covering or mat) defined as the practice of collecting beer mats or coasters. Consider, then, becoming a tegestologist by acquiring belatrova’s ceramic coasters and thus simultaneously easing your Christmas shopping experience.

At £5 a coaster belatrova is offering sets of six for the price of five, plus a delivery charge of £5.95, making it a very affordable £30.95. There are three choices: Brushstroke Blues, Valencia or the Selection (a combination of both).

set of brushstroke blue

set of Valencia cioasters

selection

You can ring us on +44 (0) 1531 634082 and order over the ‘phone.

Or visit us during our Christmas weekend openings (28 – 30 Nov, 5 – 7 Dec)

Or pay us a visit on any day – just ring us beforehand to make sure we are not out delivering.

Or visit the Studio Gallery in Ross-on-Wye

This is how we make our coasters:

biscuited coaster awaiting oxides

oxides painted onto coasters

coaster dipped in glaze

cork backing

In order to give you some idea of size we have placed a coaster next to a familiar eveyday object:

ant eater

Leech Man

We know we are way ahead of ourselves but were thinking of recommending a new cocktail for you to drink on Christmas morning, something called Marmalade Fizz invented by the London Cocktail Club, but in the end decided to be traditional and went for that mellow but elegant drink: Black Velvet. It is guaranteed to get you in the mood for the day

Ingredients: a bottle of cold Champagne, a bottle of cold Guiness

Method: fill a Champagne flute halfway with the Guiness then top it off very gently with

smooth

Champagne so that it lingers atop the Guiness as a separate layer. Try pouring the Champagne over the back of a spoon to prevent it from plunging straight into the stout. This ephemeral separation is fleeting but satisfying. The drink is smooth and effervescent, just like belatrova.

Cheers!

And finally we would like to announce the winner of the “guess the NSPCC panto auction price of the belatrova table” competition (see previous blog):

L.H of Malvern will be getting a pair of ceramic trivets.

belatrova Christmas opening times

November 22nd, 2014/0 Comments/in Blog, ceramic art, hand painted coffee tables, lamps, lighting, pots /by Peter Arscott

Ledbury viaduct

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.

Wendy Houghton’s delicate abstract sculpture can be seen next to husband Stuart Houghton’s robust hand-thrown tableware, Fleen Doran’s alluring salt-glazed pots next to belatrova’s beautifuly painted slab pots and lamps. It is an exhibition of contrast and style, as well as a chance to buy a unique Christmas gift.

meet the ceramicists…

Yes, four ceramicists in one venue, and the ideal Christmas present.

Look out for the red h Art signs. Parking is available, as is disabled access.

Tea, coffee and mince pies will be served.

We look forward to seeing you.

golfing for muralistas

December 12th, 2014/0 Comments/in Blog /by Peter Arscott

Chauvet cave – 30,000 year-old mural

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 any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. And ceramic murals are traditionally made from tiles, but strictly speaking belatrova’s work will be a ceramic wall sculpture made from ceramic pieces using the wall space as a canvas and allowing the blank areas of the wall to play their part in the overall composition.

detail- legging it to Spain

The pieces are of different shapes and sizes, some abstract, some representational, and will be slab rolled as flat as possible without causing them to crack in the kiln – the larger the piece the more likely it is to warp or fracture in the heat, specially if there are stress points in the making which do not show up before biscuiting. Some preliminary tests have taken place, with interesting results. Here is a tantalizing detail of pieces so far that we have glazed (left).

And here below is a piece that nearly made it but cracked during glazing:

notice the crack between the eyes

The wall space is above a doorway in a hall and measures more than 2 x 3 metres. Foolish members of the team are very keen to accompany the pieces and install them, and have ostentatiously been bringing golf clubs into work to practice their swings because, you see, the house in question is next door to Spain’s best known golf course, Valderrama.

the ceramicist’s silent scream

Rudolph hit by golf ball

ball

belatrova did once play golf, in Richmond Park, and hit a deer with the only ball he managed to get into the air.

However, all this is in the future. What about the present? Well, it is an easy step from ceramic coaster making to tiles, and from tiles to tables with tiled tops. This is our first metal-framed coffee table with a ceramic surface made of nine glazed tiles in the Brushstroke Blues range. There will be more to come.

tiled table in Brushstroke Blues

coaster

tile

belatrova wishes all its supporters a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. 2015 promises to be an even better year for us and we hope that will be true for all of you too.

Happy Christmas from belatrova

December 19th, 2014/1 Comment/in art ceramics, art furniture, Blog, bowl, ceramic art, design, hand painted coffee tables, lamps, lighting /by Peter Arscott

Here’s to 2015

www.peterarscott.co.uk/dev

Resilience (ελαστικότητα)

January 2nd, 2015/0 Comments/in art ceramics, art furniture, birdbath, Blog, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

belatrova, art for living, and “a good half of the art of living is resilience” (Alain de Botton).

coffee table resilience

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 not just about their pottery and sculpture, nor about them going around in togas eating grapes, but about their influence on our thinking.

Greek struggle (Laocoon & sons)

Resilience – that chief weapon of the Stoic and Cynic philosophers who stated that much emotional suffering is caused by mistakenly assuming external things are directly under our control. However, if you remember that only your own actions are truly under your control and external things are not, then you will become emotionally resilient and achieve a kind of happiness. Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.

Resilience, that is what everyone needs as we face the year 2015.

Diogenes by Waterhouse (detail)

Which brings us to Diogenes of Sinope (c.400-c.325 BC) who denied pleasure and physical wealth for asceticism and had the nickname ‘the dog’ because of his shamelessness. He used to live in a wooden barrel with only possessions a robe to wear and a stick to walk.

It is unlikely Diogenes would ever have been a belatrova customer but we like to think that he might have approved of our use of that humble material, wood, a material that has evolved over millions of years to withstand the worst that weather can throw at it, with the possible exception of lightning. He would have spent time gazing at the beauty of our oak birdbath plinths as he undoubtedly did his own wooden home as it changed in appearance after years of exposure to all sorts of weather, because oak is extremely resilient and can be easily left outside both during strong sun and rain, and even snow and hail. See what a difference a year has already made to this belatrova “blackbird” bath:

[one_half]

new birdbath

[/one_half]
[one_half_last]

weathered by time

[/one_half_last]

On the other hand, when it comes to our tables, though we use robust beech legs, and though we know external factors are beyond our control, we do improve the odds by making decisions that minimize any unforeseen impact. We do not use oak or beech for the tabletops but rather medium-density fibreboard (MDF), an engineered wood product made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure. MDF is isotropic; its properties are the same in all directions as a result of no grain, so no tendency to split. It is consistent in strength and size, flexible, it shapes well and has stable dimensions, so won’t expand or contract like wood.

All this makes it the ideal material to seal, prime, paint and varnish – and thus more resilient. Two tables left our workshop over the Open Christmas Weekends at No 9 and went to good homes:

[one_fourth]

Kleescape coffee table

[/one_fourth]
[one_fourth]

Kleescape on rug

[/one_fourth]
[one_fourth]

Roseburgh

[/one_fourth]
[one_fourth_last]

Roseburgh on blue

[/one_fourth_last]

There are a few coffee tables still awaiting the right owner, each one a true original:

a row of coffee table tops

Come and see us in 2015. Happy New Year.

Best wishes:

Ziggy, Thelonius, Peter, Stuart, Roger, Wendy and Fleen

Here comes the Sun

February 8th, 2015/2 Comments/in art furniture, birdbath, Blog, ceramic art, hand painted coffee tables /by Peter Arscott

Helios

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 generally making us feel good. So let’s hear it for big Helios (you could fit 1.3 million planets the size of Earth into the Sun, apparently) and think ahead to Spring and Summer in a practical way – just as everything in the solar system orbits around the Sun, so do belatrova’s ideas revolve around our clientele’s happiness.

image of cross section of brain showing Pineal brain

cross section of belatrova’s brain on a Friday evening showing Pineal gland.

As the days get longer and the promise of heat starts to become a reality it is easier to imagine yourself on your balcony, or terrace, or veranda, or in your garden, glass in hand, as you soak in the rays and relax. What will enhance this experience is something that is associated with warm Mediterranean cultures, something pleasing to the eye and to the touch, something we have seen in palaces, gardens and fountains. Imagine the heat of Cordoba, then imagine stepping into the shade of its courtyards and passing your fingers over the cool surface of the tiles that adorn the inner walls. We would like you to enjoy our tiles in the same way, except that we have incorporated them into a new range of tables that can be used both indoors and out. There is no better surface on which to put that cold gin and tonic, that cup of coffee or that glass of lemon juice.

cool belatrova tiles

The advantages of tiles? Well, they are scratch, fire and stain resistant, they will not fade in the sunlight, they are waterproof and easy to clean, and, for the tabletop dancers amongst you, slip resistant. The metal frame and legs make them sturdy enough to support the weight of, say, a large goat. The tiles are grouted and held in place on marine plywood, which, of course, is waterproof.

tiled tabletop with metal frame and legs

So if you find yourself oversleeping, gaining weight, craving sweets and starchy foods, lacking in energy and irritable, it could be the beginnings of Seasonal Affective Disorder. However, remember that Spring is around the corner and that belatrova is always here to help. Many of you are gardeners and will be thinking of what needs planting and doing, and being bird lovers (having no doubt fed them throughout Winter) you will be wondering about the springtime needs of our little feathered friends: a good bath, we say. And we do make beautiful birdbaths, a wonderful combination of ceramic and oak. The picture below shows you how the oak turns after four full seasons exposed to the elements.

a year ago

one year on

Here is a picture of some snowdrops taken in belatrova’s garden, just to emphasize that Spring is nor far away. Don’t forget to visit our website www.peterarscott.co.uk/dev and if you are on Pinterest have a look at our boards: https://www.pinterest.com/belatrova/

Give us a ring if you want to drop in: +44 (0) 1531 634082

snowdrops

To a snowdrop (William Wordsworth)

LONE Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they

But hardier far, once more I see thee bend

Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend,

Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day,

Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay

The rising sun, and on the plains descend;

Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend

Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May

Shall soon behold this border thickly set

With bright jonquils, their odours lavishing

On the soft west-wind and his frolic peers;

Nor will I then thy modest grace forget,

Chaste Snowdrop, venturous harbinger of Spring,

And pensive monitor of fleeting years!