Description

Anyone who has lived in Orkney cannot fail to be moved by the presence of its 3000 year old standing stones. Although I left Orkney four years ago, having lived there for 13 years, I still cannot, nor do I wish, to escape its influence.

I had recently started to investigate slab forms. In the back of my mind were the stones and the monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey. Glazing for the ceramicist can be a fraught business, being unable to totally predict the outcome after being subjected to ten hours of intense heat, reaching 1260 degrees C. At the time of glazing this piece, I therefore put myself into a state of non-thinking, allowing instinct to take over the glazing and fired the piece upside down in the kiln. After firing there were 3 surface cracks, which I infilled with 22 carat gold leaf.
The result seem to capture the dramatic presence a standing stone must have had when newly erected, lit by fire and witness to a mysterious ritual whose purpose is now unknown.

Once the item is purchased the maker will be in touch to arrange delivery of the item if it cannot be collected at Custom Lane on Sunday 11^th June between 12pm-4pm.