Earth and Fire

Back home after a fantastic few days at the Earth and Fire Ceramics fair in Welbeck, Nottingham.  This was my first time exhibiting at a ceramics fair, but with so many fellow and ex-MA students taking part too, there was plenty of help and support around, so a perfect first fair.  We arrived at lunchtime on the Friday and set our tents up before heading down to the area where all the stalls are.  Welbeck Estate is an amazing place.  I hadn’t realised its full extent when we visited the fair last year.  Beyond the garden centre entrance are fabulous grounds, stable blocks and cottages.  The campsite was a short drive away from the entrance but a lovely cow parsley lined footpath gave us a cut through to the exhibiting area, which made for a lovely walk each morning to our stall.  On that first day though we drove back round with all our wares and in no time at all stall 131 was set up and ready for business.

We had a great first evening making and eating wood-fired pizza, made in the portable uuni  pizza oven I got for Christmas.  This was the first time I’d used it outside home and it worked well.  Briliant team of dough rollers and toppers to assist and Cath’s car boot turned out to be just the ticket as a pizza making station.  We had fabulous food all weekend in fact, with everyone pitching in and Dave’s little wood-burning cooking stove was a real revelation.

Cath got quite adept at chopping up wood for it.

It was a lovely experience manning the UCLAN stall over the course of the weekend.  There were so many positive comments about everyone’s work and we all made a sale.  Amazing to think that out of such a stellar cast of ceramicists exhibiting there, people opted for some of our pots.  I think it is something I’ll have a go at applying for next year given the UCLAN support that will be on hand and having done it this year, it does make it a slightly less daunting venture. Here’s me, Alice, Patricia and Cath.