Hello! how are you? I hope you are keeping well and warm in this wild weather and frightful temperatures!
So far this year I have enjoyed only being in the workshop from Monday to Friday. Having always worked in hospitality before self employment, I have never had that “Friday feeling”. Long may it continue as I am definitely seeing the benefits of 2 days rest! I have been using my time off wisely and going on local adventures to places I have not been before. It is so beautiful around Blairgowrie, especially in winter.
The first 2 weeks of the year I concentrated on making more mugs for the website, which has just been restocked. Butter Dishes and Side Plates are currently in the kiln and will be added to the website next week. Once the Grey & Gold Range sell out, it will be going into hibernation until next Christmas so if you’ve had your eye on a piece, you know what to do.
The last 2 weeks of January were spent experimenting. It has been so much fun! I am usually so busy and don’t have enough time to play with clay, my list of ideas that I want to explore just seems to get longer and longer! However, I saw a window of opportunity and grasped it with both hands.
My experiments are quite varied. I have been developing my animal print designs, seeing if other products look good in Leopard Print, and working on the Zebra Print, which I thought had so much potential last year.
I am loving gold so much at the minute and want to put in on everything! I have an exciting variation using the Pastel Dreamscape colours. I am very happy with the glaze design on the mugs, I just need to do a bit more work on the plates and bowls. I will hopefully be able to show you a cohesive set soon. New product ideas like my plant pots and vases still need a bit of refinement but I think I have a better idea of what I’m aiming for now.
Weather wise January was been a lot of effort. The snow we had a few weeks ago froze, then more rain and snow fell and froze on top of that, making the ice even thicker. I had to bash out a path between my front door and workshop as it was too precarious to carry pots from one place to the other! I also had to leave my car at the top of the farm as the lane was like an ice rink. Getting customer orders to the Post Office has been a tricky operation, but I am committed, so it is nothing that my wheelbarrow and a pair of crampons couldn’t solve!
I will no longer be supplying my work to shops. Some stockists still have a selection of my pottery, but as of January 2021 work can only be purchased via Tea with Jud website, at markets or events, and directly from the workshop, when restrictions permit.
I will do my best to keep the website stocked with all your favourite items, but If a product is out of stock, there is now a clever tech whizz button where you can enter your email address and will therefore be notified stock levels are updated!
The only event I have planned so far this year is Potfest Scotland. I’m so delighted to have been accepted again and it feels good to have something to look forward to and work towards. All being well it will be held in June, as normal, but as you know, anything could happen between now then! I will keep the Diary up to date, and my fingers crossed.
I think that is all the important news I have to tell you for now.
Stay warm and cosy,
Cheerio!
jud xo