2010

So here we go again.. We are starting up this page again as a way of documenting the run up to this year's Summer School and the course itself. We hope that those of you who are attending will read and possibly contribute to this so that you will have, when you come to Drewsteington, some idea of what we will be doing and what it is that you want to get out of the course.

First off is a quick review of last year and some photos and then some of the things we are doing to get ready for the course.

So here are some general pictures of the workshop, the cob bread oven, built and painted by the students and repairs to the kiln. More to follow....

Cob

Cob is a fantastic material made up of subsoil, straw and water and on the Ceramics and Cob course Jill and I will endeavour to show the extraodinary possibilities it has to offer. It is a material that the 400 year old house I live in is made of, so it has strenght and durability but it can also be used to create a fineness and sublty which is both exciting and captivating.

After ten years of collaborating with Jill using cob, we are still passionate and enthusiastic about our work and all the ideas we continually have. Collaboration is fantastic and I have really enjoyed combining our work and methods with Ruperts amazing knowledge and creativity.

This course is about passing on our understanding of clay and cob, discussing our ideas and work and giving you the freedom to play and explore with either one or other or both materials. The venue is here at the farm situated in a beautiful part of Dartmoor National Park offering fantastic views and a relaxed environment to work in. In the yard there are three 10 tonne piles of different coloured cob mixes, Paignton red, Launceston yellow and the off white from this site. If you are not happy with something you are making, you simply break it up, re mix it and start all over again - nothing is wasted.

Dartmoor Arts Summer School is an inspiring 6 days. It is full on, not only on your selected course but also in the evenings when everyone gathers for a meal at the local pub followed by an evening event. I cannot recommend this week more highly, whatever course you choose to attend.

1st Post

Well we have to start somewhere, so by way of introduction, my name is Roop & I generally make things out of clay. I am one of the tutors on the Cob & Ceramics course at the Dartmoor Arts Project.

The course is we think, unique in that it offers a way of looking at and working with earth materials from two very different standpoints.

Cob is sub-soil made up of clay, sand & stone of varying sizes (shillet) mixed with straw. It was traditionally used as a building material in the South West of England, where the materials are readily available. Many of the older houses & farm buildings in Devon are made of Cob and typically are thatched.

Clay, another material readily available in Devon, is the weathered deposits of granite and there are substantial deposits in Devon, Cornwall & Dorset. The tradition of clay, pottery & sculpture is thousands of years old and goes back to some of our earliest civilisations.

to be continued...