Fitch & McAndrew Online VIII

We can’t believe it is our eighth online exhibition. Eight times we have put together a catalogue of new work for you to see and possibly buy from. When we tried it the first time, we had absolutely no idea how it would be received, but you have loved it. Thank you. Every time we have put our hard work out into this weird but wonderful world of the internet, it has been received with gusto. We have had so many lovely emails from people enjoying what we have done, enjoying reading the catalogues and seeing what we have been up to, and lots of orders too which is the icing on the cake. So thank you. To each and every one of you that has supported us by reading, commenting, sharing posts or buying our pots, a huge and very heartfelt thank you.

Our newest online exhibition catalogue is available now on the home page of our website, until November 10th, or here from then on.

Fitch & McAndrew Online VIII

Fitch & McAndrew Online Exhibition VIII

Friday October 27th at 7pm GMT will see our eighth online exhibition go live here on our website. The catalogue will be available on the homepage of this website. We hope that you enjoy the new pieces that we have put together this year.

Spring Fling 2023

We are delighted to be taking part in Spring Fling again this year. This is Dumfries and Galloway’s wonderful open studio event that happens each year at the end of May. This year it will be over the weekend of Saturday 27th to Sunday 29th May, the bank holiday weekend in parts of the UK.

There are 100 studios taking part this year, the largest to date. The beautiful brochure is available now, if you are a Spring Fling Friend then you will receive your copy in the post. It’s not too late to become a Friend, you can sign up here, and many of the studios offer a discount to Friends of Spring Fling during the event. If you are in the region there are brochures in many venues across Dumfries and Gallloway where you can collect a copy, or indeed it is available to order for a small charge from here.

On the website you can learn about all the artists and makers taking part in Spring Fling 2023. You will get a glimpse of their working methods and their working spaces, as well as a taste of their finished work. You will also find details of the studio locations for the Spring Fling weekend, including access information and exactly how to find them. Use the map to explore the region and help plan your trip – and with the search functions you can select areas, artistic disciplines – or individual artists.

We will be open for the three days of the event and of course invite you to visit and see where we are, what we do and a little about how we do it. Come and visit our beautiful region and meet some of our many and brilliant craftspeople and artists.

‘An Ongoing Devotion’ at The Leach Pottery

We have been making and making and worrying and making while we got together a new and rather large selection of work for our exhibition at The Leach Pottery in St. Ives, Cornwall. We have worked so very hard that we have sent over 130 new pieces down to Cornwall for the exhibition, ‘An Ongoing Devotion’, which opens this Friday, February 24th with a private view from 4pm until 6pm. We are, unfortunately, unable to get there to the opening but we will be present via the magic of the internet through Zoom. There will be more details about that available from The Leach Pottery this week.

The exhibition will then run from Saturday 25th February through till 30th April.

Scratching The Surface

What a month, the passing of Her Majesty the Queen, a new Prime Minister, and for us, a second dose of Covid. It was a sad day when the Queen died. I, like so many, had a sense that she was immortal as she’s been here longer than most of us have. I think for some of us who have known grief in recent times, it unlocked feelings that we have tried to suppress. It was about more than just the Queen passing, and it touched us deeply.

Yesterday we took the road over to Edinburgh for the evening, to the opening of a new exhibition, Scratching the Surface, at The Scottish Gallery on Dundas Street. The Scottish Gallery is renown for it’s exhibitions of both contemporary and historical fine and applied arts. If you have a look at the website and the pages about the exhibition you can read about the other exhibitors and watch a number of small films about the works and of course browse the pieces themselves. There is a beautiful catalogue available from the gallery for the exhibition.

There was a lovely review of the exhibition in The Scotsman newspaper’s Arts Review earlier this week and it singled out Hannah for praise. I quote, ‘But perhaps the star in this second part is Hannah McAndrew’s slipware. She gives real authenticity to her revival of this ancient style of pottery decoration.’

The exhibition is on until October 29th, opening details are on the Scottish Gallery website.

‘This is England’ charger heading to Centre of Ceramic Art, York.

York Museums Trust is thrilled to announce the donation of the ‘This is England’ ceramic Charger to our collection. The slipware pottery will go on display in the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at York Art Gallery in April 2022.
‘This is England’ was made by potter Hannah McAndrew (pictured) in a personal response to the appalling events surrounding the Euro 2020 final, when three England players, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, who missed their penalty kicks, were subjected to appalling racial abuse.
In September 2021, Hannah McAndrew offered the opportunity to win the charger in a prize draw, raising money for FareShare, a charity aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste, of which footballer Marcus Rashford is an ambassador. In just 21 days £9000 was raised, equating to approximately 35,000 meals.
The Charger was won by Helen Hepburn, who has generously donated it to CoCA at York Art Gallery.
Potter Hannah McAndrew said; “I’m not a football fan, I’m happy to admit it. I now live in Scotland, but I was taken by the conduct of the English team in this Euro 2020 tournament. They have taken a very clear and united stand against racism both on and off the field. From what I can see, football teams have huge influence with their supporters, so using their privileged position to send out this powerful message of tolerance and inclusion to fans of all ages can only be a good thing.”
The Charger is full of meaning and symbolism, featuring the three lions and ten roses from the England football team badge. The border is divided into thirteen sections representing the nationalities of the players in the England squad and the countries they could have chosen to play for instead of England.
The title of the piece, ‘This is England’ is borrowed from Stormzy’s anthem with Dave and Ian Wright which was played during the Euro 2020 tournament and the lines; “The past can’t hurt us. The future can inspire us. This is England, modern England”.
Lindsay Boswell, CEO at FareShare, said; “We are very grateful to Hannah and thrilled that she chose to support FareShare with the charity prize draw of the ‘This is England’ charger. Hannah’s artistic fundraising efforts have provided the equivalent of more than 35,000 meals to frontline charities and community groups. The charger has played an important part to help tackle food waste and get good food out where it’s needed most. We are therefore very pleased to hear that it will be going on display with York Museums Trust where many others can be inspired by its positive impact.”
It was important for Helen Hepburn, the winner of ‘This is England’ Charger, for the piece to be displayed publicly, so that the meaning stays fresh in people’s minds.
Helen Hepburn, who lives near York, said; “I never, for a moment, thought I would win. It was just a wonderful cause and I loved finding out about Hannah McAndrew’s work because I really like ceramics, especially slipware. I would never have thought my long-term interests in football and slipware would ever combine in any way at all!”
Visitors will be able to see ‘This Is England’ on display in the Centre of Ceramic Art in April 2022.
Dr Helen Walsh, CoCA’s curator of ceramics, said; ”We are thrilled to receive such a generous gift and to have the opportunity to add such an important and powerful ceramic work to our collection at York Art Gallery. Ceramics have long been used to share social messages and this charger is a contemporary example, highlighting the growing ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement. It is also a beautiful work of ceramic art, revealing the creativity and immense skill of the potter Hannah McAndrew.”
Entry to CoCA at York Art Gallery is free. The charger arrives in York on the 6th April and will be on display shortly afterwards in CoCA’s large wall case which we are gradually transforming this year to celebrate women collectors, potters and artists.
What a fantastic piece to start with!
Photos: Shannon Tofts
Featured on the BBC News website on Sunday 3rd April 2022.

Currently we are building up a body of work for our 6th online exhibition which goes live in a couple of weeks. We have been working hard to get pots to various places that need them and to get pieces together for this and we are almost there. The photographer is booked, the pots are mainly not still lumps of clay though there are a few exceptions. We are trying not to work ourselves into the ground this year, we’re not as young as we were, but it’s hard when you absolutely want to give something your all. We are always looking at the pots that we making and working out how they can better, what the next batch will have that this doesn’t. It’s an important thing to do for us, we don’t want to be repeating things exactly the same for ever. We may, and indeed often do, revisit forms or decorative patterns but they are always worked with the knowledge of the last time, a fluency perhaps that has evolved through the making or the profile of the piece altered slightly to give more grace or more fullness of belly. They are never exactly the same as the last time and the intuitive learning can only come by moving clay through your fingers time and time and time again.

The exhibition, Fitch and McAndrew Online VI will go live on our website at 7pm GMT on Friday 12th November. We are happy to ship worldwide and can get quotes together for you if you are interested. The pots will be put together in an online catalogue along with images of the workshop, the pots in process and hopefully small films of the pieces too. All the pots will then be listed in our online shop here on the website.

When I write it like that it seems so straightforward, fingers crossed it will all happen smoothly with no technical hitches.

The Slip Trail

We are very honoured to have been asked to be a part of what looks like it will be a beautiful exhibition at Gallery 1673 in Stroud. This is an exhibition of contemporary earthenware slipware by ten of Britain’s leading potters:

  • Patia Davis
  • Nigel Lambert
  • Russell Kingston
  • Hannah McAndrew
  • Doug Fitch
  • Dylan Bowen
  • Paul Jessop
  • Josie Walter
  • Ben Fosker
  • Paul Young

The exhibition opens on Saturday October 2nd at 10am in the gallery and online on Monday 4th at 7pm. It is open until the 17th October

Win ‘This is England’ Charger

I am raising money for this much needed charity, FareShare, who aim to fight hunger and tackle food waste in the UK. While doing this I also wish to highlight the issue of racism that reared it’s ugly head during the Euro2020 tournament.

I am offering the opportunity to win this large, 48cm diameter, slipware charger entitled ‘This is England‘.   

1630274422_hannah_portrait_1.jpg

Image: Hannah McAndrew with ‘This is England‘ Charger. Image credit: Shannon Tofts.

1630331394_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

Why did I make this pot? 

I made this piece in response to the racial abuse received by the three England players who missed their penalty kicks during the Euro 2020 final.

Marcus RashfordJadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka did their best under huge pressure, only to be subjected to a barrage of abuse due to the colour of their skin.

I’m not a football fan, I’m happy to admit it, and I now live in Scotland, but I was taken by the conduct of the English team in this Euro 2020 tournament. They have taken a very clear and united stand against racism both on and off the field. From what I can see, football teams have huge influence with their supporters, so using their privileged position to send out this powerful message of tolerance and inclusion to fans of all ages can only be a good thing.

1630329880_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

About the charger

The illustration of lions on slipware pottery is nothing new. These three lions, combine a nod to the England team crest, with influences derived from the immense and intricate chargers by Thomas Toft in the late 17th Century. I made it using a mixture of slip trailing and paper resist techniques and it has a rich honey glaze which gives the slip colours a deep warmth and vibrancy.

The rim has been divided into thirteen sections, each filled with slip trailed cross hatched lines. The thirteen sections represent the total number of other countries that members of the Euro 2020 England squad were qualified to play for, because of their connections with those countries. Instead they chose to represent England. I purposely chose black as the colour for these lions.

1630330016_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

Who am I? 

I have been a potter for over twenty years and have built up an international reputation for making highly decorated pots within this genre. I was recently accepted as a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association.

Slipware is my passion and my obsession. I love to decorate pots and spend many hours covering surfaces in intricate patterns and imagery. This piece is unique. I make large chargers regularly; I love the wide surface and the potential that has for holding decoration. This is the only one of this design, though I could have sold it many times over when I exhibited it at a large pottery festival and when it was first shown on the internet. I wanted to hold it back to try to do something bigger with it.

1630330088_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

The title of the piece, ‘This is England‘ is borrowed from the poignant dialogue performance by StormzyDave and Ian Wright during the TV coverage of Euro 2020.

In particular the lines ‘the past can’t hurt us. The future can inspire us. This is England, modern England’.

1630330130_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

Who will benefit from your support?  

The charity that I want to support by offering this pot in the prize draw is FareShareFareShare is a charity network aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste in the UK. It was established in 1994. FareShare obtains good quality, surplus food from the food industry that would otherwise have gone to waste, and sends it to almost 11,000 charity and community groups across the United Kingdom.

England International footballer Marcus Rashford has been an ambassador of FareShare since March 2020.

Since then, he has:

-Helped raise enough money to enable FareShare to distribute the equivalent of over 21 million meals for children and families who might not otherwise eat

-Raised awareness of child hunger in the UK, driving the issue to the top of the news agenda

-Launched and spearheaded the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, a group of more than 15 organisations that FareShare is a founding member of, which have come together to support the National Food Strategy and share real-time statistics and stories of those affected by child hunger in the UK

-Successfully influenced government policy:

-With his #MakeTheUTurn campaign, which saw the voucher scheme – a replacement for free school meals through the lockdown – extended over the summer, ensuring 1.3 million vulnerable children could continue to access food

-In November, after campaigning by the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, Government announced a Winter Package to support the UK’s most vulnerable children through the winter until Easter 2021.

1630330151_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

How do I enter the prize draw? 

The prize draw will go live at 19:40 BST on Thursday September 2nd 2021 on the Crowdfunder website. This is the time that the England football team will take the knee in their international match with Hungary. The prize draw will then run for three weeks.

By buying at least one entry at £10 you will be entered into the prize draw. If you buy multiple entries you stand a higher chance of winning. To enter you must select one of the entry reward options on this page. You can also enter the prize draw without donating by post. See terms and conditions for details. By donating and entering the prize draw you agree to the terms and conditions.

1630330182_three_lions_1_white_tiny.jpg

I would like to use this pot to help this charity to continue the fight to eliminate food poverty across the UK, whilst drawing attention to the ever prominent issue of racism.

Thank you for helping me to support this great and essential work.

#WeStandWithOurThreeLions