Notes from the gallery and the studios upstairs

Every glaze in my November show started as a tile the size of a beer mat. This year I fired 212 of them.

I mix glazes from a few base recipes and change one thing at a time: more iron, less ash, a thicker coat, a slower cool. Each tile gets a number scratched into the back and a line in my notebook. After the firing I lay them out on the yard wall and look at them in daylight, because the kiln shed light makes everything look warmer than it is.

Most tiles go in the bin. About one in ten is good enough to try on a panel, and about one in fifty I like enough to hang as it is. The crackle tile on the wall downstairs is one of those. The brown spirals are iron that moved in the glaze when it cooled. I have not been able to repeat it.

The panels for the show go into the kiln in two batches in October. If you want to see a firing, come to the yard on Saturday 24 October at 10:00. It is free and you do not need to book.

Every show starts with an empty room and a tape measure. We hang to a centre line 150 centimetres from the floor, which puts the middle of each work at about the eye level of an adult standing.

Small and large works share that line, so your eye can move along the wall without jumping up and down. We lean everything against the wall on the floor first, roughly where it might go, and move it around for most of a day before anything goes up.

Spacing follows the size of the works. Two small drawings can sit 30 centimetres apart. A large painting needs a metre or more on each side. Labels go to the right of each work, low enough to read without bending, and every label has the price on it.

The lights are the last job. We aim each spot so that frames throw no hard shadow and the surface of the paint shows. A full change takes three days, and the gallery closes for two of them. We put the dates on the visit page.

Most people who buy from us have never bought an original work before. Here is what we tell them.

Look at the work in the room if you can. Colour and surface change a lot between a screen and a wall. If you cannot come in, ask us for photos in daylight and a photo of the work next to something you know the size of.

The price is on every label, and it is the same for everyone. You can reserve a work for 48 hours at no charge while you think, and you can pay for any work over €400 in ten monthly parts with no interest.

Delivery within 20 kilometres of Easthaven is free, and we hang the work for you. Further away we pack and ship at cost. If the work does not suit the room once it is up, bring it back within 14 days for a full refund.