Artists signing up to art trail

Artists are signing up to Niddart Trail 2021 with the online art trail exhibition due to be launched on Yorkshire Day.

This year the event will keep last year’s popular online format, run because of covid-19, in addition to the open studios.

“The format has proved successful and individual exhibitors make their own decision whether they are comfortable to open their premises to visitors,” said a spokesman for the event.

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The 2021 dates are throughout August on-line and August 20-30 for open studios. This year the organisers decided to leave the theme to the individual artist.

“There is some interesting work in various mediums in oil paint, photography, water colours, ceramics, glass, embroidery, woodturning and much more,” added the spokesman.

“The styles are as varied be it naturalistic or abstract.

Sally Smith, of South Park Pottery, Kirkby Malzeard, is one of the exhibitors who will be opening her studios to visitors.

She has been working with a unique clay found just three miles from her kiln.

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The clay was found in small amounts by Emma Copeman, who is a local gardener from nearby Dallogill, and therefore aware of the nature of soils and clay contents. Sally is calling the fired clay “Dallowgill Crimson”.

“It has been a long and interesting process to convert this ‘lump of earth’ into usable vessels and has proved to be labour intensive,” said Sally.

“I let it dry naturally to allow it to be more easily wet down and made into slurry to be put through a fine sieve to remove stones and other debris.

“It was again dried to a stage when it could be thoroughly kneaded, a great workout!

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“I was left with a wonderfully plastic, ochre coloured clay which surprisingly fired to 1260⁰C, certainly 200 degrees higher than one would expect.”

She added: “The end result is a beautiful strong, dark red body which shows a dark line along the edge of the glaze. It is the only time that I have ever wanted to leave the clay body ‘bare’.

“I tend to finish the inside of the vessel and leave the glaze to just cover the rim. The lovely dark red of the fired clay is the perfect foil for the glazes used.”

www.niddart.org.uk

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