UPCOMING - Christmas 2015

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2016, may it bring fun, happiness and spiritual growth....

OUT & ABOUT - Hey Clay

Hey Clay this weekend! A great idea to get folks started with the rather addictive medium of clay... Lovely to see the Crafts Council using the image of my Curious Curiosities tiger jars too ile emoticon

STUDIO - An Empty Crescent Arts Ceramics Studio

Spent the past five years pondering from this spot in my studio at Crescent Arts in Scarborough... Some good times and some of the worst! Packed up now and ready to move on and to hand over the space to the next resident artist...

WORKSHOP - Ceramic Trinket Boxes

A ceramics workshop slab-building trinket boxes with the Saturday morning Art Club group at Scarborough Museums Trust. They're collecting the finished work today...

OUT AND ABOUT - Thackray Medical Museum

Had a lovely day trip to the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds last week, what an incredible museum with a huge presence and collection... Amazing! The building is fascinating as it used to be an old workhouse, the scale of the building is really imposing and it was odd wondering around thinking about the past uses. The collection houses an amazing room full of ceramic apothecary jars known as the Wilson collection... I spent ages there looking at the smallest details on some of the jars, these were all produced between the 1500 - 1800s.

EVENT - Platform Open, Morphets of Harrogate

Very pleased to hear that all three Tureen Heads sold at the Platform Open at Morphets in Harrogate, great to see the show was a huge success... Well done Heidi Donohoe on your new venture!

   

EVENT - York Art Gallery Handling Collection

Some of my Gove busts have gone into the handling collection at York Art Gallery, I love this little drawing made by a visitor to the gallery of one of the busts 😀

WORKSHOP - Portraiture at Scarborough Art Gallery

A lovely portraiture workshop yesterday at Scarborough Art Gallery, this was a day of School workshops with 80 year 5 pupils. We concentrated on a technique I use in my own paintings, ink and watercolours with an extra special spray with a water squirter... the spraying was highly popular needless to say!

Victorian Day Portraiture Workshop at Scarborough Art Gallery lead by Karen Thompson.

SMT Portraiture Workshop.

SMT Portraiture Workshop.

PRESS - Crafts Magazine, Directory Ad

Brilliant to be in this months Crafts magazine advertising the Crafts Council Directory. This is the second issue on the trot that has used the advert with the image of my heads... 

UPCOMING - Platform Open

Three of my Tureen Heads will be winding their way over to Harrogate later in the month for the Platform Open, this is on the weekend of 3rd & 4th October at Morphets.

Morphets of Harrogate, 6 Albert Street, Harrogate, HG1 1JG. 

opening times: Sat 3rd Oct 10-6pm, Sun 4th Oct 10-4pm

WORKSHOPS - October/November

Upcoming Workshops at Crescent Arts, I'm running some beginners classes and also joining forces with Print maker Dawn Brooks to offer some experimental sessions with printing and plaster.

WORKSHOP - Dinosaur brooches at the Rotunda Museum

Some great little dinosaur brooches made in the last of the holiday drop in sessions today... there are three activities to keep the little ones busy... badges, brooches and sculpture, everyone seems to be attentively making all three things!

Dinosaur brooches made at workshops in the Rotunda Museum with artist Karen Thompson.

EVENT - York Art Gallery Interpretation

Very excited to have my Michael Gove busts featuring in the York Art Gallery highlights from the Rainbow wall of colour. I'm one of 4 objects selected from the blue colour range by cabinet curator Fiona Green...

  

WORKSHOP - Badge Making at the Rotunda Museum

A lovely and very busy badge making workshop at the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough today, I took in with me my trusty badge it machine (which I use for all of my badgered badges). These drop in sessions will also be running over the next two weeks and will be based around the theme of the Rotunda so will be featuring lots of dinosaurs and ammonites. I'll have my badge it machine with me next week as well as some other goodies...

Drop in badge making sessions at the Rotunda Museum in Scarborough.

Small selection of some of the badges made today.

PRESS - Clare Twomey 'Manifest:10,000 Hours' Book

I seem to have made it into the York Art Gallery's book for Clare Twomey's Manifest: 10,000 hours commission. I was busy with my AA2A+ residency with York College and York Art Gallery at the time and I helped to make well over 100 bowls for this. Still, bit of a surprise finding myself and the lovely Becky Ridsel from York College within the pages :-) 

EVENT - Gove busts in CoCA display at York Art Gallery

I'm very happy to have some work included in the opening of the CoCA galleries at York Art Gallery. Some of my Michael Gove busts from the Goveshy are in the Rainbow wall of pots. There are also two Gove busts in the handling collection for people to pick up and look at, as well as two of my porcelain sandwiches. Thoroughly enjoyed the launch and seeing the wonderful delights that the galleries hold. Will definitely be spending a bit of time in York Art Gallery over the coming year.

  

EVENT - Staithes Studios

Some of my work has wound its way over to Staithes for the opening of the lovely new venture by Ian and Stef Mitchell. Staithes Studio is opening in time for the Summer Solstice. you can find one of my Trilogy of Death's for sale there alongside some of my mugs and cups. http://staithesstudios.com/

WORKSHOP - Sea Monsters at the Rotunda Museum

My first Sea Monster workshop at the Rotunda in Scarborough produced a host of wonderful creations. 61 students, year 6. We primarily used sticky back coloured vinyl sheets and cardboard. Here's a little selection of the days output... another one tomorrow!

          

     

    

EVENT - Launch of Crafts Council Directory

Today is the official launch of the Crafts Council Directory, the advertising today goes a little something like this....

The Crafts Council Facebook Page

The Crafts Council Twitter profile

Brilliant advertising for my Tureen Heads I would say! Thanks Crafts Council... Check out my directory profile using the following link: 

http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/directory/maker/karen-thompson/