A Grand Afternoon - The Ceramics Biennial

 First off just let me tell you that I pinched these photos from the site of the wonderful ceramicist Reiko Kaneko, we have just got back from Stoke and I wanted to share straightaway.

If you have any interest at all in ceramics get down to the old Spode factory in Stoke on Trent this weekend as the show closes on Sunday the 8th.  Getting to see a lot of ceramic shows now thanks to Becca but hey, she has seen a lot of textile shows over the years.  I am starting to recognise artists and to develop an appreciation of the pieces and the styles I am drawn to.  There is some wonderful work, from the straight forward but beautifully conceived table pieces to wild bubbling megabowls inspired by Icelandic geysers.

There is a lot to see but take a sweater or even a duvet because it is so cold and very dusty.  The exhibition is housed in a giant brick built warehouse and it is colder inside than out, truly.  Parking is a bit fraught but once inside the exhibition it is worth braving the traffic.  For a more intelligent take on the show by someone far more clued up on the ceramic world have a peep at Reiko Kaneko's webpages www.reikokaneko.co.uk/blog/the-british-ceramics-biennial-2015/, where you can also see her lovely tableware.

My show favourite by Hannah Tounsend

As always  I can recommend the coffee shop, it is a bakery collective with the most amazing apple and cinnamon scones but if you are feeling indulgent and also feeling the cold, which you will!  Have a posh hot chocolate, a little ceremony is involved as you will get a mug with a square of Belgian chocolate on a stick to stir into the hot milk which arrives in a pretty blue ceramic jug accompanied by a bowl of fresh cream with marshmallows - heaven.  It is a charming cafe, they take your order and give you a plastic animal so that they can find your table, we got an orange dinosaur.  But the cafe is just a bonus the show is great and well worth an afternoon - let me know what you thought.